"Hearing is listening to what is said. Listening is hearing what isn't said"
--- Simon Sinek (British-American Author & Inspirational Speaker; 1973 - Present)
For years, I've had a certain fascination with deafness. When I was in middle school, I took two years of biology and was at the top of my class. We had a project one time and we had to choose a part of the head to do it on. When most of the class chose to do their project on the eye, I went with the ear. I ended up making a clay diagram of the ear and learned much in the process. When I was in a Boy Scout, I chose to do my Eagle Scout Project for the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind. And when I was in High School, I was involved in a course where I attended an elementary school and worked with blind and deaf children a couple of times per week. From time to time, I've tried to learn a little bit of sign language, much I'm far from proficient at it; nevertheless, it's on my bucket list. Sign language has so many uses, not just to communicate with the deaf or in the case that you yourself might become deaf one day, but I've known colleagues who use sign language to communicate in loud places or in just the opposite, in places where you have to be really quiet.
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A DEAF GIRL
Early on in the Riveras area, Elder Scott and I met a deaf girl about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was a friend of someone we’d been teaching at the bakery (which soon after shut down when the family moved out of the city) so we’d been acquainted with her for a while although we weren't actively teaching her.
During my stay in Mexico, I was taught a couple of gestures that I don't believe count as legitimate signs in Mexican sign language (unless I'm mistaken). The most common was to take your pointer finger and flex it up and down like a person nodding which meant "yes" which can be used when your mouth is full. Another is when someone holds their fist upwards in front of them and with their other hand they slap their elbow which in Spanish is "codo". But the other meaning when you say someone is "codo" is to say that they are stingy. If you slide a flat hand diagonally with the little finger across the torso, you're asking someone to share something with them (think of it like asking "want to split it with me?" like you're splitting yourself in half). There's a snapping motion that a lot of people do by pressing their middle finger against their thumb, and while letting their pointer finger relax and go limp, they twist their wrist so it hits the two fingers to create a slapping noise; like a clap but with a single finger, which is used to express excitement, or shock and awe, or an intense feeling in general. Lastly, I don't know if this counts as a gesture, and certainly not for deaf people, but some people make a whistling sound (and usually wince at the same time) to imply a "yes" response to something. Even without words alone, people have a way of communicating and it varies from culture to culture.
So, how did we communicate with the deaf girl? She opted not to talk even though some people can practice and learn with speech therapy. And we didn't know sign language, let alone Mexican sign language which is different from American sign language. But that, to my surprise, actually wasn't much of an obstacle. Pointing and gesturing were surprisingly effective. Just like how I got by my first months learning Spanish, it didn't matter so much how "perfectly" we communicated so long as we could get ideas across. So that's how we understood her. But how did she understand us considering we didn't know sign language? She could read lips! Before the mission, I thought that lipreading was something invented for movies. But it was beyond impressive how much she legitimately ascertained from watching our mouths. It was ABOVE amazing considering we were two intermediate Spanish-speaking Americans (meaning our Spanish was probably different from what she was used to because our mouths weren't as trained in the language). Even though we'd been in Mexico about a year by now, that didn't mean that everyone always understood everything we said and vice-versa, although most of the time we knew enough. Suffice it to say that I was relieved to know we must have been doing something right with the language if she understood us so well.
One day, we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ to read which she intriguingly accepted. Her eyes seemed glued to it as we introduced her to it. She thanked us for it and took it home with her.
For some unknown reason, we didn't see her around as much after that, perhaps because of school starting back up. But just the same, missionaries or no missionaries, the Book of Mormon has the power to invite the Holy Ghost to teach and testify of itself on its own. It would have been ideal to follow up with her but unlike some people I regret not seeing again, I'm not too worried about her. She was so receptive, that I don’t doubt the time will come when she meets with other missionaries. I believe there is no effort gone wasted when it comes to inviting others to come unto Christ. I believe that people joining the Church has less to do with what the missionaries say than what the Spirit "says" and you don't need to be able to hear to listen to the spirit. The spirit is a still, small voice that touches the mind and heart. The Book of Mormon speaks for itself.
Said Jesus, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15; 13:9). This, of course, was more than literal. But as a matter of fact, there was a Church member in Riveras, our Landlord, who actually did a hole where one ear was supposed to be. I'd never seen a person without an ear before. I don't think the thought ever came to me that a person could miss an ear as silly as it sounds. But even without the ear, he could still hear because the visible ear is just skin if you think about it. The middle and inner ear which allow us to hear is located within the skull. The obvious deeper meaning of “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”, is that anyone who is willing to listen and learn should. I knew plenty of hearing people who wouldn't listen to us. In everyday life, you probably know people who hear but don't listen to others.
There is a popular song by Simon and Garfunkel first written in 1964 and later covered by Disturbed in 2015 called, "The Sound of Silence". The lyrics are poetic and considered prophetic to some degree by some. My favorite lyrics in the song are as follows:
"People talking without speaking. People hearing without listening."
