Moment #554. Amharic at Post Office. Mon, Apr 17, 2006.

04/17/2006. As I entered the inner lobby of the Post Office, two men were coming out, one of whom I recognized as an Ethiopian man to whom I had given Amharic and English copies of the Book of Mormon at the gas station where he worked. He recognized me too.

He said he hadn't read much because he left the books at work, and when he returned, they were gone. I asked if he wanted replacements, and he said sure. His friend also was interested. They also gave me another quick Amharic lesson. I went out to my car and retrieved two pairs of Amharic/English copies of the Book of Mormon. There was another Ethiopian lady with whom they were talking. I thought she was related to one of them, but she wasn't, and she left just before I got back with the books.

I asked one of them to read a little bit in Amharic just so I could hear it. It is a cool-sounding language. The script in which Amharic is written is called the Ethipic or Ge'ez script. It dates back to the 5th century BC.