Hola mi familia! Talk about a crazy week! A lot of things happened this week. It wasn't the best week I had on my mission. I had a lot of trials happen this week but the rewards are amazing! That is the beautiful thing about the gospel. The Lord chastens His people to help them grow and provide blessings to them. I have seen it a lot on my mission. I still got a chance to see some exciting things happen and I want to share it with y'all!
First off, the lesson in Layton went super well! I was shaking with nervousness, which hasn't happened in like forever. The only reason why I was shaking because I was afraid that Alvarado (The deaf man that I am currently teaching) is not going to understand my sign language.
The lesson went smoothly and it turns out that I was well-prepared (I studied a ton for the lesson). Alvarado understood me very well. The other missionaries were surprised at my ASL skills. I credit everything to the Lord and His gift of tongues! The Gift of Tongues is real! ASL isn't that difficult to do! It is very easy to learn. I am currently teaching Elder Cook how to teach in Sign Language (he was called Spanish) and says that ASL is a little easier than Spanish! :D The language of the deaf is the BEST, besides English! ;)
Alvarado is a stud. He is originally from Mexico and was born hard of hearing but when he was growing up, he lost all but 1% of his hearing, which renders him unable to receive a cochlear implant. To get a cochlear implant, you need to be completely deaf. He signs completely but he mouths out really well. Alvarado is dating a girl, who is hearing and knows ASL. They are getting married in August and wants to be sealed in the temple in March 2016. Alvarado is super solid and so ready to be baptized on March 21st. He is super stoked.
A really funny thing happened, on the way back from Layton, my companion, Elder Cook, was calling one of the Elders (Elder Mantell) in the District. Elder Mantell served in Clearfield a few months ago and was sharing all of the Spanish stories to Elder Cook. He translated Spanish to English when Alvarado + his family was visited by Alvarado's girlfriend's family (who is from Australia). Now, we are going to be baptizing Alvarado. How crazy is that?!
I am so pumped to be teaching Alvarado. He is super awesome! We have an another lesson with him down in Layton this Saturday and while we were coming back, we saw a H+M mall in Layton. Elder Cook really wants to schedule a lesson with Alvarado on a Tuesday (pday for us) so he can hit up the H+M store right before the lesson with Alvarado! hahahahahaha
Shy is doing sooo good! She is doing very well and is doing everything that she needs to! Last Sunday, Elder Cook and I gave a talk on the Atonement in one of the family wards that we cover and it turns out that there is a missionary giving a homecoming talk right after us. Shy's boyfriend is really good friends with him so Shy came to the family ward.
At that sacrament meeting, I gave the best talk I have given in my entire life. I was talking about the Atonement and then, connected everything to baptism. It was super smooth and I was super happy about it. We got to talk to Shy right after it and she told us that she has a lot of thinking to do because she learned some new things in our talks that she needs to ponder about, which is always exciting to hear!
The finding in the area is going really well. We found a couple of potential investigators that wants to be baptized that we might be able to start teaching either this week or next week. Very exciting stuff! I will keep you updated on that! I am very excited to see how this area is progressing. Some great things are happening and some of the wards are very pleased with our efforts. They are beginning to trust us with more solid referrals, which is ALWAYS good! :)
I love y'all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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