Part of being the unofficial ward interpreter means that I am often awkwardly trying to sign the hymns at church. I am terrible unfamiliar with the hymns and struggle to make any kind of sense while I sign songs rife with poetic and old timey phrases.

Thankfully, the official LDS website has a lot of hymns performed in sign language (http://www.lds.org/cm/display/0,17631,7208-1,00.html). I decided it was time to look them up and GLOSS them into English. So I sit and watch the video of the song over and over and over while I try and catch all the signs they use and write down a somewhat close English equivalent.

Besides signing the songs a lot smoother, GLOSSing the hymns has really helped me understand the meaning behind all of the symbolism, similes, metaphors (are there other literary words I can through in there) in the lyrics. Awesomeness!

I taught my first ASL class at the church last night (9/16/08), and it was so fun. We only have an hour, so I don’t have time to teach tons. But we learned how to introduce ourselves, talk about where we live, and where we are learning ASL.

I am working on getting more people to come. I can’t imagine not wanting to learn ASL for free.  There are just so many advantages to talking with your hands. We have another class next Tuesday. We are learning how to describe our families. I’ll let you know how it goes.

When I first moved here the relief society president said that there was a deaf woman, Julie, in the ward who needed an interpreter. Well it just so happens that I know sign language. There is a girl, Jamie, here in the ward who was interpreting by herself (the whole 3 hours), and they wanted me to start to give her a break.

I have no training or expereience as an interpreter. But I said yes and started the next Sunday. I have been signing the gospel essentials class and RS for the past few weeks. It has been really fun. I am really glad that I have a chance to use my sign and to help Julie. 

I have been trying really hard to learn as much as I can about ASL and interpreting so I don’t do it wrong. I still have days where I am wondering how I am qualified at all, because I am sure I am not. In addition to the interpreting, the RS has asked me to teach an ASL class on Tuesdays to help other people talk to her too. I’ll let you know how my attempts at teaching something I am not an expert at goes…