ASL Struggles In Queens

Fam!

It's been a good week.

I really love New York, you guys. It's thee best. I'm moving back here one day.

It has been a little bit hard opening a new area. Sometimes we feel discouraged and wonder if the area can grow! But then we remember we are here opening this specific area for a reason. There may not be many people open to hearing the message, but I know that because the Lord placed us here there must be AT LEAST one soul who is prepared, ready, and waiting for the gospel. Until we find that person(s) we will keep doing lookups and asking everyone everywhere if they know deaf people! They cannot run and they cannot hide from us. We will find them, one way or another! 

Last week I emailed my mom telling her I was frustrated and whatevs, she emailed back about agency! One thing she said was "imagine how Joseph smith and Christ, Himself, felt when they were rejected, they didn't always see success either!" I always knew agency was important, and that its great these people I meet have their agency, but for some reason when I heard it from my prime gospel teacher (mom) I had more gratitude for agency. I've been pondering it all week. Isn't it the greatest gift?! We have freedom to CHOOSE! I love it. 

We do have one progressing investigator. Her name is K. We've been working with her for a few weeks. She lives more than an hour away from us so we only make it over there about once a week. She is from Guyana and doesn't know much ASL. Hahaha teaching her is a struggle. We try to gesture and teach simply. I can't ask questions because she doesn't know the meaning of how, why, or what! We're working on it :) K has SO MUCH FAITH. She can't read so we gave her an ASL video Book of Mormon. She is going through it so fast. She doesn't understand it, I hardly understand the ASL Book of Mormon, but she will sit there and watch it for hours because she is showing faith. And she loves it. If she doesn't know how to answer a question, she will sign "DVD good. Kiss-fist DVD." Yesterday we brought her to church with us and to a baptism after. Maybe she didn't know what was going on, but I know she felt the spirit, because she really enjoyed it and is coming again next week :) She wants to get baptized in November yay! It might be December though. Idk if she will understand everything by November. We will see!

I wish we all could have as much faith as K. She will watch the Book of Mormon every day because we have asked her to and because she knows it is good, even though she doesn't understand anythingggg. Last week was stake conference and an RM talked about someone he baptized who couldn't read, but every day he would just stare at the Book of Mormon and pray, pray, pray, for help! Now that is faith! Reading the Book of Mormon everyday is so simple. Yet it is so hard. Simple, hard, but SO worth it. I know that holding on to the word of God will help us reach our full potential and keep us on the straight and narrow path. The Book of Mormon is TRUE, no doubts! I looooove studying the Book of Mormon... even if I have to do it with the seminary manual, which I do, because well, I'm not that smart. ;)

Anywho. We went on splits this week, I stayed and ran the pool with Sister M. She's the cutest little missionary. We had a great time spreading the good news of the gospel in Manhattan together. I was a bit scared to do ASL without my Sister Passey, but it worked out and I was fine! We were fearlessing Chris when an old woman came up to us crying because her husband couldn't breathe! So Chris called an ambulance while we calmed the old woman down. It was so random. But we got a bunch of referrals for the english missionaries from the ambulance thing so that's good.

HALLOWEEN SEASON IS SO FUN HERE. everyone gets on the subway in their costumes to go to parties. :))) fun fact: New York children go trick or treating a week before Halloween because all the crazy psycho people come out on Halloween and it's dangerous! We have to be in the pad by 6 on Halloween. 

We finally got a video phone! It's sooooo nice. We can do daily contact and follow up phone calls now. Plus I can do language study with the branch members :))) oh, here's a miracle- we got S vp number. You guys it's a big deal, everyone keeps telling us about S, they say that she knows EVERYONE. We are excited to call her today, because if she knows EVERYONE she must know someone we can teach!

Ok I have to go. We have to take our suitcases full of food back to our pad. Praying a nice person will help me up the stairs.... #subwayprobs

I love you all soooooo muchhh.

-Sister Layton

pday

Hey Fam sorry no time to email today! I have been busy doing this.....
Now that's a good pday.
Love you all.
-Sister Layton

ASL Branch

Well, well, well, it's Pday once again.

Today I am emailing you from my bed! That's right, we got our own
wifi. Thank you Verizon man!

I have nothing to write, but I'm sure something will come into my head soon.

Oh, Sister Passey just said right this second "Sister Layton, why are
things so..... Weird?" I say "what, like that piece of bread?" She
says "No, just life in general. We are living the weirdest life right
now!"
That pretty much sums up my week. It's been weird! Which is good. The
Layton family motto is after all "the weirder the better."

