listen carefully with your eyes

when aenon was a freshman, she attended a stake youth conference here in rancho santa margarita. during the testimony meeting at the conclusion of the conference, this young man got up to bear his testimony. however, he did not speak. he spoke with his hands. he is deaf. he signed his heartfelt testimony to a congregation of youth who were mesmerized, using only his hands and emotion filled face to convey his feelings. you could hear a pin drop in that chapel. 

those kids were spellbound. 

there was power in his words.

i remember aenon coming home and telling me about it. she was so affected by him-his strength, his conviction and his testimony, all told beautifully without words. she was fascinated...and it didn't hurt that this boy was adorable. 

next thing i know, she is signing up at saddleback college for sign language classes. took them for 3 years, and loved every minute of it. emma soon followed behind her, and before i knew it, i had 2 girls enrolled in sign classes. they loved to sign right in front of me, obviously talking about something i shouldn't hear, laughing out loud. they still do this. very annoying.

well, she didnt see much of this boy after that, just here and there. they attended different high schools were in different wards. had different lives. he played soccer, she played water polo... 

then one day she got a phone call. a call from an interpreter. chris wanted her to go to a school dance with him, prom if i remember right, and amazingly she was one of the few who could actively converse with him now. he inspired her to seek out sign language, and now she would be able to share that with him. it was fun to see them for the brief time before they left, conversing with their hands. she said she spent a lot of time interpreting for him at the dance so he could talk with his friends. she loved it. it all came full circle.

so, now i hear he has come home from his 2 year stint, spent honorably in a deaf mission in arizona, and i actually visit teach and have grown to love his darling aunt...who i didnt know back then. i am sharing this specifically for her.  

wonderful experience for aenon to get to know chris.

 he inspired her to do good things.

full circle effect.