Yoruba at store. Sat, Jun 30, 2007.

06/30/2007. 845. Here in town, I stopped at an African grocery store that I hadn't been to before. I needed to stock up on some stuff anyway. As I browsed and picked out items, I chit-chatted with the owner, as I was the only customer most of the time. He was from Nigeria and spoke Yoruba. I offered, and he accepted a Yoruba translation of the Gospel Fundamentals Sunday School manual. After paying, I took my purchases to the car, and returned with that book along with the English version. He seemed very pleased to receive them.

Will catch up blogging soon.

Things have slowed down as far as book placements. And I haven't kept up blogging the ones I have made. Last week I took a 3.5 day trip, made 12 placements along the way, and had a few missed opportunities, one of which I really chickened out on. That one was the same gas station and same cashier where I chickened out last year. Yikes.

I made a few of the same stops as last year's trip. One was at a Chinese restaurant, but it was now closed. I noticed it and wrote it down on last year's trip, but didn't eat there at the time, because it wasn't meal-time. It was only about an hour outside of Indianapolis. I had intended to make a special trip there, just for lunch or dinner after last year's trip, but kept putting it off. Then, when I finally got there on this year's trip it was closed. "If ya snooze, ya lose" was certainly true there.

Another repeat stop was at a certain gas station, to see a cashier to whom I neglected to give a Book of Mormon last year. I was prompted to offer her something last year, but chickened out. So this year I intentionally stopped at the same place again. She wasn't there, and I asked if she still worked there. I had remembered her name from her name tag, and had written it down in my journal. The cashier said she had moved out of state just a couple weeks ago. Again, "if ya snooze, ya lose."

There are two factors in the reduction of placements this year. One is that there aren't as many immigrants in the part of town where I now live.

The other is that I'm not in tune with the Spirit as much. I've had some bitter feelings towards a certain church member (who's in another ward) with whom I've had a serious misunderstanding. The misunderstanding and breakdown of communication reached a point where I need to speak with this person's bishop in the hopes that he can talk with this person and resolve the misunderstandings between us. I tried talking with this person, and had friends talk to this person too, and that didn't work. So, according to DC 42:88-89, I need to go to the "elders of the church", which in this case I believe would be this person's bishop.

I'm a bit embarrassed to go to a bishop to ask his help in working out something that two adults should be able to work out on their own. But hey, the directions are in the scriptures. If you try to work it out and can't, get your friends to help, and if they can't, go up the "chain of command" in the church.

Hindi, Missed Op, Chinese. Fri, Jun 22, 2007.

06/22/2007. (Road trip to visit family, continued. On the return trip home.) I'm going to combine all three encounters from this one Interstate exit into one post. The sub-title of this post could be "Heavenly Father knows where everyone is."

843. The first stop was at a gas station. My notes indicate this was directed by the Spirit. When I saw that gas station, I felt that it was the one to go to. But I forget the original reason I got off the Interstate. The lady cashier was from India, and spoke Hindi and another Indian language (for which we don't have a Book of Mormon yet.) She politely accepted both Hindi and English copies of the Book of Mormon. When I came back in with the books, I went to the back of the line, and I kept letting people go ahead of me in line until there was no one else waiting. I didn't want to inconvenience anyone.

While I was giving them to her, some more people got in line, so I made it quick. She quickly flipped through the Hindi copy, but put them aside to serve the other patrons.

---

Journal Entry. Missed opportunity. I saw another gas station down the road that I felt attracted to. I went towards there, and then in the strip mall behind it, I saw an indoor flea-market "peddlars mall" kind of thing, and then felt even more strongly that I should go there. It was typical of the "step-by-step" directions I've experienced in the past.

I went in and browsed for the kinds of things I would normally buy. I'm kind of interested in knives, so I usually browse those, and sometimes buy something interesting. I asked one of the employees, and she directed me to an area that had some.

After browsing that area, I felt inspired to walk down a certain aisle. The Spirit actually said "Walk down this aisle." I did so. I don't remember if they were there when I first went down that aisle, or if they came around a corner, but there were two Caucasian-American women were walking towards me. One of them looked me straight in the eyes.

Have you ever had your eyes meet with a stranger's and you look at each other eye-to-eye for just a second or fraction of a second longer than what is customary, and you feel (to the point of knowing) that there's some connection between you, or you're supposed to make some connection? Not neccesarily deja vu (a past encounter) but a "this encounter was meant to be, and for a purpose." That's what this was like.