We did lots of look ups in some weird places, had some AWESOME
meetings, picked up some new investigators in a very weird way, and
had some very weird lessons hahahaha. Oh man I love the ASL program.
It's always an adventure.
Hold on a sec, let me ask sister Passey how my ASL is doing...
She says "pretty much you're fluent."
I say "let's be real here."
She says "for your first week, it's really good, next week you really
will be fluent!"
Lol lets see if I'm fluent next week.

Tuesday was my 5 month mark. Weird right? We went to DQ and ate a
pumpkin pie blizzard for dinner to celebrate.

On Saturday we had the branch party. Wooohooooooo. Deaf parties for
life, I'm never going to a hearing party again. Jk I probably will.
Here's the thing, deaf people don't get get to see their friends very
often, so parties last alllll day. It went from 2-8pm! It was good
language study, and I got to meet most of the members. By the end kept
eyes hurt so very bad. I think I fell asleep for a sec on the subway.
Oh funny story, sister Passey and I kind of forgot we can talk after.
we were signing on the subway and a man offered us his seat. We sign
"no, no, it's fine, thank you." And he looks at us weird. Then we
remembered we can talk and said "oh ha, sorry, we've been at a deaf
party all day and forgot not everyone knows ASL!" He was like "wait,
you can hear?" Lol that happens almost every day. We will be signing
on the subway and then I'll start talking to the person next to me.
They're always surprised!

Church was cool! Best Sunday of my mission to be honest. It's more
different than I could ever imagine, but I love it! And I understood
the teachers, so that's good right? Oh, I bore my testimony and
introduced myself in sacrament meeting and only saw one person
laughing. Success!!!

To sum it all up, I'm loving it!
Until next week.
Oh wait, pics,

2. I'm being transferred again! Jk, we went grocery shopping. That
suitcase and the bags are full of food for the month. Gotta do what
you gotta do to shop in New York, right?
3. A little girl, on a windy day, in a big city. I love manhattan and
am so happy sister Passey and I get to work there. Other missionaries
refer to us as the "covenant missionaries" because we are allowed to
work in Manhattan! Wooh!

K bye.
-Sister Layton

Transfer to ASL!

Hi Fam!!

It's me, Sister Layton, emailing you once again from the subway. We're going to Grimaldies pizza! WORLD FAMOUS PIZZA. 

Well, much has happened. 

I was transferred. Let's talk about that.

-My new companion is Sister P. She is an ANGEL child. I've loved every minute spent with her. Ahahahaha she's so sweet, and innocent. The most innocent person I have ever met. I love it. We are two of the four ASL sisters. They opened up a new apartment and pool for Sister P and I in the Union Square ASL Branch. Yup, we got blinded in, but we are PUMPED. It's such a blessing. 

-Our pad is located in the most lovely part of Astoria (same as my old area), but our area consists of all of Queens and all of Manhattan. And possibly the island if needed, idk. In the words of Sister Bradford "President instructed us to get you a pad as close to Manhattan as possible, so your pad is 1 minute away from the train stop that will take you right into Manhattan." Everyone in our mission is jealous of Sister P and I because we can go to Manhattan to work whenever we want hahah. In fact, we are pioneers! It's the first time missionaries from the south mission have been assigned to work in the north mission. We are a little bit overwhelmed because our area is HUGE, and ASL sisters haven't been in the north mission for years, but we are figuring it out one step at a time. :)

-In previous emails I mentioned working with the zone almost every day for finding, service, etc. We won't be doing that in the ASL program. :/ It's a bit of a bummer, but it's fine because really there's no time and it's not effective for ASL. It's so weird though, I'm used to seeing all 14 of my peeps everyday, and now we're lucky if we get a text message from other missionaries!! On the bright side we're getting wifi in our pad next week!!!!! And there's a fruit stand right by our house. Yep, a fruit stand.

-I really reallyyyy don't know how to sign that well. But hey, I can understand it 50% of the time so that's better than nothing!! Sister P is pretty skilled. We practice a lot. Whenever we are on the subway or bus, we only sign. It's great! Sometimes I will sign something to someone, for example "I like your shirt" and Sister P will interpret. It's funny, the people freak out and don't know what to do or how to act! I [KISS-FIST] ASL.

