The gift of tongues, except...hands

                                                        

   

        I had the most unique experience last Sunday that I forgot I was going to blog about. So I'm going to share it now. It was just like any other fast and testimony meeting. I was sitting in my seat rummaging around in my scripture back looking for my tithing envelope when I heard our 1st counselor say from the pulpit "We have a deaf person visiting our ward. She has asked if anyone knows any ASL at all, that they would go and help her understand the meeting." My mom's hand shot straight up in the air and she pointed to me. Brother Heaton looked at me and said "Loryn? Are you willing to help out our deaf visitor?" My eyes widened and I slowly nodded my head yes. With hundreds of eyeballs on me, I went over and sat by our deaf visitor. PAUSE. Now, I have only taken one year of sign language. My mom has been teaching me simple signs since I was little, but as far as interpreting goes? Yeah. No experience whatsoever. I can't even explain how nervous I felt. Okay, unpause. Sister Deaf-lady looked at me with thankful eyes. She was so excited that she was going to be able to understand the meeting. I kinda shook my head and signed "I'm so sorry, I'm only and ASL 1 student, I will try my best." She told me that she was just grateful for anything I could help her understand. I said a silent prayer that Heavenly Father would help guide my hands to sign well and so my mind would be clear so that I could remember everything I had been taught. I did have to ask her couple different signs like "salvation" and "Christ" and "baptism" so it was cool because I also learned so much. As I began signing, I realized it wasn't too bad. It came naturally and I felt pretty good. There wasn't some crazy "all of a sudden I'm fluent miracle" But Heavenly Father did guide my hands and my mind in a way that she could understand and feel the spirit.
     I honestly didn't think signing for a deaf person was a big deal, but as the testimonies started, I was so touched to hear that almost all of them mentioned me in some way. Many people related my act of brave service to missionary work, and how people don't know about the gospel and we have to go out of our way to help them understand so they can have the gospel in their lives. My eyes filled with tears as my home teacher, Brother Slack, got up to the pulpit and said how what I did for our deaf visitor had hit him hard. He said he could tell that I was nervous, but I was able to push through so someone could have the opportunity to feel the spirit and know what was going on. I could go on and on with people's kind words about my small but meaningful act of service.
   After the meeting was over, my new deaf friend told me how grateful she was that I would help her understand the meeting. I had multiple people tell me that was I did was inspiring.
    Now, I'm not trying to toot my own horn here. I know anyone would have helped her out. I wasn't expecting this kind of outcome. I was just simply willing to help someone understand the sacrament service. After the meeting, I know it was much more than that. My gratitude for the gospel had definitely increased. I know other's testimonies were strengthened as well as my own. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity to help someone understand sacrament meeting.

Youth conference 2015

        Holy cow. Youth conference was basically life changing for me. Not only was I excited to draw closer to my savior, but I was excited for the adventure. The first day I was ready for a three hour drive to Starvation Lake, but our leaders surprised us with a bunch of activities on the way. We pulled into a church parking lot in Alpine to a trailer full of mountain bikes. I probably have only been mountain biking once before, and knowing Brother Garrett, this was gonna be a tough trail. Needless to say, I crashed a few times.

    My youth leaders had us relate mountain biking and this tough trail to life and hard times. Sometimes the trail gets a little rocky. Sometimes you crash, and you get back up and keep going. My leaders gave me tips like "bend your knees and stand up to absorb the bumps!" and "use both brakes not just one!" If we learn from our leaders and parents we can avoid crashing all together. And if we do, they can help us.
     After the ride, I was a little embarrassed that I had crashed. I didn't want anyone to know that I was kinda hurt. But as I looked around, everyone had scraped up elbows, knees, and scrapes and bruises. EVERYONE had crashed at least once or twice. This can also be applied to the gospel. Don't be ashamed of your mistakes or your trials. Everyone has them.

      We also went surfing at provo beach, and repelling in American Fork canyon. Both of those things gave me a huge rush of adrenaline. I was so grateful to get out of my comfort zone and try new things. :) Also, we were trying to take a picture by the hippie van outside provo beach, and the alarm went off. *crying laughing emoji* It was hilarious.

