Our Story

We first met at a dance in Fall of 2008.

No, we did not immediately hit it off.

Cebre was busy dancing with all of her friends, and met Hiram through some of her newest acquaintances (who happened to be some of Hiram's oldest friends). Over the music, Hiram struggled to learn Cebre's pronunciation of her name; after asking multiple times, he finally learned it was "Say-Bruh."

For the remainder of fall semester at BYU, we were acquaintances who saw each other at football games, some breakfasts, or occasionally at a chance outing such as the Malt Shoppe.

However, at the beginning of winter semester of '09, Hiram walked into Cebre's Rel 122 - Book of Mormon class. She, along with their two friends, begged and pleaded with him to add the class and stay, and he did.

Here our friendship became more real: Cebre consistently chattered and distracted Hiram during study sessions, which almost always resulted in Hiram's leaving in pursuit of more productive studying. The small group of friends would meet both before and after classes to eat, socialize, and laugh.

One day, before class, Cebre heard Hiram and a friend talking about meeting up at Hiram's that evening. Being nosy, Cebre asked what they were doing that night, and if she could come, too. Hiram, shocked, responded that he was opening his mission call, and that Cebre could probably come if she wanted. After a bit of coaxing from mutual friends, Cebre decided that she would attend, only to learn as she walked into Hiram's home that only his closest family and friends were the invitees. Cebre sat back quietly, guessed "America" as his mission destination, and tried for once not to draw attention to herself.

Hiram was called to the England London mission. Cebre's guess was incredibly off.

Hiram, excited about serving his future mission, focused primarily on finishing up school and mission preparations. After Hiram left for the Missionary Training Center in Preston, England, Cebre became a resident assistant in Helaman Halls at BYU. Daily, she would check her mail for letters from Hiram and other friends.

For the next twelve months, Hiram grew to love the culture in England, the young men he was serving with, and the people he was serving. Cebre consistently used the locker #326 for her backpack or purse in the Cannon Center, remembering daily that 3/26 was Hiram's birthday.

In May of 2010, Hiram sent Cebre a contraband email, asking for her address. He quickly received a short message from Cebre with a London address, and a message: "Surprise! I'm in LONDON!"

For the next few months, we wrote short notes back and forth, that traveled both by post and by the hands of other missionaries. While both of us were in London, we did not see each other, although both of us literally hid when we thought we were in close proximity of the other. (See here for that blogpost from 2010!)

Hiram came back from his mission in May of 2011. We later met up for a casual lunch date. Hiram was still fresh off of his mission, though, and unknowingly was uncomfortable while walking unchaperoned with Cebre around campus. A few months later, we went on our first official date.

Our friendship grew, and we soon realized that we wanted to be best friends for, well, forever. Just one year and two weeks after our first date, we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Oakland Temple. Read "His Story" and "Her Story" for more details.

Of course, our story isn't over. Feel free to read along as our story unfolds.