Just A Walk In The Park

Today I had to run to the bookstore and pick up the next level German textbook. Myself and a few of my classmates from my Intensive German course have hired our former teacher Gerlinde to tutor us twice a week. We want to learn more German, and since she is such an excellent teacher it was an easy choice.

It's a beautiful sunny day, the temperature is up (~15 degrees C?), and I was walking through the Stadtpark (city park) as a shortcut. Lots of people were out and about in the park. I was asked by two separate(!) guys if I wanted to buy drugs, and also approached by a pair of Mormons to talk religion. Being a product of the D.A.R.E. program from childhood, I turned down the drug dealers by just saying "nein". However, I did talk to the Mormons for a bit. It turned out they were both Americans, one from Colorado and one from Missouri. They were both wearing the traditional black slacks with white short sleeve dress shirt, tie and nametag. I'm pretty sure they had backpacks too! I could tell who they were 50 meters away. One of these Halloweens that will be my costume...

Obviously they wanted to talk religion, and I was actually interested in having a conversation with them. Not because I want to convert. I'm just curious why they ended up believing what they do, and how they respond to some of the questions about their religion. Recently I read an article on the LA Times website about how DNA testing has shown that a tribe of people from Peru are NOT descended from Israel, contrary to what Joseph Smith specifically wrote. Funny, but this reminds me of the Holy Blood I saw in Belgium, and how I wondered about DNA testing on THAT precious relic.

Anyway, I'm meeting them next Monday afternoon, and as a bonus they are going to show me their temple here in Graz. I wonder if I should bring my camera.