Drinking from the Firehose

I got to teach my first investigator! Her name was April. She moved from NYC to Provo to go to UVU. We had four lessons with her and she agreed to be baptized! I found my problem is not my lack of knowledge of ASL, but my wanting to spill all of my spiritual knowledge to the investigator when they just asked a spiritual question. It's like how we tease you, Dad: Ask me the time, I'll tell you how to build a watch. April, as it turns out, is actually Sister Livingood. One of our teachers. So it will be fun to see her in class and try not to call her April.

Can I just say, my teachers are AWESOME. We have Brother Horlacher, Brother Featherstone, and Sister Livingood. Bro H is hearing and served his ASL mission in San Jose, CA. Bro F is deaf and served his English mission in Australia where he learned Australian Sign Language too. What a boss. And, we don't know too much about Sister L just yet, but that will be corrected soon. But seriously. These teachers though.

My companion and I are having fun together. The poor girl has to be subjected to my anti-everything mood in the mornings. I just don't do mornings. And we have fun with the other sisters, Sister Garcia and Sister Slaughter. They are all super cute and funny, and I am glad they appreciate my sarcasm and sass, haha.

The elders in our ASL classes? Let's just say mine and Sis S favorite sign is signing "Elder" and shaking our heads. They are so funny. I have a blast with all of them and I am glad those who are fluent are willing to help me improve my ASL.

So the devotionals here? They really take them seriously. Sunday Devotion we had Tad R. Callister. Wow. And Tuesday? Elder Richard G. Scott. And apostle of the Lord. And this is a normal thing. Wow.

If I could make you all do whatever I wanted, I would make you go watch Elder David A Bednar's talk, "The Character of Christ." It will change your life. I absolutely loved it. It is something I will definitely go and watch again. And it also reminds me why Elder Bednar is my favorite apostle, the close second being Elder Holland.

Besides ASL, what else have I learned here? What has already changed about me? Well, I learned a lot, and there is no way I could list them all here, but what has changed? I have found my prayers have changed. Sometimes we get in the habit of praying for the same things without any feeling at all. I am definitely one of those people. But I am starting to really pay attention to the time I have to talk to my Father in Heaven, and allow him to comfort and guide me as I move along this path he has set before me. I have also felt the spirit is with me more and more often. I appreciate every moment I have it with me. It is a wonderful feeling.

Remember, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith!"

Love you all!

Sister Smyly Crawford \|,,|