But, I let fear and awkwardness get in the way, and I didn't stop to strike up a conversation with those two ladies. There were plenty of other people at that flea-market (or "peddlars mall" thing) that I didn't have that feeling about. So I wasn't making it up, or imagining. It was them, or at least one of them.

It was definitely a lack of confidence on my part, so I guess I need more virtue garnishing my mind.

It's easy to give out books to people who speak foreign languages, because you don't have to talk religion. I always say up-front "it's a Christian book" or "a book from my church", because I don't want them to feel surprised when they see the sub-title. But that's the closest I usually get to talking religion, unless the person asks me a direct question.

I know from past experience that immigrants overwhelming welcome offers of free materials in their native language, "even though" it's religious. So for 95% of them, I know they'll consider my offer as a big favor.

But it is harder to strike up a conversation with a stranger for the sole purpose of "sharing religion." I've been using the language and ESL aspect as a crutch, and without that crutch, I'm a big chicken.

I have to keep reminding myself that when the Spirit points someone out like that and tells me to start speaking, (the inspiration of exactly what to say doesn't start flowing until after you start talking, the Lord seems to require that little leap-of-faith from us) that that person is supposed hear some kind of message. I seem to forget that these promptings of the Holy Ghost aren't some kind of whims or randomness on his part, they're actually the will of Heavenly Father. The Holy Ghost does not and cannot prompt, whisper, command, or inspire anything unless it's the will of Heavenly Father and the Savior.

I realize some nay-sayers will likely dismiss such promptings/whisperings/ideas as my imagination. But those who have received of the Spirit will know exactly what I'm talking about.

I also stopped at that gas station out front, bought something, but didn't see any opportunities, and didn't approach anyone.

---

844. Chinese at restaurant. It wasn't quite supper time, but I stopped at this Chinese restaurant on the way back to the Interstate. I think this stop was prompted, too. I decided to order a meal to go, and then eat it later. I would be passing through a city where a friend lives, so I planned on calling her to see if I could stop and eat the to-go meal at her house.

I went in and ordered. I struck up a conversation with the cashier. Her family was from Hong Kong, spoke Cantonese, and read the traditional script Chinese. She accepted a traditional script Chinese Book of Mormon, and two DVD's with Cantonese audio tracks, "Finding Happiness" and "Together Forever."

I called my friend, and about 2.5 hours later was at her house. There were no more placement efforts on this trip. But, right after leaving my friend's house I scoped out some places near there to visit in the future. And I did some reconnaissance at an Interstate exit back in Indiana.

Chinese Bible at restaurant. Fri, Jun 22, 2007.

06/22/2007. 842. (Road trip to visit family, continued. On the return trip home.) I stopped at a restaurant that I had previously scoped out (reconnoitered) on the trip down.

It was a late lunch, and there were no other customers there at the time, so I didn't have to worry that talking with any of the staff would interfere with their other customers. After eating I went back to the cashier's counter, and started by asking her if she liked to read in Chinese. I first offered a Chinese/English bilingual New Testament from IBS. She accepted the bilingual New Testament, and I tried to introduce the Book of Mormon, but she cut me off saying she didn't want any more.

Missed opportunity. Fri, Jun 22, 2007.

06/22/2007. Journal Entry. (Road trip to visit family, continued. On the return trip home.) I blew it again. First a little background. I don't offer material to every store cashier I meet. I only offer material to (almost all) those who speak foreign languages; and for those who apparently speak only English I offer material only when I feel spiritually inspired to.

This was an inspired stop, I had no other reason or motivation to stop. Which gas station/convenience store to go to at that exit was inspired, or spiritually prompted. It wasn't until I got inside that I recognized it as a place I had been during last year's trip.

And when I paid for my purchase, it was the same cashier as last year. Here was my chance to repent for chickening out last year, the feeling that I needed to offer her some church material was the same. And I chickened out again.

I vainly tried to "make up for it" by talking to a truck driver who had paused outside to have a soft-drink. He was from South America, so we spoke Spanish, but he had to move on.

I felt the withdrawal of the Spirit and didn't go back in. But since I got home, even now as I write this, the thought of making a special trip back there comes to mind. When will I learn?

Again, I only offer material to English-only speaking people when prompted. So those situations stand out. On this trip I probably went to a dozen additional gas stations, visits that I haven't journaled, because I observed no opportunity and made no offers. Most of those stops were of my own volition, not inspired. There were plenty of English-only speaking people I could have made offers to, but didn't because the people and the circumstances didn't fit the pattern. I feel absolutely no guilt at all about those, there's no sense of loss. But this one, I feel guilt and a sense of loss. I was supposed to say something, and I didn't.

