Otto's Wedding Vows

The part where Otto professes his Christianity at the Bible study in Salt Lake City on Day 9 never happened.  Otto in real life was much too shy and introverted (and secure in himself) to stand up and make such a public proclamation, even if that’s what was moving him and were his true feelings.  He and I both sat there on the floor silently as the evalngelist was pleading for someone to come forward and be saved . . . not for me, because I had that signed profession of faith which I scribed a few months earlier and was home in my dresser drawer (that’s true). But this section needed a step-up, so I added in Otto coming forward "in humility"—one of the first things in the manuscript that I embellished. I wanted readers to know exactly what a typical Christian Bible study is like.  I didn’t want this section to be boring to those outside the faith, so that’s why I added the South Korean speaker communicating in broken English. For the pronouncement part at the end, I wanted to spice it up with a little humor, so in my mind, at least, the narrative is supposed to sound like wedding vows.  Otto repeats over and over, “I do,” with slight hesitation and trepidation, knowing this pronouncement is supposed to be good “forever.”