Spencer and Erika Choquette

Welcome to the beginning of your marriage journey! We are excited for you to be a part of this process and pray that you find great fruit and growth through 'Witness to Love'.

A little about us: We were married on June 28, 2014 after dating for two years. Prior to our courtship, we met at Nebraska Wesleyan University where we both attended college. Since being married we have lived in the Omaha area where we've been parishoners at St. Margaret Mary and currently at St. Gerald. We have two children, and a third on the way (as of this writing). Grayson is our oldest, 4, and Saige, our second, is our angel. She was with us for nine days before going to her eternal rest. Erika works as a nurse at both Children's Orthopedic Clinic and for Essential Pregnancy Services. Spencer is an educator and serves as the principal at Anderson Grove Elementary in Papillion La Vista.

In our spare time we love to spend time outdoors and with our family. We both enjoy sports and were fortunate to play competitively at Nebraska Wesleyan, but we now enjoy the recreation of sports and activities like walking, running, biking, golfing, and going to the lake . We also love spending time with our families. Erika's family is in the Omaha area, where she is originally from, and Spencer's family is in Kansas City and central Nebraska (Minden), where he grew up on his parents farm.

Since being at St. Gerald's we've found ways to be involved with the parish. We attend mass regularly, have been a part of parish wide book studies, and are now a mentor couple for newly engaged (you). Spencer is an active member of the Knights of Columbus and a part of a "That Man is You" bible study group on Saturday mornings. We love our faith and parish community.

Ryan and Nicole Kisicki

Congratulations on your engagement! Please know of our prayers for you as you prepare for the Sacrament of marriage.

Nicole, originally from southwest Minnesota, moved to Omaha in 2017 and Ryan is an Omaha native. We met at a Bible study hosted at the time by Nicole's roommate in the spring of 2019. After two months of friendship we started dating. Those eight months led to our engagement in February 2020. Six months of engagement during a global pandemic was nothing short of a challenge bringing us to our wedding on September 12, 2020 - feast of the Holy name of Mary! Our marriage has been blessed with the addition of two boys (at the time of this writing) - Simon (2.5 years) and Henry (4 months). Nicole is a middle school teacher and Ryan is a residential designer.

Ryan grew up in St. Gerald's parish and Nicole, while being a lifelong Catholic, joined St. Gerald's parish after our wedding which took place at St. Peter's Catholic Church downtown Omaha. We have become involved in many of the great opportunities that St. Gerald's has to offer - Mass, Adoration, Alpha, Alive and Well, Oasis, discipleship, Nazareth, child care coordinating, mom's group, Knights of Columbus, lector, greeter, welcome desk, coffee ministry, and marriage preparation.

We look forward to meeting you and are honored to be a part of your marriage preparation journey!

Tim and Kristi Mundorf

Tim and Kristi are not quite high school sweethearts. We met the summer after high school graduation and married in the fall of 1991, right after college graduation.

We both grew up on farms in southwest Iowa. Tim grew up Baptist and went through RCIA after we were married. Kristi grew up Catholic, with a Catholic father and a Lutheran mother. We have raised two girls, Katherine (husband Jacob and son John) and Victoria, who both attended St. Gerald’s School, Papillion/La Vista High School and the University of Nebraska Lincoln. We are now proud grandparents.

We have both been involved in many organizations at St. Gerald’s, including Knights of Columbus, Parish Council, Habitat for Humanity, That Man Is You, Maintenance Committee, Home and School, Choir and Alpha. We have always found St. Gerald’s to be a welcoming, faith-filled community and we have made many life-long friends here.

We both felt called to join the Witness To Love ministry and are excited to share our faith and love with couples as they begin this beautiful journey together. God has many amazing gifts to share with you through your marriage vocation. Keep your hearts open to hear His voice.

Evan and Alexa Pille

Evan and Alexa met as freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They got to chatting at a launch party for the university literary magazine. Alexa was a magazine editor, and Evan was one of the published writers. They grew in their friendship and later started dating at the end of freshman year.

They got married after graduation (2018) at St. Thomas Aquinas in Lincoln. Then, in the summer of 2020, they welcomed their daughter, Linnea, into the world. God has always been an important part of their relationship, but they've both pushed each other to grow even more in their faith over the years. Their relationship has improved as a result.

They want to help other couples grow in their faith as well. They love playing tabletop games, video games, and reading.

Brian and Melissa Svoboda

What an exciting journey you are on! Congratulations on your engagement and approaching marriage! We are excited to meet you and work together on this sacred vocation of marriage you are entering soon!

A little about us:
Brian was born and raised in Papillion, NE. Brian comes from a large Catholic family and attended Catholic school from kindergarten through 8th grade. Brian then attended Papillion/Lavista High School graduating in 2001. After high school, Brian attended UNL-go HUSKERS! And graduated with a bachelors degree in Political Science.

Melissa was born and raised in Red Oak, IA. Melissa comes from a smaller Catholic sized family and community. After graduating from public school in 2002, Melissa attended UNL and graduated with a bachelors degree in Human Science.

Thanks to God and a mutual friend, we met in 2005 and were immediately drawn to one another and became inseparable. After moving to Omaha in 2007, we became engaged and parishioners of St. Gerald and began our marriage preparation. To this day we both acknowledge and appreciate the experience we had with our marriage prep. While we thought we already knew a lot about God and one another, the marriage prep process made those feelings even deeper and we were more confident than ever that we were preparing ourselves for forever to God and one another. We were married in 2008.

In 2009 we received the shock of our lives...we were expecting...TWINS! Our baby boys were due end of April 2010. Unfortunately, much to our surprise, they were born at 28 weeks, 3 months early. We spent the next 3 months praying for their survival and health and our prayers were answered at the end of April when they got to come home!

Parenting together has been an amazing journey and we both wouldn't want to be on this journey with anyone else. We have had several challenges through the years and together with the help of God, we have always come out on top. We have been through career changes, elementary school, and a pandemic together.

Even after a busy day from a full time job, an evening full of homework, and cub scout meetings; one of our favorite things to do is to sit down together at the end of the day and just talk or take a walk with our new puppy and be in each other's presence. In our spare time we do enjoy trying out new local restaurants, running, biking, fishing and traveling to the Ozarks.

This is your journey and no one else's. Remember at the end of day to laugh and enjoy each other! God bless!

Ray and Paula Szczepaniak

Congratulations! You have chosen to be married in the Catholic church in the midst of your parish family. These are exciting days for you, ones filled with planning and building dreams. We rejoice for you and already hold you in prayer.

The two of us met on a blind date and have been married for 32 years. We are parents to five adult children ranging in ages from 22-30 yrs old and are grandparents to one very special grandson! We have many individual interests, but together we love to spend time gardening, taking walks, enjoying evening campfires and spending time with family. Our Siberian Husky is our daily entertainment and constant companion.

We hope you find Witness to Love to be a down-to-earth, yet inspired marriage prep tool. Faith has always been the center of our relationship, but it would have been a real blessing to participate in such a welcoming, easy to use program when we were dating. It can be a challenge to add one more thing during this busy time before your wedding, but a God-centered preparation is important in building a life-long marriage. Enjoy the process! We are very excited for you and look forward to being a part of your journey!

Bryan and Natalie Voithofer

Congratulations on your engagement!

Bryan is a Chiropractor and we own our small business in Omaha. He is from Pennsylvania originally and moved here about 10 years ago. Natalie is an Omaha native and stays home with our children. We are expecting our 4th baby in 2024.

We volunteered to be part of the Marriage Formation Ministry because we believe so strongly about having a strong marriage foundation with God. We look forward to being part of your journey in preparing for your vocation!