So let's all take a trip back in time to a little over a year ago when I got my mission call...you may or may not recall the tears...or sobs rather...of disappointment. I just really thought deep down I'd serve ASL and I wasn't too thrilled that God had other plans. I more or less came to terms and headed off still ready to serve wherever God sent me. I headed to the MTC and quite frankly it was often painful to see the ASL missionaries up in front at every large meeting, my heart was still there, but I was trying hard to move on. When I came to VA and got immerse in the real deal of the mission I forgot completely about all the sadness and just really got into the Spanish. It was HARD and still is hard, but God qualifies those He calls. You might recall that awesome story when I ran into the deaf family? Yeah, that was SWEET, but I really just love hispanics, so I didn't feel like I was missing out on a thing. I had an interview with President Perry a few weeks ago and he asked me about something that had been on his mind...and he asked me to keep it to myself because he wasn't quite sure about it yet...but last night was transfer call night. And I got some SHOCKING news. I mean, really, truly, SHOCKING. But I think by now you know where this is going...
He asked me to be an ASL missionary.
Are you FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW?! Because I sure was! When he pitched the idea to me, honestly my first reaction was sadness. I thought, "But wait- I love hispanics!" And my love of ASL had sort of disappeared...replaced by a new love for a people I have had the opportunity to serve with. I REALLY love them. But then, I remembered that at one point I really loved Deaf people and so of course I told him that would be a great blessing to serve them if I had the opportunity. So I spent the past 2.5 weeks knowing that it was a vague possibility. This past week I spent some time brushing up as he asked me to and getting really really anxious not knowing what language my future held! And then I got the official call. I'm going to Stanton, VA home of a deaf college! Me and 2 other sisters who know ASL are headed up there to scope it out...the first official ASL missionaries this mission has ever seen :) President told me last night that it would be a spanish/english/ASL trio up there, but that there wasn't much spanish work as far as he knew. Obviously I'm in charge of whatever spanish work we do find (the other two sisters are english), but I'm making the big leap to English work for the majority of the time. Do you know what this requires? A NEW NAMETAG. "Sister Sinclair American Sign Language" I'm kind of having an identity crisis...I'm an HERMANA! And all I know is Spanish work...so pretty much everything about this next transfer is going to be a big adventure! Three sisters brand-new to an area trying to scope out the deaf population...pretty much a DREAM COME TRUE! I'm totally freaking out because my brain is wired to spanish and I haven't used ASL in SO long, and when I reviewed some online it was pretty much completely forgotten from my brain...but it'll come back. God will bring it back anyway :) I have no idea how long I'll be there or what this means for the rest of my mission, but WOW. I wish I could see all your reactions right away- you'll just have to really capture them well for me in the next email :)
So that was pretty much the shock of all shocks and has been causing me serious stress for the past few weeks. It's a little more resolved now that it's really happening, but I have a lot of praying to do. I have that MTC-feeling where you just have no idea what to expect and you are kind of nervous and scared and very much aware how much humbling you are about to experience! So I'm packing up and heading out on Thursday. OH! And the other Hermanas are staying and my beloved Hna Vazquez is coming to join them! Fun, huh?
OH! We DID go the the baby delivery this week! It was crazy. We woke up at 4am and headed to the hospital and met her there for the big event. Poor thing was TERRIFIED. She's had not-so-good experiences with anesthesia, so she was just scared out of her mind. And bless her heart she had three young white girls trying to help her! What do we know about having babies?! So we sat there with her for a few hours and when the nurses asked who she wanted to have go in with her...well the most spanish speaking hermana won out and the lucky winner was ME. The nurse was like, "You won't see too much but there will be sounds and smells that you should prepare yourself for..." And I'm thinking, "ok, I can do this. I can suck this up for a woman who asked for help in a time of need. Adrenaline will kick in, right? NOT GOING TO PASS OUT." To my everlasting credit I watched them take her blood to see if I could take it. AND I DID. But bless his heart, her husband was able to get work off at the LAST MINUTE and go in there with her, which was an answer to her prayers I'm sure. For a while it was just me and her and her esposo and they were like, "Hey, so we don't have any names- what's your name? We'll just name the baby after you!" HAHAHAHA I was like, "how about I just make you a list that you can choose from?" I couldn't remember any names, so I just went through my name, my companions names, our moms names, our sisters names...hahaha. I thought it would be just hilarious if they ended up with a little baby Mona :) They ended up with Cindy...which didn't make the list actually, but ah well. We saw her a few days later and that tiny bean was just the cutest!
How fun that you got to talk to Elder Lansing and get the scoop on me from President ;) God is just so sneaky, huh? Sends me to a mission where the area authority that dad reports to lives! Glad to hear that good things are coming through the grapevine...sometimes as a missionary you just feel like you are the only missionary in the world and when the work is slow, it's hard to feel like YES! I'M A GOOD MISSIONARY! so it's nice to hear some positive feedback. Sounds like President had my ASL transition on the brain if he was sharing that...because my "experiences" have been a whopping ONE. hahaha. It's so easy to love President Perry, I am so blessed by his leadership! He empowers missionaries and loves to build us up. He's great.
Have fun on your big rafting trip and school prep! Make sure to document! I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers. Keep on being the best family ever.
Hermana Sinclair
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