06/22/2007. Journal entry. A few exits down the road, I felt inspired to take a certain exit, and go to a certain gas station. However, no opportunities presented themselves, and I felt no further directions. There were no guilty feelings associated with not encountering or speaking to anyone, so I believe it could have been a "timing loop" (to adjust the timing of a future encounter) or a test.

Hindi at gas station. Wed, Jun 20, 2007

06/20/2007. 841. (Road trip to visit family, continued. 2nd day of driving.) I wrote down the exit number in my notes, but I've forgotten the other details, other than someone accepted both a Hindi and an English Book of Mormon. I assume it was at a gas station or convenience store.

I made several more stops before I arrived at my destination that evening, but did not make any more placement attempts.

Lessons learned this trip:

Do a better job appreciating the importance of promptings. Do a better job of maintaining in tune with the Spirit.

Act. There might not be a second chance. Stop making excuses.

Write down notes immediately. Write down more information about these encounters and offers.

Chinese x2 at restaurant. Wed, Jun 20, 2007.

06/20/2007. 840. (Road trip to visit family, continued. 2nd day of driving.) I forget why I chose this particular exit. I think I exited here just because it was lunch time. There was a commercial district at this exit, with plenty of gas stations, stores, and restaurants, but no Chinese restaurants.

I went into one gas station looking for a placement opportunity but didn't see any. I bought something, and asked the cashier if there was a Chinese restaurant nearby. He said yes, about three or four blocks away on the same street. It was simple to get to, and would be a straight shot back to the Interstate.

I went there and it was a good-looking buffet.

As I ate, they were starting to get busy with the lunch crowd, so the waitress was moving fast. I had Chinese and English copies of the Book of Mormon out on the table, and she probably noticed them, but didn't say anything. When she brought my check, I struck up a conversation with "Do you like to read in Chinese?"

She was from China, and very graciously accepted the Simplified Script Chinese edition of the Book of Mormon. She was a bit reluctant to accept the English edition, but I emphasized the idea of reading them together to improve English reading. I think she caught on to the idea, but I'm not sure.

I try very hard not to be pushy. Chatty is okay, but pushy is not. And if someone accepts a forgeign-language edition, I believe it's then okay to be a little bold when offering the English to go with it. I think there is great benefit when reading them together as ESL (English as a Second Language) material.

I went to the cashier counter to pay, and told the cashier how good their buffet was. I showed the cashier a copy of the Simplifed Script Chinese edition that I had given the waitress. I found out that the waitress was not part of the owner's family, so I wanted to offer the cashier a copy too. The cashier's family was from either Taiwan or Hong Kong, where they read Traditional Script Chinese characters. So I pulled one of those out of my bag, and showed her, and she looked through it a bit. She graciously accepted it and an English edition.

06/20/2007. Journal entry. I got back on the Interstate after lunch. At the very next exit I felt that I should take it. It was another commercial area. Not far from the Interstate was a Chinese restaurant. I made a note to eat there on the return trip.

If ya snooze, ya lose, 2nd time this trip. Wed, Jun 20, 2007.

06/20/2007. Journal entry. (Road trip to visit family, continued. 2nd day of driving.) On this stop I was going to repent of chickening out at a certain gas station last year. I was going to intentionally visit the same gas station, and look up a person to whom I should have given material last year. It was the "missed opportunity" with a 50-ish lady cashier, between encounters #656 and #657.

My memory had gotten fuzzy. I thought it was a certain brand of gas station, but it was a different one. However, the main thing I remembered was its location, because it was exactly opposite the street from the gas station where I placed an LDS edition Bible.

I went in, looked around, and it was indeed the same place where that lady worked last year, but she was not there. So I planned on leaving a note with some material with the on-duty cashier to give her later when she came in.

I purchased something and asked the cashier if so-and-so still worked there. He said she moved out West a couple weeks ago.

It was everlastingly too late. Second time this trip.

Arabic at gas station. Wed, Jun 20, 2007

06/20/2007. 839. (Road trip to visit family, continued. 2nd day of driving.) It was still prior to lunch-time. I don't remember why I stopped at this exit, I forgot to write it down on the notes I kept in the car. As far as I remember, I did not stop at this exit on last year's trip. If I did stop here last year, I took the exit in the other direction.

