Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year!  I love this time of year when we celebrate our Savior's birth. I love the music and the Church has some great videos that you might enjoy.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-067-the-nativity?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng

https://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HP_SU_11-29-2015_dMIS_fSPC_xLIDyL1-A_

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7c9scxB9I&list=PLq9T3v5R_q8s3PKfpND5SOh3lUZolLDMf&index=5&cid=HP_FR_12-18-2015_dMIS_fYT_xLIDyI-1_


I want to share a little miracle. Recently, I was at the Member and Missionary Fireside, I was able to watch the ASL Elders interpreting. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that I still understood a lot of it. I studied ASL for 4 semesters in college, but chose to go through the paramedic program (that was paid for) instead of going through the interpreter program. When one of the Spanish speakers (not from my area) was bearing her testimony, I had to remind myself that I was called to the Spanish language and I needed to focus on that. I love both cultures so much! As I was leading the music at Zone Conference, I got to see the Elders interpret again. It got me thinking about ASL and trying to remember words. Once again, I reminded myself that I need to focus on Spanish (don't worry, I was only thinking about ASL during breaks and down time, I am fully committed to Spanish in all of my studies). ASL just kept popping into my head. I prayed several times for help. Then yesterday happened. We went to visit one of our former investigators, but she wasn't home. We met three young men from Africa in the parking lot and shared a brief message with them. As we were talking about their religious beliefs, I noticed that one of them wasn't speaking or participating in the conversation at all. I asked him where he was from, and one of the other young men replied "oh, he's deaf". I knew why my ASL had been "brought to my remembrance" so many times this week. I was able to briefly chat with this young man, then we were on our way. Yesterday, several times, we were unable to find the person we had planned to find, but every time there was someone else in the area that we were able to teach. I was so grateful that I was able to share a tiny bit of God's love with that young man. Like I said before...not of our experiences in life are "coincidences". We need to involve Heavenly Father in our plans so he can place us where we need to be to find the people he has placed there to learn. Yesterday just solidified even more that we have a loving Heavenly Father that is control of all. We just need to let go of the "control" we think we have and let Him work through us.

Sometimes the work is interesting. One person we approached to someone to teach, he announced "I don't want to talk to you because I'm not a Mormon and you're too friendly".  How do you respond to that? While I have been in Washington I've met people who speak Russian, Italian, Chinese, Farsi, ASL (American Sign Language) and of course Spanish. It's never boring.