Sunday, January 18, 2009

This is the first time anyone has tried to convert me since high school!

L and I were in the trails behind Natural Bridges today and a couple asked us "Have you girls found Jesus Christ as your savior?" They tried to give us pamphlets, all smiles.

L said "We're practicing Jews, no thanks," and I said "Yeah, I work at a Jewish community center.

Their curiosity got the better of them, and they followed us and ask all kinds of questions, including "Where in Israel are you from?" (Because clearly, all Jews are Israeli). L responded with "Our families are Russian Jews" and we tried to walk away. The guy called out "Just one more question, I'm wondering... What's the difference between Russian and Orthodox Jews?" Huh? 

L said "Russian is the ethnicity. There are Russian Orthodox Jews and Russian Reform Jews and..." At this point, the guy threw up his hands and said "But that's confusing! Russian Orthodox is a sect of Christianity!" and went on to talk about the schism in the Russian church in the 1050s (he explained that he had a college degree in comparitive religions). We finally came to a place where it was clear that we could split off and we started going the other way. 

As we walked off, he cried out one more time: "Are you sure you haven't even condsidered Jesus as your savior?!"

Oy vey!

No comments: