Forced Out Of My Shell...And A Trip To The Zoo

Snap shots of Berlin.


You have to visit this church if you come to Berlin.

Megan loves tigers.

This was one beautiful tiger. ^
They dared me to kiss the pig...

So I kissed the pig...and loved it. Of course.

Classic candid moment in the Zoo gift shop. I picked up this snake and Ariel caught me making a disgusted face. It just looked kinda real and I got grossed out all of a sudden.

About 20 minutes after this picture was taken we got a good hard core German rain storm that soaked us to our knees.

rawr...bears galore.


The animals are so active and happy here. They show off a lot. :) ^
This little elephant family was so cute. The daddy kept poking, nuzzling, and wrapping his trunk around the mamma elephants face.


Dancing with a bunch of Greeks. haha. ^

Yes those are Legos. ^
I LOVE BERLIN!!!

Somehow in the last few years I have become a bit more shy than usual. Maybe I have always been a little shy and didn't realize it...but this experience has completely forced me out of my bubble. Having to walk up to a random stranger on the street and ask for directions in a language that you are not fluent in is quite scary. "Wo ist..." has become a regular sentence starter for me.
I am finally adapting to the culture here in Germany. I feel more a part of my surroundings. I am eating the proper way they eat, what they eat, going the places that the locals go, shopping where the locals shop, and to top it off...I can finally read the subway signs in German. I have been traveling around Berlin by myself a lot this week. Today I woke up and my roommates were heading out to visit a castle. I decided to go to the Berlin Zoo with Megan and Ariel, then shop around a bit. It was a blast as you can see. This trip has been a dream come true for me. Right now I am looking out over Berlin. It has been raining so the streets are shiny and wet. The lights are way bright, lots of cars driving around, there is a festival still going on near by, and I can hear music playing. The ten large windows in my living room are fully open and my home smells like fresh rain. We are up on one of the top floors of this massive complex...so when we look out we see not only city but forest area as well. It is beautiful. I don't want to return to the US sadly. Can you believe I am here? I can't. Sometimes I enjoy being here alone while my roommates are out clubbing so I can work a bit and enjoy some down time while looking out over the city.
Happiness is something that we can only create within ourselves. It is easy to find fault in people and look down on other people for whatever differences may exist. The people here have many questions about my religion. The first thing they ask is, "In Greece(Italy,Romania,Spain, etc) we hear that Mormons have lots of wives? And you all live in Utah?"
I always smile when we get this question.
I tell them about the history of our church...and actually how common polygamy was ALL over the world back then. Not just with the Mormons. Everywhere I turn people are asking about Mormonism. My German tutor, Dan, served his mission here in Berlin. I can't imagine how great of a mission it must have been. The people are SO curious! And they are really willing to listen...not to mention feed you until you can't stand any longer. My roots are here in Germany. If I could close my eyes and beam my car, my apartment WITH my roommates (Whit, you don't really have a choice here because it is my wish lol), my job, my comfy bed, Dan (because you have to help translate sometimes, right?), normal soymilk (they don't have it here...theirs is icky)...and just live here for a few semesters...I would do it in a heartbeat.
I just had a talk with a friend about religion and I wanted to jot down a thought...Being LDS is great. I do not, however, like the type of LDS culture that I see in Utah sometimes. While being out here in Europe and seeing so many different types of people and cultures...I am coming to realize there are many opinions that I have which are influenced by culture rather than religion.
My religion practices faith and love and service. Utah has been known to have a high level of depression cases and family issues, sadly. My roommate asked me about strive for perfection...and why there is so much competition in Utah to be the better Mormon, mother and wife or husband. Who has sinned more or less. I didn't have an answer. The only think I knew was that I had only really experienced that in a few wards in the Provo area and once recently in Colorado. It made me sad to hear her perspectives on Mormons because I knew that her perspectives were coming from a few encounters with a few extremest in Utah. How can I show her that not all LDS and not all Utah Mormons are extremest? Tell her I have a past too? Tell her I feel inadequate sometimes? Tell her I am divorced...and in Provo it doesn't get a whole lot worse than that? I decided that I would set the record strait and just show her that I am different by standing by my words. Thus the reason I didn't go clubbing tonight (or ever on this trip) with the crew. By befriending her when the others aren't interested. By letting her talk to me about her frustrations with the LDS church without using judgement or bias. We talked for a few hours and made mountains of progress. Today was an interesting day...full of deep conversations, empowering decisions, and a severe lack of sleep. :)
I have a very strong testimony of the Gospel. All that matters is family, love, obtaining knowledge, loving your neighbor, and holding true to your values and the things that you know to be true. I told my friend that we all make mistakes and sometimes learn things the hard way...but that is WHY we have the Gospel...because when we do things that aren't good for us we have somewhere to turn for comfort and for answers. I think people get depressed because they feel inadequate and unwelcome or unwanted/needed. There is a purpose for each living thing on this earth. My friend has a role here and I am supposed to learn something from her. Maybe her from me.
I believe we are all setting a profound example to someone...even when no one is technically looking. Sometimes we have to step out of our boxes and force ourselves out of our shells to do things that are good for us. Like pulling out a map and getting on a random bus with full faith that you will be able to find your way back home.
Gute Nacht.