I´m going to Italy-- Florence and Venice next weekend for 5 days. We are going to ride in a Gondala! I´m so excited. I didn´t get a chance to tell you about the potluck! We invited lots of people from our ward over. 20 people came to our apartment. 13 were Austrians, and 7 were Americans, including me and my roommate. There were 2 married couples there, one seemed so excited about the gospel. They talked about the different trials that the saints in Europe have, and how we need to work together as a worldwide church to build the kingdom. The wife of the other Austrian married couple seemed very pessimistic about life and about the gospel, even though she is a member. She doesn´t seem as happy as the other woman. She piped into our conversation and said that Utah mormons are so self-righteous and that their outward goodness is just a facade. She said that they pretend to be nice but really aren´t, and went off about it. I could tell that either she struggles with depression or has some other sort of struggles in her life right now----and she is always hesitant to come hang out with us even though her husband is always begging her (we invite all the young single adults and young married couples to play stuff like volleyball). So instead of trying to contradict her or anything I just responded to each pessimistic remark with things like ´´In many cases that is true. None of us are perfect, which is why all of us need the savior. There are many things that we need to work on in Utah, in Europe, and all over the world to build Zion. That´s why we all need to work together, because there is so much work to be done. It is true that there are lots of problems, but that only means that we need to fix them. You´re right! Even the scriptures say that we can´t go around saying ´´all is well in Zion.´´ I guess that means we need to get to work!´´ Anyway, the really optimistic married couple beamed, and backed me up, and I think they were a little embarrassed at her pessimism, but I pretended not to even notice it and I didn´t contradict her. I only looked for the silver lining in the cloud. Anyway, the really optimistic married couple pulled me aside and invited me and my roommate for dinner next week (which we will post-pone an extra week because of my Italy trip). There are a lot of people here who know the church is true, but lack a little bit of enthusiasm about the gospel. Elder Perry said that the best missionary tool in Europe will be enthusiasm. This couple has it! I really think they will be a huge strength to the church over here, and I won´t be at all surprized if they have leadership positions in the future.