Seeing

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, "Seeing-- it's all a matter of keeping my eyes open. Nature is like one of those line drawings of a tree that are puzzles for children. Can you find hidden in the leaves a duck, a house, a boy, a bucket, a zebra, and a boat?".


Paused to look at Lake Lucerne as I walk to church... Today I see familiar faces as I walked to the back, picking up my new friend, a headset to hear the translation. I forgot my English hymn book so I worked to try and think of the words to the melody of familiar sounds. It is so interesting to me that this one piece, language, has pushed me to see more. The meeting began and during the first speaker suddenly I noticed the Bishop at my side asking me to share my testimony after the speaker.. He had left the stand during the meeting, I was stunned. I had never seen that before. My heart began to beat fast.. I'm really not sure what I said as I paused every few sentences for someone to interpret. I sat back down kind of wondering what just happened. No easing into these waters just jump in.

I said the young women theme in German! The young women joined the sisters and I found myself looking around to really strangers in a new land and smiled knowing we share a common thread of the gospel. The relief society president sat behind me and quietly translated. She is an American and is a mother of six children. Her husband works for a Swiss bank, they have been here for 13 years and she served a mission to Germany. Again, I listen to their words in German and then I hear them in English, I find it so beautiful. The Bishop's wife talked about helping her daughter look for a wedding dress that has sleeves. She went on to say they were in France and she and her daughter began to notice that the young women who were more modest, you noticed their face and their clothing accented that. It was a sweet comment but to hear her say it in a language... Showed these tender feelings of a mother that truly spoke of virtue and I felt it.