Church with Kat

So yesterday I wasn't able to make it to our ward, so I went with my friend Kat to hers, which meets in the same building, only later. I wanted to write about it because it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It was a singles ward, brand new, and extremely diverse. There were of course, normal English speaking people, but also a lot of Spanish speakers and a huge amount of deaf people using ASL. There were also a few Navajos, but they speak English. So you can imagine what the meeting was like. The person conducting the meeting spoke in English while someone interpreted in ASL, but he later signed while someone interpreted in English. The hymns were super fun because there was a normal chorister and also a girl who signed the verses while another girl held the hymn book for her. In the congregation you could hear the singing in half English and half Spanish. They would have to announce the hymn numbers for both the English and Spanish hymn books. And when the prayers were signed in ASL, I noticed that nobody closed their eyes like usual, even though someone was interpreting in English over the microphone. Everyone just watched the signer. When an English speaker got up, there was someone up front to sign, and the people in the congregation who spoke Spanish wore headphones while someone else interpreted from English to Spanish for them. When a Spanish speaker got up, the signer had to wear the headphones, then sign in ASL, and the English speakers just had to listen in Spanish. Since I speak some Spanish, I was able to understand a lot of what they said. When a deaf person got up, it would be interpreted in English over the microphone, then through the headphones to the Spanish speakers. It was so crazy, but so cool to hear/see three different languages in one meeting! It just showed me that language is no barrier because everyone can feel the same thing. It was also fun to see the differences in culture. For example, the deaf would sign across the room to each other, even during the meeting. And Kat told me that you can sign in whispers; like if you normally made a sign by touching your face with your hand, you could just touch your other hand, and it would be a whisper. Anyway, that was my neat day at church. Thanks, Kat, for letting me come see your awesome ward!