Spanish at laundromat. Wed, Dec 20, 2006.

12/20/2006. 773. Last month I moved to a different part of town. I don't have my routine down yet, and had to do laundry in the afternoon today. There would barely be enough time to get home, drop off the laundry, and go pick someone up to attend a baptism. Therefore I put on my church clothes, black leather shoes, khaki pants, white shirt, instead of wearing more casual attire today and having to change later.

I met a Mexican friend at the laundromat whom I haven't seen in years. We lost touch when he moved and changed phone numbers. I was grateful for that reunion.

There was also an Hispanic lady using the dryers and folding table next to the ones I was using. It was very convenient and non-threatening to start a conversation without having to approach her at all or invade her space. We could converse without either of us moving from where we already were.

I asked, in Spanish, where she was from, and how long she's been in the US. She was from Honduras and has been here 18 years.

I asked if she had a Spanish Bible and English Bible and she said no, so I offered, and she enthusiastically accepted. I offered the Spanish and English Book of Mormon and she enthusiastically agreed to receive those too. I went out to the car, and brought back in a Spanish NVI New Testament (Nueva Version International) and an English NIV New Testament (New International Version). I didn't have any full Bibles in Spanish in the car at the time. I also brought in Spanish and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and the multi-lingual "Joy To the World" DVD (featuring the Mo-Tab choir) that has a Spanish audio track.

She eagerly and joyfully accepted it all, expressing appreciation, and asked where the church was. I pointed out the info flyers, pointed out the mission office number, and described where my ward was, and where the Spanish-speaking branch meets.

There was another lady (caucasian) further down the row of dryers who was smiling knowingly, but I didn't approach her. I met her again later at the baptism at church, and it turns out she is a member in my ward.