Book of Mormon Moment #420. French. Thu, Sep 8, 2005.

09/08/2005. Further along the way home, I had the idea of stopping at another Shell station. It's late as I write this, and now I'm unsure of my reasoning or motivation for stopping. I bought a different newspaper, and the cashier spoke with an accent.

I asked, in French if he spoke French, and he said oui. I practiced some more of my newly acquired French and asked if he was from Senegal. He said no, that he was from Niger. I asked if he spoke Hausa, and his face brightened up, and said yes, that Hausa was the principal language of Niger. I said I had books in French and Hausa from my church, and offered them, and he eagerly agreed to see them. I went to my car, and discovered I didn't have any Hausa Gospel Fundamentals with me (still had some at home, though), so I just gave him French and English copies of the Book of Mormon. He was happy to receive those, and I told him I'd bring the Hausa later. He said he regularly worked there, so I could leave them there if he wasn't there at the time I came by again.

He helped me practice some of the meet-and-greet conversational French from class. It was a neat encounter for both of us.