THE MUSICIANS JUST GOT ON THE SUBWAY. Yesssss, they always make my day. We aren't allowed to give them money :/ Two old black men singing their hearts out while holding out a blue bag for people's monies. I don't think they're under the influence, which sometimes the money begging people are.

-Anywho. CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING. We watched it in ASL, but with sound at the Union square church on Saturday and at a members house on Sunday. I loved all of it. Like why have I never before stayed awake and attentive for all four sessions?! It is such a precious time to hear the words of living prophets and apostles and to receive personal revelation from our Father in Heaven! Boy, I sure received answers to my prayers and concerns. One thing that stuck out to me was when on Saturday afternoon someone, I can't remember who, talked about repentance, real time repentance. He spoke briefly about real time repentance, but it clicked when he did. President Calderwood is always preaching "real time repentance." Right in the very moment you realize you've made a mistake, repenting!! Why wait until we kneel down for our evening prayers to repent if we can repent anytime, anywhere? Oh and Elder Uchtdorf's talk, top notch. Loved it.

I also loved the emphasis on prophets in Sunday afternoon session. I love President Monson! One thing I love testifying of is the truth that because our Heavenly Father loves us, He still communicates with us today, and He does so through a living prophet! I remember telling Nelly these things, she was mind blown- "Well why did no one tell me this before?!? No one even told me there's a prophet now! I knew there were prophets a long time ago, but I just don't understand why no one told me!!!" Hahaha. It's true my friends. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, and he does indeed hold all he priesthood keys that have been restored to the earth. I know that as we choose to follow his counsel, we will be filled with joy.

Have a grand week everyone.

-Sister Layton

Sister Layton on Layton Street

Hi guys!

I don't know what to talk about today. Surprise! This never happens.
My emails are always like a year and a half long.

I guess we can hit the highlights of the week:
-N's baptism date has been changed again! It's not necessarily a
highlight, but it's something new. She's having a hard time with
tithing, but I know her heart will be softened to it over time and she
will understand it truly is a commandment of God. :) she met with
Bishop and he said he had a strong feeling she needs to wait a few
more weeks, so we're going with his keys and waiting a few weeks! She
will get there, I know she will, but we just have to have patience!

-Sisterwide exchanges happened this week. I stayed here in Astoria and
ran the pool with another sister! She was so very nice and fun, but at
the end of the day I was sooooo ready to have Sister Board back!!!
Sister Board and I both gained a greater appreciation for having each
other as companions that day. I'm so blessed to have a companion who
is willing to try her hardest to be exactly obedient with me! I've
learned a lot about obedience this week :) I love this principle! My
testimony of obedience had been strengthened as we have not only
taught it, but have also lived what we teach. I have no doubts that
obedience brings forth blessings and miracles. D&C 130:20-21 is my
most valuable scripture of the week.

-We have an investigator who is blind. His name is G! Well
actually he's the Elders investigator, but we teach him sometimes.
Sister Board always forgets he's blind and asks him to read a
scripture or asks him if he saw something. Lololol I die. It's so
funny to me that she always forgets.

-We went to the beach on Saturday :)))) there was a stake service
activity at Far Rockaway, out on the island! I, my favorite New
Yorker, drove us there. I HAD SO MUCH FUN IN THE CAR. I love/miss
cars. I may be in her 50s but she's 17 at heart and can make me
laugh like none other. Also, NEW YORK IS SO BEAUTIFUL, I think. It's
so green! And there are so many cute old houses all smashed together.


-Special K cereal was on sale this week. Its a highlight of the week
for sure. SPECIAL K CEREAL, everyone.

-I have a new obsession. It's called hot water. You see, I ran out of
hot chocolate, but I don't want to buy any more in case I get
transferred next week. However, I neeeeed something warm to sip on
while I study in the morning. It's freezing over here in the early
hours! Therefore, I heat up my water in the microwave and sip on it
with my straw. It's delightful! I don't think I will ever go back to
drinking cold water. Sister Board thinks I'm crazy hahahha.

Have a very happy week everyone.
Xoxo
-Your favorite Sister Layton

Pictures - September!!

Pics:
1. N told me I look like a 12 year old ballerina on this day.
Thanksssss N!
2. The white handbook doesn't say anything about not looking like a
tourist in your pad, so why not?!
3. My dearest companion, Sister Board and I. I love her!

Food Network

Goooood morning everyone and happy 4 month mark to me!
Things are swell here in the New York New York South Mission.

