Moment #101. Japanese at Shell. Nov 17, 2004.

11/17/2004. I dropped off some stuff at the Elder's apartment. I received a "hurry up" prompting from the Spirit, so I did not linger and chit-chat with the Elders. On the way home, I approached a certain Shell gas station, and the memory of Rose telling me about Africans working at Shell stations came to me. Then I felt "the tug." It felt like I was being pulled or pushed to turn into the station, so I did. The feeling was not obvious beyond doubt, it was not the same as being constrained, but it was a feeling.

As I pulled in I could see through the window that the clerk was a Caucasian lady, so I started to doubt. I needed a newspaper anyway, so I went in to buy one. The man in line in front of me was obviously Asian, and spoke English to the clerk with a broken accent. Bingo. He was the one to whom I was to speak. I started getting that antsy feeling of having to choose the right moment without being intrusive.

He paid for his purchases, and while he was gathering his things from the counter, I paid for the paper, and followed him closely out the door. Once outside I asked him what foreign languages he spoke. He had trouble understanding, and in my excitement I forgot to slow down my speech.

He eventually said "Japanese." I'm sure my heart-rate soared at that point. I said I had a book in Japanese, the Book of Mormon, and asked if he'd like to see it. He didn't seem to understand. We were standing just few feet from the rear of my car, so I went to the trunk and got out Japanese and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and gave them to him. I pointed out my business card in one. I thanked him, and we said good evening, and departed.

Meeting someone at a propitious moment like that has happened too often to be just coincidence. I stand amazed at how Heavenly Father arranged circumstances of both my evening and that gentleman's in order to put us both at the same place at the same time. 10 seconds either way and we would have missed each other.

I drove home in awe, taking deep breaths. I was almost to the point of trembling.