Hi, we’re Roman & Ana. We’re so silly in love, we want everyone to know.

Our story began long before we realized it. For a long time, we were simply aware of each other. In 2015, Ana moved to the Raymond Congregation, and Roman was the cute guy who would come to Raymond to visit his grandma. Even from a distance, we heard good things about each other, especially about Ana’s love for Jehovah. Those early impressions stayed with us, even though we hardly spoke.

Our first real conversation happened when Ana baked some cookies. She thought she added cinnamon but had actually added cumin. The cookies were good, but she was self-conscious about them. Roman, thinking it was interesting, invited people to try them and shared the secret ingredient. Ana felt teased; Roman thought he was helping. Roman insists he only wanted her to feel comfortable. At the time, it didn’t register as important. Looking back, we see it as an early glimpse of our different temperaments and good intentions.

Then everything changed. Roman made plans to visit Raymond again. He knew Ana, the sister he had always heard good things about, was going to be there. When Ana heard he was coming to visit, she felt unexpectedly excited and couldn’t stop thinking about it. When we saw each other, Ana called out “Roman!” He brightened up. We hugged. We talked. Something quietly shifted. We both saw something good. 

As we walked away, Ana thought, “I’m going to marry him.” Later that day, Roman heard about Ana’s business and looked at her website. He thought, “This woman loves Jehovah, is a hard worker, manages her life well, is pretty, and thinks I’m okay even when I tease her.” He told a friend, “I think I’m going to get married.”

After that, Ana planned a party and invited Roman. She got his phone number from his grandmother, and when she asked if it was okay to like him, his grandmother just laughed. Roman prayed about the invitation, and after careful prayer, he accepted.

Around this time, friends had invited Roman to dinner. He had just bought a house and had a lot of work to do, so he planned not to go. He didn’t know Ana would be there. She wanted him to come and texted, “Are you planning to go to dinner? I’m making carne asada.” Once he realized Ana would be there—and that she was cooking—he canceled everything, cleaned up, and went. This became our first date.