Moments #13-14. Korean Grocery Store. Jul 8, 2004.

07/08/2004.

#13. Awkward moment in the Korean grocery store, but it leads to something good later.

I like a certain store for Korean, Chinese, and Japanese food. They have fresh produce, frozen food, dry food, canned food, snacks, and candy. I've been shopping there for several years, but have never tried to place a Book of Mormon before. I took in an English and a Korean copy, and put them in my cart as I shopped.

After paying for my groceries I offered the cashier, who I assumed to be one of the owners, a Book of Mormon in Korean and English. He didn't say yes or no, but was just non-committal. I used a little bit of boldness, which may have come across a little pushy, but he finally accepted the books, and set them aside to serve the others in line behind me. He may have accepted them just so I wouldn't hold up the line. He said he really didn't have time to read. It felt slightly awkward. But the additional time beyond checking out was only about 12 seconds.

I think the owner's family is Catholic because of notices for the local Korean Catholic church on the bulletin board behind the check-out. That might also have been a source of the awkwardness.

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#14, Golden warm fuzzy moment. Korean and English to nice lady.
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So now I'm walking out the store. A Korean lady and her about 4 year old Amer-Asian daughter who were ahead of me in line are bringing their shopping cart back from the parking lot. Bingo. I feel a sense of urgency. The Spirit motivates me to speak up. I wait on the sidewalk until they come back out of the store. I ask the lady "Do you like to read in Korean?" She says "yes." I ask if I could give her a Book of Mormon in Korean, no charge. She says "sure." I say I'll get it from my car over there and be right back.

She goes to her car and puts her daughter in the child seat, while I go put my groceries in my car and bring back Korean and English copies. I write the mission office phone number in both. She speaks English without an accent, and graciously accepts them and seems genuinely happy about it.

We make small talk for a little bit. Total time for placement other than shopping that I was going to do anyway, about 45 seconds.