I WAS ON TV THIS MORNING. Coming up November 3, tune into food
network to see Sister Layton on the screen. I was just chillin out
eating fries and hamburgers as they filmed my face hahahaha. 'Twas a
dream come true. I've always wanted to be on tv while eating my
fries!!!!!!! Good thing I'm friends with Frank, the owner of F.
Ottomanelli's. It's the best hamburger place in NYC!

Quote of the week by Elder M (who is from Viewmont) while
saying the prayer with the zone: "Please bless the zone bed bugs, that
they will... Die."
When Sister B and I had bedbugs everyone thought we were crazy and
making up stories. Well, this week people in our zone got them....
Realllly really bad. They apologized to us for thinking we are crazy
and that they didn't offer to help us when we had them, because now
they understand what we went through. Elder N filmed it. I shall
send it to you so you can all know what bedbugs look like. Maybe don't
show the video to your children.

The story of J:
'Twas a Tuesday night. Sister B and I had no appointments scheduled for
prime time (6 - 9) so we thought "Hey, we can hit up Astoria and
invite all the less actives out there to the upcoming ward BBQ!" So we
did that. No one was home, but we left nice notes and BBQ invites
taped on their doors. It was just one of those nights where I could
nottttt figure out what Heavenly Father needed us to do! I was feeling
pretty down, not gonna lie. The clock hits 8:30 so we hop on the bus
to make it home by 9:00. After sitting on the bus for about 15
minutes, a teenage boy walks on the bus bawling. Wowow I've never seen
anyone so sad! My heart broke for the poor thing. He sat right next to
Sister B and I, but didn't seem to notice we were there. I
would've talked to him, but he was on the phone, so that's awkward. We
listened to his conversation, he was talking about how he might not
even be alive tomorrow, and that he needs to find Christ again and he
needs to meet new people. Sister B and I kept looking at each other in
awe. Clearly God placed him in our path for a reason! If anyone needs
the gospel, it's this kid! I pulled out our card, and wrote a note on
it. But then we realized he would connect much better with the Elders.
So on a crinkled up piece of paper we wrote their number and wrote
"Need more peace in your life? Call this number!" We handed him the
piece of paper as we hopped off the bus. He looked confused but
accepted it. Well, before we even had time to call the Elders and
explain what had happened, the Elders called us and said "Uhh, did you
give someone our number? Some kid named J called us and said he
needs more peace in his life, so we are meeting with him."
It was a miracle! The Elders say they had the best first lesson
they've ever had in their life with him. He wants to change his life
and he wants to be baptized. The spirit hit him so powerfully. He told
them the night we saw him on the bus he had a dream about his mom who
passed away 6 years ago. I guess she told him he needs to seek a
better life in the dream. So that's cool.
We got to meet him on Friday. He was at the church with the Elders.
When he saw us he shook our hands and said "Thank you. Thank you guys
so much."
I LOVE THIS MISSIONARY THING. Miracles happen.

So we had a ward BBQ on Saturday. So many people we invited came!
Yayayay! The thing that's interesting about BBQs in New York is that
everyone brings food from "their country." So it almost ends up being
a multicultural night because there's so many foreign foods. I ate
sooo much food... Everyone says "did you try what I brought?" And I
say "no........ But I will right now!" #missionprobs

One reason I love this mission: the missionaries unity! We are
encouraged to share investigators within districts. It has been the
most successful thing! The Elders went and taught N and others
this week, we taught the Elders investigators, and we are all united
as one in the work! Sister B and I are far from perfect teachers,
so we are beyond happy when the Elders go in and share their spiritual
gifts with our investigators.
I thought this was something that most missions did, but this week I
found out it's very unique. I didn't realize that normally
companionships cover their own area. I LOVE the open pool strategy
this mission uses!
Idk if that even made sense. Oh well.

Good news everyone, My studies this week have been based off of PMG
pages 96-97. There is a chart full of scriptures with different ways
the spirit works. I was originally studying this to help my
investigators understand how they might receive answers. Well,
studying this chart ended up benefitting me so much!!! I thought I
knew how the spirit worked, but after studying all the scriptures, I
started to be more aware of how much the spirit really is guiding me
and helping me along the way. It's mind blowing, really. He is with us
24/7 if we are worthy of his companionship! There is no greater gift!
I love the Holy Ghost :)

N is doing so good :) that's all I have to say. I think she will
for sure be ready for baptism by September 20th!

Ok I have to go my laundry is done bye!
-Sister Layton