Sunday's are my favorite day of the week.
Here's a few reasons why.
-First and most importantly I have the opportunity to attend my sunday meetings. To reflect on my Savior and what he has done for me personally
-I don't have to worry about work or school
-It's a day to relax and spend time with the people I care about (which usually means game night in my family)
- But within the last few months it also means that if I have energy after my three hours of church I attend the first hour of a Deaf Singles Ward.
Ever since I was in Junior High I remember being facinated by the way deaf people communicate. I always wanted to be fluent but never dedicated my time and effort into trying. Never until this past year. About 3 months ago I decided to change my major from nursing to Deaf Studies with an emphasis in Interpreting. I couldn't be more happy and satisfied with my decision. I have never been so eager or excited to learn something in my entire life. It amazes me the joy I find just being around the language, culture, and people. It's incredible the instant love I feel for the deaf people I meet.
I find myself trying to imagine what it must be like to grow up deaf. The hardships they must face on a day to day basis with not being able to fully communicate with those who don't speak their language. You might say, well thats a struggle for anyone who doesn't speak the language they are surrounded by. But I ask you this question, how many people do you know that are fluent in sign language..?
In my current ASL class my teacher likes to play a game where he makes up a situation and without speaking or signing (because not very many hearing people know sign) we have to communicate the issue we are having. For example going to a hotel and something being wrong with your room and needing to tell the employee what needs to be fixed. After completely embarrassing myself in a game very similar to charades it hit me how difficult and frustrating that must be for them. My heart ached for these amazing people and the hardships they had to go through.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not talking down on deaf people at all. In fact I'm doing the complete opposite. I am expressing how amazed I am by them. By how beautifully they see life and how positive they are even when times are hard.
Yesterday I attended their sacrament after my own like so many weeks prior. To my surprise there was not a deaf person in sight. After several minutes standing around with the most confused look on my face, I found out that the deaf part of the ward was combined with the family ward here in provo. I don't know why and I don't know how that made them feel but it made me sad for them. After searching for a few minutes we found the family deaf ward and instantly felt welcome and loved. We were greeted by three or more older people expressing how happy they were to meet us. During the meeting we watched the cute little kids sign and it completely melted my heart.
And again it was confirmed that I am in the right major because I love these people so much!
