Yoruba at Kroger. Fri, Nov 17, 2006.

11/17/2006. 749. I was heading home after helping someone in the ward load up their moving truck. I needed groceries, and was considering stopping at a Kroger's that was near my path home. However, I felt a slight impression that I should go to the Kroger's that was nearer my home, but on the opposite side of home from where I currently was, slightly out of my way. It also occurred to me that I meet more immigrants at the Kroger nearer home than the one that was near me at the time. I pondered it some, and the "tug" felt like it was to the other Kroger's. So I went there.

My hands were still dirty from helping the sister move. So inside the Kroger's I crossed over to where the customer restrooms were. As I walked past the check-out lanes, there was a black woman in regular United States-style clothing checking out. The only thing that drew my attention to her were some kind of parallel markings on her face, on both cheeks. They were too uniform to be birth marks or injuries from an assault. They appeared to be scars from intentional cuttings. I mentally bet that she was from Africa. I have never seen such marks on African-Americans. Though I haven't seen such marks on Africans in person either, only on people in documentaries on TV, and then, not exactly those. Anyway, it was worth a gamble.

I couldn't approach her while she was paying at the check-out, and it would have been too noticeable and awkward to back up and catch her as she was going out, though maybe I should have. I continued on to the restroom, washed hands, went back, but she had left the store. So I went out to the parking lot, saw her, and fast-walked. Fortunately, she was only 2 parking spaces from my car (coincidence?), so by going to my driver's side door, I could speak to her without invading her space, and without leaving my car's space. Now the approach could be copasetic and non-threatening.

I think my conversation starter was "Are you from Africa?" She said Nigeria. I asked "Do you speak Igbo or Yoruba?" She said Yoruba. I asked if she had a Yoruba Bible (as I think I had one in the car) and she said yes. She approached me a little, so I took that as my permission to approach too, and left my car's space to be at a more normal speaking distance with her.

Then I said our church has a Sunday school manual in Yoruba, and offered it to her, and she was very interested and agreed to see it. I got it out of my car, along with the English edition, and took them back to where she was standing. She was very excited to see it, and very grateful when I gave it to her. I pointed out the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlets (in both Yoruba and English) I had with them, and also the list of local chapels. She said she'd visit our church some day, and I asked her to call me or the church office number if she liked what she read and wanted to know more.

It was a very pleasant encounter, and it made her very happy.