For the past few weeks at church I've been using the Dutch hymn books to sing, to learn the pronunciation from following along with the people singing around me. I'm not completely sure how much I'm retaining that way, but I figure it doesn't hurt. However, it really takes a lot of effort to sing in a language you don't know, and I find myself tired by the time the hymn is over.
Today we had stake conference via satellite broadcast from Salt Lake. I felt lazy and decided not to search for a Dutch hymn book since there was an English one right in front of me. So I sang in English while everyone else around me sang in Dutch for the opening hymn.
But because of the broadcast, the words to the intermediate hymn were displayed on the screen... in English. Although the others could have picked up a hymn book and sing in Dutch, they didn't. The whole congregation was singing in a language very familiar to me. I couldn't help but smile. This has been the first time since I've arrived 3 months ago, that everyone at church was singing English. Quite a nice change from the norm.
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