Losing yourself

There is just something so liberating about being lost in a foreign place.On the majority of my vacations and trips to places, one of my favorite things is to just walk around and lose myself in the city. It is my current pass time in Frankfurt really. I hop on the train, get to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, and then hop on a random train. Then I decide when I want to get off, then start to explore the city from wherever I am and see when I can figure out where I am. I am getting pretty decent with it. I'm not exactly sure why it is, but it is so freeing. Knowing that you have no idea where you are and that it doesn't matter is great! Nothing else matters but where you are right then. It is like you have left behind yourself and it doesn't matter what is going on in life, you are free from everything that moment. I love it!

Yesterday I went to institute and had a lot of fun. Of course it was all in German so I really didn't catch much of it... at all really... But I enjoyed trying. Every once in a while Emily would lean over to me and kinda tell me a little of what was going on so I would be able to connect the few words I know into what they could possibly be saying.

I was enjoying listening to everything going on, when the teacher put us in groups and said we had to do something in five minutes. I looked to my group members to see what was going on, and was informed that we had to come up with examples from the Book of Mormon about times where there was delegation (Delegation was what the lesson was on). We talked it over a bit, then Emily looks at me and says that I am going to be the one telling about it. Say what?! I told her no, but the great thing about Emily, she doesn't listen to me sometimes (actually works out pretty well). Then she says something to the other guy in the group in German and he agrees. I know enough to know that she just told him not to say anything and this was all me. Luckily most the people in the class know English so I just said it in English. No biggie there.

The Sister that was teaching the class then passed out quotes for us to read. The first time Emily snagged mine and read it. The second time, she decided I was ready to read German. This was the quote I got, "Einige werden nicht zu großen Führern, weil sie nicht gelernt haben, Weisungen zu befolge. nämlich die Lehren Jesu Christi. Damit wir also führen können, wie Jesus es getan hat, müssen wir zunächst lernen." (really good quote once you translate it. I had no idea what I said till I came home). I stumbled a bit, blushed a lot, but I got through it. Yet another example where Emily didn't listen to me when I was trying to be a little more shy. Thanks :)

Afterwards it was really nice because one of the girls in the class came up to me and said, "You read that really well. Really. I am not being nice." It made me happy. I know I slaughtered a lot of the words, but you know what? I did it. They at least understood me to a degree and I appreciated it. Mark my words, I will be speaking German when I come home. It will be magical.