Can't think of a title...

The other night I was wandering around Marienplatz, because Institute (Religion Class) was cancelled, and I was in town anyway-I highly recommend wandering around Munich at dusk, by the way- and I met a French man named Roberto. Seriously, that was his name.

He asked me where Odeonsplatz was (which I totally got wrong, by the way), and then we just kept talking. He said he just likes to meet other people and learn about their ideas and culture, and so we walked (in a very brightly lit place where there were a lot of other people around-don't worry, mom) and talked.

What an interesting conversation. Some of his English was a little hard to understand, but I pretty much got it. I started out trying to shake him off, because he is a 30-something year old guy that I don't know, and that’s generally what you do, right? But he was persistent, and told me "you should talk to people, learn about their lives!" and so we talked.

Inevitably, religion came up. I don't drink coffee or alcohol, so yeah, inevitable. He asked "what is Salt Lake City famous for? What do people go see when they go there?" Yet again, religion= inevitable. Not that I mind. I have sat through COUNTLESS church lessons about missionary work, so here's my chance, right? You would think. Only problem is, all I can remember from those lessons, at least in the moment, is "missionary work is really important", and I get all flustered/awkward/freak out and successfully convince whoever I'm talking to that I am weird and my church is weird.

Well, I did my best, and he did his best to say “I just try to incorporate everything good thing about into my life so I’m more accepting.” Okay. Good enough. Best I could hope for I think.

I've had many other similar encounters this summer, but through them all I've learned a little something about myself. This whole experience I’ve had this summer has done exactly what I hoped it would. It has put me in a situation where I’ve had to become almost completely self sufficient in my everyday life, and subsequently made me more confident and capable. One of the places I’ve felt that need to be independent has been my testimony. I’m just happy to find that I can hold up under the pressure. There are subjects I need to study more, and I need to practice sharing so that I can feel more comfortable, but deep within, my testimony indeed lies strong. It’s a pretty cool thing to find out.