Jill Duggar is now the second daughter in the family to enter into a courtship, but she says she started falling in love with the boy before they met face to face.

25-year old Derick Dillard met patriarch Jim Bob Duggar while doing missionary work and the two exchanged information to stay in contact regarding their work. As Jim Bob got to know Dillard, he says, he was very impressed.

“I had gotten an email from Derick a few years ago and gave him my phone number so he could share the work he was doing in Nepal,” Jim Bob said. “I was impressed with him as I got to know him over the years. He sounded like an amazing young man. I felt like from the beginning, they had similar personalities and goals. I thought they would hit it off.”

Dillard got to know Jill through text and Skype–which was supervised by their parents, as all courtships are–and she says they clicked right away.

“We got to know each other in the first few months pretty quickly,” Jill said. “I was in love with someone I had never met in person, but we really knew each other well.”

After finally meeting late last year, the couple began courting in November. Sister Jessa is also in a courtship, and several of the older Duggar girls have written a book–Growing Up Duggar–in which they talk about what it means to be in a relationship in their family.

“It’s easy to put yourself into physical and moral danger and give into those emotions or sensual thoughts that promise pleasant, but only temporary, fulfillment. By censoring our thoughts through the filter of God’s word, we will be able to recant any wrong thoughts or temptations that try to sneak in,” the sisters wrote.

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