Moment #505. Tagalog/Cebuano at a sale. Wed, Dec 28, 2005.

12/28/2005. I went to a local upscale department store to shop their 50% off sale. And as you might imagine, they were out of the advertised item that I wanted the most, a cookware set. So I browsed the kitchen department looking for other deals.

There were two Southeast Asian-looking ladies being helped by a store employee. After the employee answered their questions and left, the two ladies spoke in a foreign language, but I couldn't make it out.

I was already standing within conversation distance, so I asked them what language they were speaking. They said Tagalog, that they were from the Philippines. At this point the conversation was still in a formal tone between strangers. I said that my church had free books in Tagalog, called the Book of Mormon. One asked me if I was Mormon, and I said yes. Then she broke into a big smile and said she was Mormon too. The wall of formality came down and the conversation became very friendly and in earnest.

One was from California, and one was from Illinois. They said they were visiting relatives in town. The second lady was a sister of the first, but was not a member, nor were their local relatives. I asked the lady who was a member if I could give her copies of the Book of Mormon in Tagalog to give to her relatives, and she enthusiastically said yes. She had brought one, but needed more. I asked if they spoke any other langauges, and they said Cebuano. I asked them to wait there in the kitchen department while I got the books from my car. I only had one Tagalog and one Cebuano copy in the car. I brought those in along with two English copies.

The non-member was probably more excited than her sister at seeing the books. She eagerly accepted them and started flipping through one. I pointed out the nearby chapels on the list that I had put in the books, and they pointed out which chapel they had been to last Sunday.

I got to practice some of the Tagalog that I learned from a language CD.

What a blessing it is to occasionally be allowed to be the Lord's delivery boy, especially to people who are so sweet and humble as those two were.