This week was relatively uneventful. It started off with a hoot- Sis B and I went to get our hair cut at the Staunton school of hair...always risky business, but perhaps especially risky in such a small town. The gayest of gay men was my "stylist," bless his heart. He was pretty new in the program and my long thick hair was just SO awkward in his well-groomed hands! We had a very nice chat as I described to him that no, I am not a nun, and that yes, there are books of scripture that do not include the AA manual. Luckily the instructor was there to make up the difference and notice that I had several "holes" in my current haircut and the length was actually rather uneven....HAHAHA whoops...that would be the fault of my own hands...
It's freezing here! I busted out a coat and tights and scarf because we were just so chilled! The leaves are barely starting to turn...we are eagerly waiting for the glorious bursts of mountainside colors!
So we received ZERO phone call last night, which means that we are staying in Stauton! We were actually kind of confused bc we sent president a letter that said, "Hey, we want to focus on deaf work in the whole stake instead of just Stanton and we want English missionaries to come in so that the English work gets full attention here while we just focus on finding deaf people..." and he texted us this week and said:
"I'm on board with your big idea. You were sent there for a reason. Yow two have autonomy to walk in faith into new territory. I trust you..."
And so we thought, ok, English coming in, we are spreading out geographically and narrowing in socio-linguistically. But then we got no phone call...so...we're interpreting "autonomy to walk in faith into new territory" and the just a little hesitant "I trust you..." to mean we can do whatever we want. So...we have some college campuses to hit and new cities to explore in addition to what we've started here. We're going to start having ASL classes in the branch and the RS sisters are just tickled. It's all just one big work in progress, we'll see what ends up happening.
Speaking of English work, you would never guess just how different it is. I mean, at the end of the day, the gospel is the gospel, but I FEEL the differences in teaching. Firstly, having an entire language available at your command to teach someone something is just...kind of overwhelming! I definitely see now how native missionaries tend to teach just way too much to people, they can just say SO much! The cultural differences are so apparent too...Hispanics are generally very welcoming, but not super committed. Americans are... more skeptical, but a little more educated. Sis B and I taught actual lessons for the first time together this week and it was hilarious that I just had no English words for things. I was trying to describe the differences in the kingdoms of glory and the only thing coming to my head was "Cual brilla mas?" And so I was like, "so...which is more brilliant? No, that doesn't make sense. Which has more shine? No, no, let me try again...you see how the sun shines more brightly than the moon...?" hahaha Sis B tried to help me out, bless her heart, I just have never really taught it much in English and don't have all her fancy words to express myself! Drawing the obvious parallels that the sun has more glory than the moon wasn't really going over well with a college educated individual...but I just figured, whatever, bear down in pure testimony, that always brings the spirit! We had a tri-lingual day this week, which was cool- we taught lessons in Spanish, English, and ASL. One of our investigators was like, "I've never met anybody that speaks in 3 languages in one day, and I've lived in Europe! It's like meeting a celebrity!" haha, made me laugh :) And even though the recipients of those languages probably spent some time confused, it really is a blessing to be able to communicate with so many people!
We had a sweet branch activity at a farm this weekend. I got to pet Pedro the donkey, see some pigs, feed some llamas, collect eggs from some chickens, and smell some cows. Affirmed to me once again that a) I am DEFINITELY in the country and b) I never need to live on a farm. Sure fun to experience though! The pic I attached is clearly me and hungry llama :)
Thanks for the weekly emails, as always, I really look forward to them. I've realized once again, it hit me last night when no phone call came just like when I opened my call, just how much I do not know where exactly this crazy mission road is taking me in life. I do know though, that it's such a blessing. I'm trying hard to enjoy every day and be the best missionary I can! Every week I try to hit you with the fun parts and the happy parts and the joy-filled parts and it helps me remember that it's all so worth it!
Loves!
Hermana Sinclair
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