Going to the Deaf Ward

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, things got really hectic and I let it slide. I'm trying to work on it so here is a brand new post. Hopefully I'll have another one up sometime today, so I can start getting caught up.

So as everyone knows I'm a Mormon (if you didn't ummm, wow this is awkward. How did you miss that one?). My Church is a world wide church so our congregations (or as we call them wards and branches) are based on geography and sometimes language. In my local area there is a ward for the Deaf. I've been trying it out and it has been absolutely wonderful! It's a family ward so there are members of all ages. There's also a nice mix of people. Not everyone who goes to the ward is Deaf. Some people are Deaf, others are hard of hearing, and we even have several hearing people. There are people with hearing aids, without any aids, with cochlear implants or other implant devices. It just depends on the person.

It's also nice to see such a mix. Sometimes the person with the hearing loss is the child in the family or the parents or for couples only one of the spouses is Deaf. Before going to the Deaf ward Church was starting to become something I absolutely dreaded. I didn't want to go and sit for three hours completely unaware of what was being said. Also while my Relief Society tried a little but they never found a way to include me or to make me feel welcome.

Now when I go to Church people aren't staring at me if I sign a hymn and I don't sit lost during the service. I understand what's going on and I'm even starting to make some friends. It's really helped that my ASL teacher and her husband go to that ward. Trisha and Brandon have helped so much in smoothing this transition. They've kept an open office policy so if I ever have questions or need to talk I'm welcome to drop by at school.  Also as silly as it is, it's nice to have at least one person happy to see you on Sunday! I'm excited for another Sunday in my new ward!