Friends in High Places

Although this morning football wasn't the best (I, on accident, assisted the winning goal for the other team, or maybe I should blame Ricky for not being there quick enough), the stake ball made up for it. (I looked alright, see the picture. If only I had mukkis--the Saxon slang for "muscles"--so I wouldn't wish I had longer sleeves.) Bryan brought me a rose and the ride there was awesome: me and four guys, all of whom like to joke about being "gangsters" (that's right, say it with a German accent: "gangsta," I like to joke that I'm a "gangsterin," the female version I made up). The hour-long ride included some nice views of hills and forests and fields, so it was beautiful. The trees here have really been showing their stuff this week. Then at the ball, you should have seen me dance! My shoes were on fire. Several nice young men helped me keep up with the beat and execute fine turns. I don't even have to mention that I enjoyed the food. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know this already.












One of the biggest highlights though was a conversation I had. I was standing in line, waiting to get some Knoedel (mmmm!) and an elderly gentleman started talking to me. He asked me all about myself and we talked about how he's been to Salt Lake at least twenty times and how he studied Germanistik and Russian Literature. I asked him if he had read Gogol, to which he answered affirmatively. It was really quite a fascinating conversation. Finally, I said, "And what is your name?" He handed me a card. This card (yes, it got a little smashed in my bag):












Okay, so it's backwards because I took it with Photo Booth. However, I think you get the point. I had been talking to the temple president! He said that I should ask for him when I made it to the temple and that he was very glad to have talked with me. He knows President Monson really well, so we compared some good stories.