I went into one gas station to buy a newspaper. The cashier spoke with a very slight accent. He was from the Middle East and spoke Arabic. He was very amenable to receiving a Book of Mormon in Arabic, so I went out to the car and brought one back in. There was no one else in line, so I didn't have to wait any. He immediately started flipping through it. He also accepted the English edition to go along with it. It was a very pleasant encounter.

English pass-along card at gas station. Wed, Jun 20, 2007.

06/20/2007. 838. I was on the road to visit family, and this was the second day of driving. I tried to start the day off right, so I read the scriptures and prayed before checking out of the motel. That probably helped me a while later to be receptive when I had the impression to stop at a particular exit on the Interstate and buy something at a particular gas station/convenience store. I realize that many readers of these journal entries may suppose that such impressions or inspiration may merely be my imagination. I admit that there are times when I'm not sure. My confidence level is not always black-or white, on-or-off. Sometimes I'm confused and don't know, sometimes I think it might be inspiration, sometimes I think it is, sometimes I believe it is, sometimes I strongly believe it is, and sometimes I'm positive. This impression to get off the highway came at the strongly believe level.

The cashier didn't appear to speak any foreign languages. She appeared to be an American-born caucasian lady. I chickened out, as if I had forgot or was ignoring what led me there. I bought some soda pop, and went back out. But back in the car, the feeling to offer something was still so strong, that I agonized over it for a few seconds, maybe a minute. Now the impression was at the positive level. I went back in, bought another snack, and gave the cashier a Book of Mormon pass-along card. I forget what I said, but it was something about the Book of Mormon.

I felt better after she accepted the pass-along card, but I still felt guilty that I didn't act the first time I went in, and that I didn't offer an actual Book of Mormon or a video.

Bengali at gas station. Tue, Jun 19, 2007

06/19/2007. 837. (Road trip to visit family, continued.) Between the last entry and this one, there were some other stops, but with no obvious opportunities, and no placements attempted. Again, some stops were on my own initiative, and some were prompted, or at least I thought so.

Anyway, this particular stop was prompted, and it was obvious. This was the event that made the trip worthwhile, aside from visiting family. It made all the rejections, the confusion, the dejection, and the fruitless other stops worth it.

I bought a newspaper, and the cashier was from Bangladesh. He was outgoing and chatty, and pleasantly suprised when I spoke a few words in Bengali. He was delighted to be offered something to read in Bengali, and didn't mind at all that it was Christian material. We chatted for some time, and I eventually had to beg off when other customers got in line.

I left thinking that that encounter was meant to be, and that something will come of it.

A few miles down the road, I pulled off the Interstate again, looking for more opportunities, stopped at a couple gas stations, and then checked into a decent but inexpensive motel for the night. I probably could have driven for another hour, but felt strongly prompted to stay the night at that particular motel. I wondered if it was a timing factor to get into position for the next day, or some other reason.

I went to bed grateful for the day and for the two very enthusiastic receptions I had received along the road.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Tue, Jun 19, 2007.

06/19/2007. 836. Chinese declined. (Road trip to visit family, continued.) The third place that I visited at this exit was a Chinese restaurant next door to the gas station mentioned in the previous entry.

Since I had already eaten, I just ordered two egg rolls to go. The cashier spoke Mandarin, but had been in the US for a long time. She declined my offer of a Chinese Book of Mormon, but did accept a pass-along card. I forget if I offered her a DVD.

Hindi declined at gas station. Tue, Jun 19, 2007.

06/19/2007. (Road trip to visit family, continued.) I didn't log all my stops in my notebook, only the ones where an offer was made, or ones where I knowingly chickened out. There were some stops this day that I made on my own, looking to make opportunities for placements. There were some that I thought were prompted, but nothing happened.

In those instances where I think I'm prompted to make a stop but nothing happens, there are four possibilities: 1) It could a timing factor to slow me down, because normal driving time between two intended "appointments" would put me at the second place too early. 2) It could be that there really was someone there to whom I could have made an offer of material, but I didn't realize it. 3) It could be that what I thought was a prompting was merely my imagination. Or, 4) It was just a test, to see if I was listening or some other reason.

I stopped at three places at this exit. I didn't write down if taking this exit was prompted or not. But I probably thought it was.

The first place was a convenience store, and I didn't see any obvious opportunities, or foreign language speakers.

835. Hindi declined. The second place was a gas station/convenience store. I went in and bought some kind of frozen dessert like an ice-cream bar. The cashier was from India and spoke Hindi and Gujerati. I forgot to take a Gujerati Bible on this trip, but she turned down my offer of a Hindi and English Book of Mormon.

