Eagle Project

So, I'm pretty comfortable signing with church people. They have to be nice to me, because being nice to people at church is a basic of the gospel that most people seem to grasp :) Lige is pretty comfortable signing at church, maybe even a little bit cocky - but don't tell him I said that, ha ha. But Lige is starting his Eagle Project, and it is leading us to some new areas of stretching.

For years, Lige has wanted to build a Ga Ga pit for his Eagle project. Ever since he first learned how to play when he was 11, actually. When we moved to the branch, the idea came up that maybe he could/should do something to benefit the Deaf community -  both because it would benefit him, and because most of his volunteers would have a unique skill set that he could utilize. On Wednesday, Lige had a meeting with his Scout Master to start to plan, and came back with a great plan - build a Ga Ga pit for MSSD, the Deaf High School in Washington DC! Win!

On Saturday, Lige, Mom and Scout Master went to MSSD to discuss the idea with them. I admit, I was nervous. I *thought* I was following the conversation, but I was just so nervous that I would smile and nod at the wrong time and find out I'd totally missed a question or something. Actually, that happened to Lige - he was following along just fine, but he didn't see a question at all (he wasn't looking at the right person.) Suddenly, everyone was looking at him, waiting for an answer. He kept on smiling and waiting for someone to comment, until he realized they were all waiting for HIM to respond! Our friendly Scout Master repeated the question, and Lige responded very articulately, I thought. Phew. Other than that, we just had a nice time seeing the campus, wishing we had a common room like they do (many of the students live on campus) and being glad nobody in our family has to go to boarding school in 7th grade.

As always, I understood most of what people signed to me, and almost nothing of what they signed to each other. Reminding me that even though I'm getting pretty good, I still have a long ways to go before I reach "Deaf speed".

I'll throw in a Martha story, too. She's been regressing in her sign language ever since Sister Clorinda, her Nursery teacher, moved. Clorinda really helped Martha with ASL a LOT! So we've started encouraging her to say her prayers in ASL. This was our conversation yesterday morning as she knelt down to pray:

Martha: Can I say it in English?
Mom: Nope
Martha: But I have long sleeves! I don't know how to say it in sign language with long sleeves!

I love that girl. And now I'm taking off and getting my kids out the door for the day. Hope it's a great one! Talk to you all later!