The Church is True! Today was a marvelous day to have a mission farewell :) While I will not be leaving for 3 1/2 more weeks, it was perfect. Today was also my 3rd cousins homecoming; we are in the same ward, so it was an honor to share the pulpit with him! After my talk and before he spoke, I did a musical number with some dear friends. We sang the song "How Great Thou Art". The arrangement we had was very different from any other one I've heard for this song-- and it was a cappella! It was marvelous. I am so grateful for the friends that sang with me today. There is something special about the way that music touches me, and when I learned of when my farewell would be, I soon realized how important it would be for me to include a musical number. It was perfect. I am so grateful for the Lord and the prompting of the Spirit guiding me to do this musical number.
Following the Sacrament Meeting, I was so blessed to see so many loved ones! There really weren't that many family members in attendance, however I was so grateful to see every single person that was there for me-- old roommates, bossom friends, a family I met in Mexico that now lives in the states, high school friends, friends I made while I was an Residential Assistant at college... so many wonderful people. Even the ward members were so dear to me. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible people!
I found this evening to be extra special. There is a family that has become very dear to me since we spent a week together in Mexico this last Christmas holiday. The parents in this family are phenomenal, and they have raised such stunning and wonderful children. They were able to make the drive to my home this evening to visit with me and my family. Then something happened that made me want to treasure this evening so much. This family that came, brought a woman with them that is deaf. She has a hearing aid that barely helps in the one ear that has potential to faintly hear sound, and she can read lips quite well, but she signs so beautifully! I took ASL for one year in high school, and haven't studied it since. Tonight, I had the opportunity to brush up on my ASL and share something I love with two wonderful women-- the mother of the family and this deaf woman. I am a dancer, and sign language to me is such a beautiful language that really touches my heart. My signing is very limited, but tonight was enough to let me get in touch with it again and even discuss the gospel a little bit in ASL! Incredible.
Now, as I reflect back on this, I have come to gain a greater testimony of the gift of tongues. I am fluent in English. I have dabbled in ASL, as explained here, and I have studied a bit of Spanish. English is still the only language that I am fluent in. Now, as I embark on a mission to learn a completely foreign and difficult language, Hungarian, I am so grateful for these experiences that I have had to learn a bit here and there in other languages (a little from German even--- very little, haha).
I know that as I strive to keep the Spirit of God with me, and do all I can to PREPARE myself for the teachings from the Spirit, I know that I will be able to study the language and even come to learn the language! I am very excited to serve a mission. While at times I refer to it as "my mission", it is in all reality God's mission, and I'm on it. I will be on the Lords time. I can't really comprehend right now what lays ahead of me for the next 18 months, but it is going to be miraculous! It will be hard, but it will be worth it. Just having the experience to discuss the gospel with people in Mexico, and even tonight in ASL, I am even more excited to use the beautiful language of Hungarian to share the ultimate light and truth with Heavenly Fathers children in Hungary.
God is Great. I plan to write more, myself, before I leave on my mission :) Much love!
Love,
Rachel Marie
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