After his first week as an FSY counselor and even though he had a tough group of kids who gave him a run for his money and left him seriously sleep deprived, Nathan was perfectly willing to do it all again. That is a good thing since this past week was his week as a counselor for FSDY-For the Strength of Deaf Youth. It was a full weekly session held entirely in ASL and designed to allow the deaf and hard of hearing kids an opportunity to have the same amazing experiences their hearing counterparts have. Youth from all over the country were invited to participate. Nathan came away tired in a completely different way as thinking in ASL 24-7 takes a lot of brain power. And native signers, like native speakers of any language, sign with some serious speed. Nathan told us that by the time they got to the end of the day, one of the kids would sign something and while he knew he should be able to understand, his brain just couldn’t process any more. 😂
For many of these kids, they are the only deaf person in their families and wards and often, there is no interpretation available so while they may go to church, they really can’t access what happens there. Yes, there are some that lip read, but even with good lip-reading skills there is only so much they can understand. As such, having the gospel presented to them in their own language is life changing for many. It allows them, some for the very first time, to understand the sweet simplicity of the gospel and hearts were touched. Nathan loved being a part of that. There were a few kids that he wished he could encourage to look up from their phones and participate so they could fill their spiritual Dixie cups with the wealth of knowledge available to them, but as a counselor, that was not his job. So as much as he would have liked to, there were times when he had to remain silent knowing that if this or that youth would just engage in what was going on they might find exactly what they needed. That was hard for him. But overall, the experience was an amazing one. And within a few days of the session, new videos hit social media and I had all kinds of people from the ward sending me messages telling me they saw him on Instagram or Facebook. That was fun!
Nathan has developed a great love for the Deaf community. As he spends more and more time with them, he has a greater desire to serve them and help them to progress along the covenant path. I feel like he has been given a gift in his ability to learn ASL and become fluent so quickly, and he is using it to help move the work of the gospel forward for a group of people who have limited access to the many programs and resources that most of us take for granted in the church. Because the Deaf and interpreting communities are small, he has met a lot of people who work in leadership positions high up in the church and they are encouraging him and looking forward to him joining their ranks. He has hopes to interpret for General Conference at some point, and considering the new connections he has made this week, I suspect that sooner or later we will see his face on the ASL feed.
For now, he is taking a much-needed rest. He is mentally and physically tired but elated as well. He feels like he is making a difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment