Swahili at grocery. Tues, Sep 12, 2006

09/12/2006. Journal entry. (No material given, just phone number.) I dropped off a flat tire at a tire store for repair and while waiting decided to walk around the shopping center. At the other end of the shopping center I entered a grocery store to use their public restroom. When I came out and passed the checkout lanes, I noticed a man speaking a foreign language on his cell phone.

After I got outside I thought it might be worthwhile waiting for a few seconds to see if he came out that doorway, and he did.

I thought I might have talked with him before, so I started by asking if we spoke before. He said no. He spoke perfect English and he said he spoke Swahili. I thought it would have been too awkward to ask him to wait while I ran across the big parking lot to my car or to ask him to drive over while I walked back to where my car was, so I could have given him a Book of Mormon in Swahili from my car. So I just gave him my business card, and asked him to call me for an 800 number where he could get free copies of the Book of Mormon in Swahili and English. I didn't have any pass-along cards on me!

It didn't occur until later that I could have just given him the Book of Mormon 800 number from memory (888-537-2200) and he could have programmed it into his cell phone to call later. And I didn't have a pen on me to write it down on the back of my business card.

But I asked him to call me, and that I'd give him the 800 number over the phone, and he could call the church to obtain one by mail, or that we could arrange for me to deliver the book to him.

The pass-along cards are too large to comfortably fit in a wallet. Maybe they could make business-card sized ones. Or maybe I could just put the church's Book of Mormon 800 # on my personal card the next time I have them printed up. But I don't want to have anything pre-printed with my name/number and the church's number on it because that would give the impression that I was an employee.

I think I may place a custom-order to have some separate business-sized cards made up with basic pass-along card info on them. Basic cards with standard layout are $17 (or less) per 1,000 at office supply stores. I'll get with the ward mission leader on that.