Our Story:
It all started the morning of September 22, 2014 when Lizeth was at the airport to pick me and my adopted sister up at Kona Airport. Before telling you all kinds of funny details lets go back to 2011 when Mr & Mrs Perez (my parents) decided that it was time to expand their family. They had it in their heart to adopt and soon after than is when Juarez Mexico became a important place in their heart. Now in Juarez, Mexico there is a full time ministry called "Rancho Los Amigos" a children's home under Youth With a Mission that provides a haven to abandoned, neglected and abused children from various parts of Mexico. Lizeth with her 5 siblings grew up in this amazing place as well as my 3 adopted siblings. I was in Juarez Mexico twice (September 2013 & April 2014) before finally meeting Lizeth. She was in Hawaii both the times I was there learning and experiencing a deeper encounter with God.
I arrived in Hawaii and Lizeth was there to pick up me and my sister. I hugged her as if we were old friend crossing paths because I thought she was her older sister that I had met a couple months earlier in Juarez! She didn't reject though. As we were driving to the place that would be my new home we talked about our families, people we knew and places we had been before coming to Hawaii. We arrived at the base and we both parted ways for a few days as she was getting ready for people from all over the world to come and participate in a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with YWAM Ships Kona. The day I got to see her again was when we had to hand in all of our paper work to start our DTS. We started flirting and eventually traded numbers. The rest was history! Six months later (April 2015) I found myself on one knee on the bow of a sailboat on an early afternoon cruise out at sea. Luckily she said yes to being my first mate forever! Things got busy after that and we had to postpone our wedding due to prior commitments. I attended a three month Bible Coarse called the BCC and after those three months we staffed a DTS and led an outreach team to Papua New Guinea. Because of those commitments we will now be getting married onMarch 27th of this year (just a couple months away)! As I write this I am in Mexico visiting with her family for the month. We can't seem to stay in one place for very long which means planning has been a bit stressful but we are praying it all goes smooth. All in all I'm excited to marry my best friend and start my happily ever after!
What Winning Would Mean:
Jono and Laynie shot our engagement photos last May. We were recommended by one of Lizeth's friends and we couldn't have been happier with our photo's! We had wanted to book them for our wedding in Florida but could not afford it since it was a destination wedding and the cost gets pretty high! Winning this event would mean we get our dream photographers to capture our big day! It's only a couple month away and it would take off so much pressure for the two of us. One can dream!
Three Quirky Facts:
1. We each met each others families before ever meeting each other.
2. When we get married she will legally be related to people she grew up with in the children's home
3. We are getting ring tattoos for our wedding