Serving the Deaf

Things have been going well in West Hills! Elder Walker and I have been pushing for the missionaries in our zone to find, teach, and baptize more. We have been seeing results from it as well. Elder Walker and I have been using sign language more and more frequently lately. We have been going home teaching with deaf members, interpreting in more meetings (Like Pioneer day), and doing a lot of service for deaf members.

On a stranger note, we had to give a deaf member's dog a blessing the other day. We tried to tell this sister that we weren't sure if the Priesthood was meant for animal blessings, but she was insistant. We ended up giving the blessing anyway. It was really strange, but the dog actually ended up recovering. I guess it's not really a mission until you have an animal blessing story. It has been a huge growing experience being thrown into sign language like this. I never thought I would be able to converse with deaf people. I know that God truly blesses His missionaries. I have seen so many miracles as I have served out here, too many to count. I hope everything is going well for all of you!

Diving Into Sign Language

Hey everyone, this week has been pretty good for me. Now that Elder Lyman has left, I have been forced to study sign language harder than I did before. I have been learning a lot, but it has also been really hard. I'm grateful that our heavenly Father allows us to go through hard things, so that we can learn and grow from them. Elder Walker has been a great companion so far too. He is from Star valley, Wyoming and is a great guy. I realized recently that I haven't had a single hard companion yet and I am over halfway done with my mission. All of my companions have been great. I hope that doesn't mean that I'm going to get a brutal one soon. We'll see I guess. It's good to know that whatever happens, that is what God wants for me. Love you all!

Transfers! (Post from July 11, 2011)

Hey everyone, I'm really short on time because transfers are today. Elder Lyman is leaving, and I'm getting Elder Walker in his place. I'm pretty nervous, because with Elder Lyman gone, I'll have to start ASL interpreting in Sacrament meeting. Keep me in your prayers! I'm really going to need them. I love you all and hope you are doing well!

Limitless Happiness and Freedom

This has been a pretty crazy week for me. We went on exchanges this week, and I got to serve in the Korean branch for a day. We taught some Korean investigators some simple english (Well, my Korean-speaking companion did, I mainly just stood there). It was a cool experience though. It helped to see how the work is going forward in all corners of the world and in almost every language. I also had a surprise visit from my Dad this week. He was in town for a business trip, and he was put in the hotel two blocks away from me, and so with the mission president's permission we went out and had lunch together. It was really nice. I am very grateful for this holiday we have to remember our freedom and the country we live in. Not only should we remember the freedom we have in this country, but the spiritual freedom our Heavenly Father has given us. There is a battle for our freedom still raging all around us. Our Heavenly Father wants us to be free, and Satan wants to enslave us. I know that the plan of salvation is not only the plan of happiness, but also the plan of freedom. If we continue following our savior, we will not only attain limitless happiness, but also limitless freedom. I hope all of you had a great Independence Day!