    Once we got to camp, we had so many fun games and activities. I was grateful to hangout with my good friends and do things like tell scary stories around the fire, go stargazing on the dock, and go paddle boarding.

 

      Even though all of these things were fun, I was most grateful for testimony meeting. I was able to hear everyone's testimonies and I was also able to share my own. But the neatest part about this whole trip was after testimony meeting was over, this guy named Brother Maughn stood up and said, "I know testimony meeting is over, but I have a strong inclination to share something." And immediately I felt physical hands turn my body to face his direction and a small but firm voice say "listen." I felt the spirit head to toe. He shared experiences that were exactly what I needed to hear. I'm so grateful that people like Brother Maughn are willing to listen to the spirit. I hope I can be like him and be that close to the spirit. The church is true people, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to go to youth conference. ♥

 

November 29, 1998

   

     Well this is all new for me. I guess we'll see if I actually follow through with this whole blog thing. It looks fun, and I would love to share my thoughts and feelings instead of just writing them in my journal where no one sees. So here we go!

   You could say I'm just your average 16 year old girl. I like hanging out with friends, watching chick flicks, boys, chocolate, hiking, and reading. I have a passion for dancing. I've been dancing since I was three years old. You'll hear a lot about dance. I've been at studios, academies, dance companies, dance teams, and now I'm teaching dance and I'm a part of Westlake Drill Team. I hope to continue dancing through college.

   I love music. I play the piano and I love to sing. I'm fairly shy about my voice, so I've never really pursued that talent. I love going to concerts and discovering music. My taste in music ranges from Indie rock and folksy stuff, to pop music with a good bass that is good for dancing, to country music that's perfect for a hot summer day. If someone were to look through my spotify they would think I was all over the place. *crying laughing emoji*
     I've also always enjoyed painting and drawing. I guess I've just never had time to get good at it. I also just love being outside, and anything that has to do with athletics. I would play every sport if I could.
     I've always had an interest in photography. I work at a photography studio, where I'm being trained to be certified to become a photographer. I super duper excited about that, so there will be plenty of pictures posted I'm sure of that. :)
     I'm a firm believer in 11:11 and birthday wishes. Sometimes it's the little things in life that keep me going. Like staying up all night to read my favorite book, then waking up in the morning and grabbing it and reading until I have to pee or want breakfast or something. It's chasing down the ice cream truck for two blocks because it's fun. It's listening to someone's favorite song and learning things about them that you would never guess. Or taking a hot shower after a long day with your favorite music blasting. Or laughing with my best friend Sav (you'll hear plenty about her as well) until we collapse on the kitchen floor with tearstained cheeks. I have an obsession with quotes and poems because I believe other people are better at stringing my spontaneous thoughts together than I am. I believe that if I'm wearing cute underwear I'm bound to have a good day. Sadly, I could spend hours on pinterest planning out my future and dreaming about adventures I have yet to go on. I'm the type of person that doesn't care who is watching, if "Want to Want Me" by Jason Derulo comes on I WILL be dancing and singing the lyrics like a crazy person. I believe life is too short to not eat left over dessert for breakfast.
    I tend to care too much about what other people think of me. I hate complaining but I always want someone to ask if I'm doing okay. I stress out easily, and have a lot of issues with anxiety. Some days are harder than others. Both of my parents are very successful and I feel like I am expected to be the same. I like people to understand me, and I hate when people don't like me. I guess you could call me a people pleaser. I get really grumpy when I'm hungry. Everyone has a bad side, and that's a little bit of mine.
    I'm a proud member of the LDS church. I can't wait to be sealed for all time and eternity with the one I love. ♥
    I'm the only girl with three crazy monkeys. (brothers.) And my mom and dad. I'm thinking about doing a separate blog post about them. They are wonderful.

Well there you have it! I know I could write more, but there will be plenty of blog posts to come. Until next time!