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.