Tagalog-Ilokano at Chinese restaurant. Mon, Oct 9, 2006.

10/09/2006. 730. I was near a Chinese restaurant that I've been to several times before, and felt inspired to eat there this evening.

There's even more to the "back story" conconcerning replacing the tail and stop/tail lights on my car. I replaced the wrong pair of bulbs on Friday evening. Then I replaced the correct lights on Saturday evening. And today, I realized I put in the wrong bulbs on the ones I changed Friday. While leaving the parts store (a different one this time) this evening is when the idea of eating here came to mind, because it was close by. So it makes me wonder if the stop/tail-lights affair was to manuever me into position.

I ordered, sat down, and put out the Chinese/English New Testament, Traditional and Simplified Chinese Books of Mormon, and two DVD's with Chinese audio tracks on my table. Unfortunately, the waitress/cashier called me to the front to pick up my plate instead of bringing it to me, so making a presentation was going to be a little more awkward.

A Filipina woman was waiting in the customer area for her order. She was talking on her cell phone. She was speaking English, but by her looks and her accent, I guessed she was from the Philippines.

We made eye contact a couple of times. I hope I didn't come across as flirting. By the time I finished eating she was done with her phone call. I approached her on my way out and while keeping a respectful distance, asked if she spoke Tagalog. She said yes. I asked if she had seen the Tagalog Book of Mormon. She said no, and she volunteered that she already had an English Book of Mormon. Coolness!

I offered her a Tagalog Book of Mormon, and she agreed to receive one, so I went out to the car and retrieved it, along with a couple of DVD's that have Tagalog audio tracks, Heavenly Father's Plan, and Together Forever. She gratefully accepted them. I then found out she also spoke Ilokano, so I offered that one, and went out to the car to get it.

She said that she had been given an English Book of Mormon when she was in college, and that some of her friends had joined into the church.

I wrote the sister missionaries' phone number on one of the info flyers in the books.