Moment #2. Zulu at gas station. June 18, 2004.

06/18/2004. Yesterday, I separated out the African languages from my Book of Mormon collection thinking I might need them. Today, before I left the house, I had a strong feeling that I needed to put the African languages in the car, and I did so.

I ran some errands and decided to eat at a Chinese restaurant. On the way, I decided to stop at a Speedway Gas station to get some pop. One of the clerks was a black man with a foreign accent. I asked him where he was from. He said Pennsylvania and New York. "And before that?" I asked. He said Zimbabwe.

I asked him what African languages he spoke and he said some Tswana but mainly Zulu. I asked him, "If I gave you a book in Zulu, would you read it?" He said yes. I said "I'll be back."

I went back to the car and took the box of African language books into the gas station and gave him the one in Zulu and asked if he'd like the English version too. He seemed happy to receive them, and said that reading it would remind him of home. I left my business card with the books, asking him to let me know what he thought.