(See next entry for third stop.)

DVD at Chinese restaurant. Tue, Jun 19, 2007.

06/19/2007. 834. (Road trip to visit family, continued.) So I'm feeling dejected driving down the Interstate, trying to think where I'll eat, and stinging from the lesson in the previous entry about procrastinating.

And I'm worrying about not having the closeness of the Spirit as much as last year, wondering what's going to happen. Will there be promptings about where to go? Will I hear them? Will I recognize them as promptings and not my own imagination? Will I follow them?

At some point I do get an impression to take a certain exit. But it's not as clear, and I'm not as confident. There's no restaurant near the exit, but I feel like I should continue down the road. At least a mile from the exit, that road eventually does go into a town, and there's a shopping center at the edge of town, and there's a Chinese buffet restaurant there. It's still around supper time, so it works out.

I go in, and it's a humble place, not fancy. But it seems to be popular, more so with their carry-out than the buffet.

The waitress doesn't come around much, but when she brings the check, I strike up a conversation and offer her material. She speaks Mandarin, but doesn't read it. If I understood correctly, she said they are from "Fuji." So I offer a DVD that has a Mandarin audio track, "Our Heavenly Father's Plan" which she gratefully accepts. Due to other customers, I don't want to take up much time, so there's not much chit-chat.

They are the second restaurant family I've encountered that speaks Mandarin Chinese but doesn't read it, and who has said they are from Fuji. The only "Fuji" I know is Mount Fuji of Japan. At least what they say sounds like "Fuji", but it may be spelled differently. So I'm still confused of the tie-in or explanation, or what written language I could give them that corresponds to what they speak and read.

Anyway, on my way back to the Interstate, I'm grateful to Heavenly Father for leading me to that restaurant, and somewhat reassured.

Before I got back on the Interstate I stopped at the two gas stations next to the exit, but didn't see any foreign language speakers at either.

Road trip. Hindi at gas station. Tue, Jun 19, 2007.

06/19/2007. 833. On the road to visit family. This was going to take a little over a day's drive. I could have made it directly in one day, starting early, and arriving late, but I'm not a morning person. Last year I took a mostly similar route, with many stops along the way.

I headed out around 4:00pm, figured I'd stop for supper at a particular Chinese restaurant I scoped out last year (but didn't actually eat at), and then drive until I got tired, stay at a motel, and end up at my destination some time Wednesday evening.

My first stop ended up being at one of the same gas stations where I stopped last year, but I didn't intend it that way. I didn't realize that I had been there before until I got off the Interstate and saw it. The cashier was a different guy, but spoke the same languages as the one last year, English, Hindi, and Punjabi. When I offered him free books from my church, he responded positively and said he wanted to read something about Jesus. He accepted Hindi and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and an English Gospel Fundamentals.

---

06/19/2007. Journal entry. An exit or two down the road. Sub-title: "Ya snooze ya lose." This was a very humbling experience. Last year I found this Chinese buffet restaurant about an hour out of Indianapolis, but it wasn't meal time. I put it on my list to visit later. I was intending to make a special trip out there for lunch or dinner some time, maybe even take someone for a dinner companion, or one of the kids in the ward for an adventure. But I kept putting it off.

I found the spot all right. But it was closed. As I write this, I just thought that maybe they relocated to a different location in that town, and I can go back and find it. But at the time, I felt pretty rejected by my failure to act.

Chinese at restaurant. Sat, Jun 16, 2007.

06/16/2007. 832. I was on my way from Indianapolis to a church dance for Single Adults at another stake. I couldn't find any Chinese restaurants at two of the exits that I tried. I wondered which exits I should try next, or whether I should just wait until I got to the destination city before eating.

I got near this one exit, and received a very strong impression that I should take it, and go East. I took that exit, and stopped at the gas station that was right there. I bought something and asked the cashier if there were any Chinese restaurants nearby. Another employee knew of two and gave me directions.

I went to the first one, and sat down and ordered. It was a pretty nice place with good food. The family was from Taiwan, so they read traditional script Chinese. The mom of the family accepted a Chinese Liahona, but declined the English edition of the same issue, and she accepted both the traditional script Chinese Book of Mormon along with an English Book of Mormon.

The food was very underpriced for the quality, so I left a generous tip. If any local LDS members want a restaurant tip for this nice restaurant along I-65, send me an email.

Vietnamese at nail salon. Sat, Jun 16, 2007.

