Moments #490-491. Spanish/Chinese @ Chinese Rest. Tues, Nov 22, 2005.

11/22/2005. I was on the Northwest side of Indy, and ended up at a Chinese restaurant (sit-down, not buffet) that I hadn't been to before. The circumstances that got me there aren't important, and there was no inspiration involved, but looking back, I now wonder if the Lord had a hand in the circumstances.

I ordered, sat down, put out the two kinds of Chinese Books of Mormon, and read my newspaper. The cashier/waitress brought out my plate, noticed the books, but didn't react or say anything, and I was not quick enough to say anything.

I continued to eat/read and another customer came in, ordered, and made small talk with the cashier. He had a heavy accent, but I could not identify it at all. He said something to the cashier, "In my country....," which gave me the perfect opening for starting a conversation, so I asked where he was from.

He said Dominican Republic, so we talked a little in Spanish but reverted back to English. I forget the my exact words but I brought up the Book of Mormon in Spanish, and he said he had already read it, and knew a lot about Joseph Smith. I pointed to the Chinese Books of Mormon in front of me and said I brought them in for the employees there, and offered him one in Spanish. He had an English copy, but agreed to receive one in Spanish.

When his food was ready, he sat down at his table to eat, and when he was finished, he came back to me. The fact that he re-intitiated contact with me after eating confirmed to me that he did not feel put-upon when I had first spoken to him.

We went outside, and I obtained a Spanish copy for him from my car trunk. When he saw the English copies, he requested one for a friend, so I gave him one in English too. I offered him a multi-lingual DVD of "Heavenly Father's Plan" and he accepted that too. He was very grateful for the material.

I went back in to get my stuff, and the lunch crowd had started. There were now 3 additional employees working in the kitchen behind the counter. I thought I had lost my opportunity to offer books to the cashier. But when I gathered my stuff, and turned to the cashier's counter, we made eye contact, and she was at a point where I could approach the counter. It only took about 12 seconds, but I offered, and she accepted, a Simplified Chinese Book of Mormon. There didn't seem to be time to offer her an English copy, so I let it at that, and went outside to my car.

However, after getting in the car, I remembered that I hadn't left a tip. So I went back in with a tip, and an English copy, hoping to find a tip jar on the counter. There was one, so I put the dollar in, and the cashier had a free moment, and she accepted my offer of an English Book of Mormon to go with the Chinese.