Apr 15, 2010

My BuBu

Introducing:
Munkherdene Mendbayar and Sosobarum Badamkhand
These two Mongolians got married Sept 15th, 2005. The Temple district they are in...Hong Kong. Only 1812 miles south-southeast of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Needless to say, they had to wait to go to the Temple. The wait is over! They recently went to the Temple--oh happy day!! This picture was taken at Disneyland in Hong Kong, cause who can deny the chance to meet Mickey?

Since they couldn't make it to the temple first, they had a slightly traditional Mongolian wedding.



Aren't they beautiful?!

She is MY Mongolian. She was a missionary companion of mine, twice. Since Badamkhand is a little hard for some to pronounce (Bottom-hond) we called her Sister B. We used to laugh and have a great time together. I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Her birthday and 4th of July. Keep in mind, most of these were firsts for her. Ok, except New years and her birthday, she did celebrate those before. It was so fun to experience these things for the first time with her. Then I was able to attend the temple with her for the departing missionaries trip. And finally, I got to go with her to the airport, get her checked in and watch her head home. Nothing binds a friendship like sharing the spirit. And that sweet spirit turned our friendship into pure sisterhood. I love this sweet sister of mine.

Along the way, she picked up the nickname BuBu. Not once in the last 7 years has my BuBu lost contact with me, all the way from Mongolia! BuBu has a tender and loving heart. She is a great cook, loves to joke around, loves makeup (I know, perfect for me, right?), gets excited to see cute little children, loves dogs (not cats) and has a sweet love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My BuBu taught me about Mongolia: culture, delicious food (NOT Mongolian BBQ, those are lying Chinese people...LOL a whole other story), she taught me a very little bit of her language and that Genghis Khan is really pronounce Chinggis Haan. Most importantly, she taught me to connect with others by listening to their hearts if I can't understand their words.
I listened to her heart for one-third of my mission and loved every second of it. I love MY BuBu!

I have to say, I was very close with a few companions. My sisters were my heart and soul while I was a missionary. Such sweet memories. I feel as though these sisters prepared me to be a better wife.

4 comments:

Stacy Pettersen said...

Somehow along the way? Come on, we all know you can't be Casey's friend without a great nickname! =)

That is a really cool story and maybe it will help inspire your children to go on missions. They are a beautiful couple!

Katheryn said...

That is wonderful that they made it to the temple! I sure love MY mongolian too. She was my trainer. Sadly though, she is the only companion that I haven't been able to keep in contact with after my mission. I lost contact with her about 2 years after my mission and haven't been able to find her since. She is a wonderful person and taught me so much. And you are right, I really do thing my mission companions totally helped me prepare to be a wife and mother. I don't know what my life would be like without them!

Amber said...

I'm so happy to see BuBu. Please tell her, wht was my name again, anyway please tell her hi from me.

Christina Brinkworth said...

Ahhhh Sister B. She looks agazing and those pictures are really cool!!