🇺🇸Shinya Masuyama

I'd like to share a little about my experience coming back from Korea. I'm so grateful to have been able to attend the Blessing this year — we didn't know until close to the day whether it was going to happen at all. This is me and Hwa Joo. I want to show some pictures, and share what it was like to be Blessed in Korea.

This was the first Blessing without the presence of True Parents. If you know the current situation in Korea, you know it was a special and unique experience in many ways. Here are some more pictures of her and her family.

It was a really meaningful experience. The highlight was definitely exchanging rings with each other — nerve-wracking and chaotic, as you'd expect from a Blessing. We barely slept. But we were so grateful to be able to celebrate with so many friends and brothers and sisters.

We received so many gifts and flowers from her friends and ours. It was truly a day of celebration, and we feel hopeful about the future, and what lies ahead.

Before the Blessing, we had the 66th anniversary of True Parents' Holy Wedding. That was a heavy moment for me, because True Parents weren't there — True Mother wasn't there. We were making all these beautiful offerings, and the question kept surfacing: what is it all for? What are we all offering for?

I was deeply reflecting on how we could offer the best gift to True Parents. After the Blessing, my spirit felt more uplifted, with the sense that we are committing to building a peaceful world through our families and through true love. I feel really grateful — excited and hopeful — to be part of that. I know many other couples feel the same way.