BuBu the Brave

If you've ever met my youngest daughter, you'll know she is very shy and quiet at first. However, I have been amazed at the bravery she finds in helping those in need and sharing our faith.

BuBu (Boo Boo), a nickname my husband gave her at birth that we all later adopted, has a great love for creatures great and small. A few years ago when she was really little, she went outside after it rained only to rescue a worm from the driveway. She did not want it to get run over by the car! As I am a wuss when it comes to creepy, crawly things, she is the complete opposite. She ran inside to get a tupperware container, filled it with leaves and a stick and then gently placed the worm inside. Ironically, the worm died anyway when she left the container in the sun too long.

During her third grade year, she had a teacher who often took the kids outside to explore nature for their science portion of the day. One day I thought it was funny when BuBu came home excited that she had gotten to hold a frog! Because of that teacher, she learned more about amphibians and reptiles. I had to try not to laugh when she recently said, "Mom, reptiles are my favorite animals!"

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she is developing a great love for our faith.  BuBu grew to love that third grade teacher so much that at Christmastime, she wanted to give him something special. She found an extra copy of The Book of Mormon, a companion scripture to the Bible, that our family holds dear. She wrote an inscription on the inside, wrapped it up and gave it to her teacher. She continued to share CTR (Choose the Right) rings from church with her friends and invites her friends to church youth activities. She even got up to share her feelings about the gospel with the whole congregation during a Mormon testimony meeting.

She has inspired me and those in my family to share the light and knowledge that we have with our friends and neighbors and to respect the life of all creatures. BuBu reminds me of our Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, who would not let men kill a snake because it was one of God's creatures nor would he ever deny his faith or his testimony of The Book of Mormon.

Now when I see any bothersome creature, I think twice about taking its life and am learning to adopt her desire to share our faith with others. Though she is still young and very quiet, her actions have spoken volumes that motivate me to be a better person.