But before that, our branch had a monumental Primary program! Once a year, all the children (3-11) do our worship service. They learn songs and speaking parts, practicing where to stand and when to go up to the pulpit so the whole thing is done with reverence. As one of the Primary leaders (in charge of the music), the weeks leading up to the Primary program are always busy...and a little anxious.... Will the kids sing/sign with faces that look like stone walls? Facial expressions are important to meaning in ASL - what if they look really bored and miserable while signing, "If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?" What if they look really bored and miserable while signing, "I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me?!?" Ack! What if I mess up (as always) and the kids end up signing something that makes no sense? (Because unlike when singing a song, the kids just follow what I do when signing.) (I wish sing and sign weren't so similar looking...I'm starting to confuse myself.)
Well, the kids did great. Instead of looking bored, they looked thoughtful. Instead of looking miserable, they looked sweet. They signed so clearly, and they sang just beautifully. There are only 11 kids in our Primary, but they sang loudly enough to fill the chapel (which is, after all, a little small...) But I think my favorite part was the speaking parts. When you only have 11 kids, they can take a few more minutes and teach what they really know about something. And they did. They told faith-promoting stories. They shared scriptures. They analyzed why Jesus is important to everyone in the room. The spirit of their testimonies warmed our hearts.
It was special that Grandma and Grandpa Merrill got to see the Primary program, as well. They were visiting in conjunction with Lige's 14th birthday and ordination to the office of a Teacher. Lige asked Grandpa to ordain him and he gave him a really neat blessing. So it was a great day all around.
At the other end of our Assateage trip was another event that was important in a more quiet way. This last Sunday was Branch conference. Marriner was called as Branch President at branch conference last year. Our conference was a few weeks earlier this year than last - at this time last year, President Sakai had just come to our house and we were preparing to watch General Conference in ASL for the first time. We (the kids and I) watched with the sound on, trying to pick out signs we knew. It went so fast! Elder Rasband gave a talk about the Lord moving us like chess pieces to the places he needs us to be when we try to follow his path. Marriner and I were overcome with emotion. It wouldn't be the last time over the course of the next few weeks.
I had a young baby that didn't stay in meetings very well. Sometimes I was tempted to just hide in the mother's room because my brain was about to explode. My other kids couldn't understand Sacrament meeting and started having boredom behavior issues. Church during siesta time didn't help much, either.
But the thing that stands out over the hard parts of adjusting to a completely new life was the warm embrace - figuratively and literally - from all the wonderful people whom I now know well enough to call friends.
Looking back, I am clearly a better person than I was a year ago. I've overcome challenges, learned new things, and increased in understanding and capability. Even though there's a part of me that just wants to ask for an easier year this next year, I know deep down inside that I care more about my progress than my comfort (to paraphrase Henry B. Eyring)
One of the more interesting parts of Branch Conference was during the potluck lunch after church was over. President Williams, the counselor in the stake presidency who presided at our conference, asked if he could talk to me for a few minutes. Frequently, when this happens, he would like to ask you to accept a new calling or speak in stake conference, so people often get agitated at speaking to the stake presidency. But I didn't feel any sense of anticipation or nervousness - he and I both know that wives of branch presidents are in a somewhat protected class, and if he was going to ask me to do something, it couldn't be anything THAT stressful! :) It turns out he just wanted to talk and make sure our family was doing ok. You know, make sure that the branch president had remembered that he had a wife and kids, and not just a calling from God. I was happy to report that Marriner is fabulous, that our partnership has never been better, and that we've seen abundant blessings in the last year to make up for any sacrifices we've made. And I thought it was cool that on the list of important things to take care of during branch conference, checking on the branch president's wife (or bishop's wife at a ward conference) is one of them.
Over the last year, we've (again, talking about me and the kids) risen in our ASL capabilities. We know what people are talking about most of the time, and most of the time people can understand our responses. But I still struggle to express and understand complex ideas. We've kicked off a new ASL challenge to help us rise off our plateau. It's been good for us, and we've found some pretty hilarious ASL videos in the process, so that's a little side-benefit :) I'll close with one of my favorite ones. It has voice-overs, so you can enjoy it even if you don't know ASL!
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