06/16/2007. 831. I was heading South on the Interstate from Indianapolis to go to a Single Adult dance at another stake. I had planned on getting off at one of exits along the way to look for a Chinese restaurant to have supper. Around suppertime, I stopped at one exit, drove around a bit, and couldn't find anything. I stopped at the next exit, and drove around a bit, but didn't see any Chinese restaurants. However, I did see this nail salon.

I haven't had much success with book placements just by walking into nail salons. However, if one of the employees is standing outside, sometimes I'll strike up a conversation out on the sidewalk, and those sometimes turn into nice encounters.

Here at this one, no one was standing outside, but I felt inspired to go in anyway. I took in Vietnamese and English copies of the Liahona magazine.

They didn't have any customers, and it looked like they were getting ready to close. I asked the closest employee if he liked to read in Vietnamese, and said that I had an extra free magazine in Vietnamese from my church. He enthusiastically accepted it along with the English copy. He seemed positive about it, so I then offered the Book of Mormon, and he agreed to see it, so I went back out to the car and got a Vietnamese copy and an English copy of the Book of Mormon, and took those in, and he accepted them.

We chit-chatted a bit, and it was a very friendly encounter.

Chinese at restaurant, Arabic at gas station, Ukrainian at store. Thu, Jun 14, 2007.

06/14/2007. 829. I had supper at a small mom-and-pop type Chinese restaurant on the NE side of town. I hadn't been here before. I put out the books on my table before my food arrived, but I couldn't tell if the owner noticed them when he brought my food. He was rather quick, and I didn't have a chance to strike up a conversation.

After I finished eating, I went to the counter and offered the Chinese Book of Mormon, and they accepted a Simplified Chinese copy and an English copy.

06/14/2007. Journal Entry. After eating, I stopped to buy a newspaper a gas station that I hadn't been to before. I talked to one of the cashiers, and he spoke Arabic in addition to English, but didn't read it. I don't think I offered him a Book of Mormon, but I suppose I could have offered one to him for any of his relatives that might be interested in reading something that's in both Arabic and English.

06/14/2007. 830. I stopped at one of those mega-stores on the way home. I didn't really need anything, but bought some stuff to build up my year's supply of consumables. I picked up some items, then I scanned the check-out lines looking for either the shortest line, or someone to talk to. I ended up picking the shortest line, which was the self-checkout lanes.

Within a minute or two, I heard someone speaking a foreign language behind me. I asked what languages they spoke, and one said they spoke Ukrainian and Russian. I offered them the Book of Mormon, and they agreed to see it. I asked them to wait near the exit door after they checked out, and I thought they said okay. I got through the checkout lane first, and when I got outside, I ran to my car. I had a Ukrainian, but not a Russian Book of Mormon in the car. By the time I got back to the exit, they weren't there. So the offer was made and the offer was accepted, but the books just didn't get delivered.

I then realized they may have been suspicious of my motives in asking them to wait for me. Or else, they just weren't interested, but were too polite to say 'no.' They had some difficulty understanding me in the first part of our conversation, so the third possibility is that they just didn't understand my offer of free books. I should have just left my shopping cart in the store, and retrieved the books before checking out, and made the presentation in the store so that they wouldn't have cause to suspect I was going to mug them. When people actually see the books in both their native language and in English, hear the word "free", then they usually catch the idea of what I'm offering, and the idea of reading them in parallel.

Tagalog New Testaments to RMs at church. Sun, Jun 3, 2007.

06/03/2007. Journal Entry. There are a bunch of 20-something members who have moved into the ward for the summer for their door-to-door sales jobs. Most are married, but some are single. Two of them had served their mission in the Philippines, so I've been giving them material in Tagalog and other Filipino languages. Today I gave them each two copies of a paperback Tagalog New Testament, from International Bible Society.

104 translation display at Bishops Storehouse. Fri, Jun 1, 2007.

06/01/2007. Journal Entry. With the permission of the office managers, I put a complete set of all 104 translations of the Book of Mormon on display at the front lobby of the local Bishops Storehouse.

I still need to make a sign for it. But the books are there, with some extra English copies, some multi-lingual DVD's, some local info flyers, and some inexpensive paper-back Bibles.

The display fits a 3 shelf bookcase that's 35 inches wide. The books themselves take up about 95" of shelf space.


You can download my "info flyer", and also an example of how to make the labels for the books here.

My suggestion to the office manager and receptionist was that members who wanted one of the books should order it from the Distribution Center, 1-800-537-5971. But that any non-member who visited their office and who spoke one of those languages could take one, as long as someone from the office notified me so I could replace it.