Hey there, it's your favorite day of the week once again! It's my favorite, that's for sure. Quick recap time!
The ASL Facebook page ran out of content this week. We film short videos about gospel principles, and we ran out of videos on Tuesday. We made a plan to go film videos on Wednesday at Balboa park. All the ASL missionaries from all over the mission pulled up and we ventured into the park to find neat shots to film videos against. While some of us were filming, random people would just come up and talk to those of us watching! Some wanted to argue why their beliefs of the Bible were right (but more importantly why we are wrong) and others spilled their entire life story onto us.
That day also happened to be the day I was born, just 20 years later. How convenient? We didn't do anything too out of the ordinary, as the work still must go on! We had a lesson with a deaf family (yes, an entire family of people who are deaf) which is more than anything I could wish for. We took a road trip all the way down south where they lived, and just got to know them. The Dad was hearing and spoke Spanish, but the Mom and all their children lost their hearing when around the time they were 4 years old. It was an absolute blast to talk to a young deaf kid, who can sign faster and crazier than anything I've ever seen! He was telling me about his favorite Nintendo Switch game and what he played during PE today. I knew none of these signs (I typically don't discuss the Nintendo Switch with our friends) and he was definitely enjoying teaching me the signs for his hobbies.
One thing that the Dad told my companion (who can speak Spanish) is that it's hard for him to communicate with his kids. All his kids only know ASL, but he doesn't know hardly any. He said it breaks his heart when his kids ask their mother to interpret what he's saying. The Mom can read lips, so she's able to interpret between her kids and their own father. It was a humbling moment and made me reflect on the communication with my own family! I am so grateful for the ability to communicate with my parents, without any language barrier. I didn't even realize that's something I should be grateful for until I saw someone who didn't have the same opportunity. Elder Sabin recently shared a conference talk about the same subject this last October, called Hallmarks of Happiness. Fun fact, he's my area 70 down here.
Thanksgiving was a blast! I talked to Crystal for about two hours in ASL, which made my brain hurt after that. One interesting thing in ASL is that the sign for Thanksgiving is close to the sign for Turkey. That's pretty darn cringe, because why are we removing gratitude from the most thankful day of the year? That's like taking Christ out of Christmas... oh wait.
Today we went to the zoo! It's a blast. If you come to San Diego, definitely come and watch animals. It's like going outside, but not dangerous and it's paved! I saw a camel, so it was definitely worth the time and money. Funny moment, a tour bus passed by while we were walking from one exhibit to the other, and the bus driver made a comment saying that there was an animal on the right that if you give coffee it'll go crazy (-_-). Very smh.
Guys, listen up! Jesus is all around you, with his fingers in your life. If you haven't seen it, start looking for it because it's there! I hope you guys had a thankful week and I hope you have an even more thankful week this coming week. Catch you on the floppity flop.
-- Elder Coxson
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