Special Feature: Midwest Blessed 2024

Joshua LaRue (Chicago)
& Hannah Lalonde (Canada)

"Our experience being at the Blessing was filled with just a lot of gratitude. It was amazing to see so many couples all getting Blessed together and making the same commitment to create beautiful God centered relationships all at the same time. We remember thinking how beautiful the Blessing ceremony is, where so many people are getting married all at once and thinking that the Blessing is truly for everyone and everyone should want to get Blessed. We felt so grateful to be with one another along with family and friends. To be able to celebrate the hard work of our True Parents who gave us this blessing as an opportunity to share this blessing with the world around us. We felt very honored to be able to receive the Blessing from our True Mother while she is still here with us on earth. What made it the most significant experience was the joy our parents felt seeing their children receiving the blessing. Having them there to celebrate and experience what they did when they received the Blessing many years ago was something special that we'll never forget. Thank you & we love you True Parents."

Michael Cruz (Kansas)
& Yukie Morita (Kanagawa, Japan)

"The smaller special Blessing for missionary couples was not something either of us expected but turned out to be a truly wonderful experience. Not only were we able to celebrate True Mother’s Birthday with her, but we were able to grow closer to the other couples and supporting staff due to the more intimate nature of the Blessing. One of the highlights was the opportunity of taking photos in the Heavenly Palace, but also attending Korea for the first time. Being an international couple, we plan to work on getting the Visa process started as we continue to plan for our future life together as a Blessed couple. We are both very family centric, so are most looking forward to meeting the children Heavenly Parent may give us in the future."

We encourage you to celebrate and support those from the Midwest who prepared and attended the February 15th 2024 Heavenly Top Gun Special Blessing Ceremony and the April 24th 2024 Cosmic Blessing!

Each have navigated a unique journey to find each other, and all are honorable in making this next invaluable step of an eternal commitment of true love before our Heavenly Parent.
There were seven couples in total, with at least one from the Midwest, who were able to attend this year.

If there is a couple you would like to suggest to be added to this feature, please contact our Midwest BFM Team at sr3bfm@kcfamilyfed.org.

Mr. Kim Felberbauer (Ohio)
& Dr. Lovis Accra (Guyana)

"The Blessing process was intense for me. However, I am happy at the outcome. Thank you Heavenly Parent and True Parents. I am also grateful to all the persons who worked very hard to prepare such a wonderful evening and Blessing atmosphere for my spouse and I. A great thank you to the Ohio church and Pastor Gloria Laurent." - Mr. Felberbauer

"Despite all of the challenges that were faced during the preparation process leading up to the Blessing, I can say that miracles are real and that I am grateful to Heavenly Parent and True Parents for this amazing grace."
- Dr. Accra

Nobuaki Iwamoto (Berkeley, California)
& Reimi Mizuguchi (Berkeley, California)

"We are grateful to find each other and receive the Blessing from True Mother. A highlight was meeting other new couples receiving the Blessing. Our next step is living together in California as we both finish university this year and then move to Indiana next year. It’s been so fun, and we look forward to experiencing life in a new way with each other."

Masahiro Abe (California)
& Judith Kinda (Michigan)

"There were many highlights from being able to participate in the Blessing at Washington DC. One of the most important highlights was the opportunity to be able to share this moment with our families and friends. Also, the moment when the mic was passed around to hear from our parents is something that I will always remember. We are excited to start this life together, to learn more about each other, to grow and support each other, and build a family centered on God."

Norikuni Nishikawa (Indiana)
& Samara Zacarias da Silva Pinho (São Paulo, Brazil)

"Since this year's Blessing had a smaller group of couples, I was grateful to actually have multiple opportunities to reconnect with old friends and get to know their spouses that I never met before. Seeing True Mother up close was also a huge blessing for the both of us and we were happy to stick around in Cheongpyeong after the Blessing. We are currently happily living together in Brazil and looking forward to growing our spirituality and preparing for our long-term stay in Indiana."