Random Friday Musings

My ward thinks I am anti-social. Excellent. My plot for world domination through hermitage becomes more and more clear. Granted, the person who told me this (in a much nicer way than I have phrased it) is a guy in my ward who I tend to not want to have social interactions with really. He is the kind of person that is just always there. And while a very nice guy, I tend to avoid large group situations where everyone is just there and I am just there for the few people that I am close friends with.

This semester has been a really rough one for me. I have been pretty stressed out and I feel much more serious this semester for some reason. On the other hand, however, I am doing fantastic with everything. This week I have been good at practicing the piano (for the most part), I have read my scriptures faithfully, I have attended classes, done my laundry, tried to eat a bit healthier, prayed more sincerely than usual. And frankly, my ward's view of socializing is a bit raucous for me at times. Last semester I had fun, yes. But on the other hand, I was also put in situations where I was like, meh. I would rather be doing something else. I also realized who my real friends were. Probably not the girl who called me out as apostate. Probably not the guy (same as above) who got mad at me for texting and yelled at me for it. My real friends are probably the ones who I can joke about who would make a good Mormon, someone who can argue with me about Prop 8 and then we can agree on something and proceed to eat Swedish Pancakes. And probably the person who is so tender and kind and makes me dinner a lot- or we go to the Cannon Center and laugh together. The value of true friendship cannot be underestimated. When I came to BYU, I was a bit terrified of making new friends. Then, as it turns out, the people at BYU are fun. One day of Late Summer Honors I met my friend Rachel, not knowing that we were in the same ward or anything. Then on the first day of orientation, there she was. We talked, laughed, and had a good time. Rachel was someone I felt comfortable talking to, someone I could be myself around. From taking pictures of potted plants on my head to commenting on the value of Good Mormons in the world, we laughed our way through the first semester at BYU. She was there for me when I had it rough and I always tried to be there for her. And now we are in our second semester. I don't see Rachel as much, mostly because I am busy, and she is busy. But we are still the best of friends. I hope I can see her more as the semester progresses.

So anyway. That's one musing. Friendship.

Another musing is about the Deaf. I have been attending ASL club lately. I really enjoy it. I have come to realize that I really do have a deep and abiding love for the Deaf. They are funny, articulate and intelligent people. I would love to serve them in some capacity in the future. They are a blessing in my life. ASL probably was one of the motivating factors in my true conversion. The Church does a lot for the Deaf and so I own almost everything they put out specifically for the Deaf. In fact, I am eagerly awaiting the Doctrine and Covenants in ASL. I hope it comes out soon. Although translation in ASL is quite the process. The mere fact that it has to be signed is pretty daunting. And the Doctrine and Covenants is not an easy text to translate either.

Once I am endowed, I may contact my seminary teacher from my senior year and see if I can go to an ASL session. Apparently the Church has done a new translation of that that seems to have worked marvels for Deaf endowed members, who now more fully understand the endowment. And who knows, maybe I will need to do it since I could very well end up serving the Deaf.

About that, I have finally come to terms with serving an ASL mission. I know I have said in the past that I have come to terms with it but I hadn't really. I realized (felt impressed?) at ASL club this last Wednesday that I must have learned ASL for a reason. I don't know why yet, but I feel very strongly that there was a divine purpose for it.

I really want to go to Argentina. Does that sound selfish? Anyhow, I am waiting nervously. I didn't know I could have this weird kind of distraction that is omnipresent in the way this distraction is. My main concern is that two years of my life is contained in like one sentence. And I don't know when my call is going to come, which makes me even more anxious. It could come this Wednesday. In fact, the missionary committee meets today, so I could very well already be assigned to a mission for the Church! How weird of a thought is that?

As you can tell, it's a random Friday musing. I had so much to say, but nothing to really say at the same time. I just thought I would tell someone about that. Whoever reads my blog at least. I often wonder about lurkers on my blog. I wonder who reads but never comments. So if you are a lurker, don't be shy please. I love comments.