Isn't that a great lyric?! What's the difference between hearing and listening? Hearing is one of the five senses while listening is paying attention. Hearing might as well be letting something go in one ear and out the other. Hearing is noise detection. Listening is much more intentional and meaningful. Listening requires going beyond skimming what's on the surface. I can testify just how powerful it can be to have someone in your life who you can talk to and listen to you. (See "Listen")
Jesus taught in parables (simple stories) so that only those who were in tune with their "spiritual ears" --- who were humbly listening with pure intent and in faith --- could understand them while those who wouldn't heed them even if they understood, namely those who persecuted Christ, wouldn’t understand (Matt. 13:10-16); this was likely done at least in part to be merciful to those who rejected Christ because they didn't have a perfect knowledge of the actions they committed against the Savior (See "Repentance"). This is something that James E. Talmage, past Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1862-1933) discussed in his incredible book "Jesus the Christ":
"There is plainly shown an element of mercy in the parabolic mode of instruction adopted by our Lord under the conditions prevailing at the time. Had He always taught in explicit declaration, such as required no interpretation, many among His hearers would have come under condemnation, inasmuch as they were too weak in faith and unprepared in heart to break the bonds of traditionalism and the prejudice engendered by sin, so as to accept and obey the saving word. Their inability to comprehend the requirements of the gospel would in righteous measure give Mercy some claim upon them, while had they rejected the truth with full understanding, stern Justice would surely demand their condemnation."
Another benefit of Christ teaching in parables was that you didn't have to have advanced education or knowledge to understand them because even the peasant would be acquainted with seeds and soil, or fish, and so forth. Jesus taught in a manner that was understandable to all.
But at the same time, pondering ---- really dwelling on something until it has meaning to you --- adds a layer of significance. Working something out in your mind, spending more time with it, increases the likelihood of remembering it. By pondering, people can move at their own pace and learn in the way that best suits them. As a college graduate, I can say that letting information soak in or dissecting it is more meaningful in the long run than just hearing something once, not understanding it, never learning it, and never thinking about it again. Instead of giving someone the answer to a math problem, it's much more beneficial to teach someone how to think about math. One of life's purposes is to help us learn and grow and we can't do that if others do everything for us all the time. Be proactive when it comes to the gospel. Life isn't supposed to be easy. By putting more time and effort, more practice, in listening to the Lord, the easier it will become, and the more we'll be able to learn and understand. The more meaningful the gospel will become to us personally. Like a foreign language, the more time we spend listening to and speaking the language of the gospel, the more familiar and understandable it will become.
Tune in with your spiritual ears to the promptings that always come through the Holy Ghost and you can understand more than what the senses alone can convey. (See "A Still, Small Voice")
HEAR HIM!
The Lord Jesus Christ in modern-day scripture has said, "...Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" (D&C 1:38; see also "Doctrine & Covenants"). Previously, I've talked about the importance of living prophets to lead and guide us today (See "Prophets and Callings"). And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only Church led by Jesus Christ with a living prophet and Apostles who continue to give us more of God's word (See "Church Organization"). Heeding the inspired messages that they give to us is one way that we can listen and give heed to Jesus Christ and the word of God.
The message and purpose of the prophets and Apostles have always been first and foremost to point us towards Jesus Christ. In recent years, they have continued that central message by counseling us to better "Hear Him".
There are many ways that we can "Hear Him". Many people, including said prophets and Apostles, have shared ways in which they "Hear" the Lord, the same ways in which any one of us can too. Hearing the Lord doesn't have to be complicated. In small and simple ways, the Lord speaks in a language that we can understand. We can hear the Lord through the scriptures. He can hear the Lord through the peaceful promptings of the Holy Ghost. He can hear the Lord by loving others.
I hear the Lord when I strive to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I've had many experiences through the course of my life when the Lord has clearly impressed upon my mind what to do or say. One such experience was when I was about 14 years old. I was in a position to reach out and fellowship somebody in my neighborhood who otherwise wasn't very involved in our Church. We had an activity coming up which he had surprisingly agreed to attend and we were excited for. Well, one afternoon, I had the strong impression from the Holy Ghost that I needed to call him and follow up with him. The feeling was seemingly out of the blue but once I had it, I could think of nothing else. I was absolutely restless with this thought. Even though I didn't like making phone calls, I dialed him up on the landline, his mom handed the phone over to him, and I followed up with him. He was a bit surprised I'd called but was happy about it. I hanged up the phone. Less than a minute later, somebody else called us. I picked it up. It was one of my leaders calling me to say that I needed to call the person and follow up with them. Much to my amazement, I recounted how I'd just talked to him a moment earler, and that was that. There was a similar occasion where I had a similar prompting in my mind to call somebody else to follow up on another activity. I ignored the prompting and the same thing happened but in reverse. My leader called me up and asked me to call the person I'd had the feeling of calling. And I did so despite my fear of calling people. Good thing too because my leader was actually in the room with that person when he called me. Had I not called, it would have reflected poorly on me because I would have been dishonest. But how much better would it have been if I'd called earlier? I've been very fortunate to have experiences such as this and I've come to learn through experience how the Lord speaks to me, and I do my best to act on what He says. I know that we are blessed when we respond promptly to the promptings of the Lord.
Hearing the Lord in such small and simple, yet meaningful ways is how we strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ. We show our love for Jesus Christ in the way we live and how we love. The gospel of Jesus Christ isn't meant to be a checklist of motions to get through. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a style of living by which we come closer to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father by striving to be like them. As our love for them grows, so does our love of their gospel and their commandments. It is my testimony that as we strive to "Hear Him" better, our love for the gospel and those around us will increase and the happier we will be.
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