Chinese declined, Urdu, Persian. Wed, Sep 4, 2007.
09/04/2007. Journal entry. I was down to my last Urdu Book of Mormon, which I don't want to give out in case I need to photocopy it. So I decided to take back the Urdu Book of Mormon that I had on display with the other languages at the Indianapolis Storehouse. I thought giving it out would be more important than the notion of a particular display being a complete set.
09/04/2007. 879. At the end of the day doing errands around town, I decided to have supper at a Chinese restuarant that I haven't been to before. I had a Chinese/English bilingual (diglot) New Testament, and the two types of the Chinese Book of Mormon on my table when the waitress brought the food. She noticed them and seemed interested at first, but declined, saying they were Buddhist. The restaurant had other customers so she didn't have time to chit-chat further.
09/04/2007. 880. I stopped at a store near the restaurant. I bought some stuff I needed. The cashier was originally from Pakistan, has been in the US a long time, and was very receptive to receiving an Urdu and English Book of Mormon. So after paying I went out to the car to retrieve the material. He also accepted the Urdu and English Joseph Smith testimony pamphlets. He was very chatty, to the degree that another cashier was eyeing us. I didn't want to bother him with too much small talk while he was on duty, but he was very eager to talk, and we exchanged contact information.
09/04/2007. 881. I stopped at another store on the way home. I hadn't browsed this kind of store in a long time. I bought a couple items. My cashier was from Iran, and spoke Persian (Farsi). I offered and he accepted a Persian and an English copy of the Book of Mormon, so I retrieved them from the car and took them back in. There were no other customers in his section, so we were able to chat some.
The latter two guys were pretty cool, and are the type of people I'd like to get to know better, so I hope to go back to those places.
Labels: Chinese declined, Persian, restaurant, store, Urdu
posted by Bookslinger @ 9:45 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Brother, any idea when (or if) Urdu translations of the Book of Mormon will become available?
I don't know. Try calling the Distribution Center at 801-240-3800.
They said last year that it would be early this year, so I don't know what's going on.
You can also call the church main offices at 801-240-1000, and ask for the Curriculum department, or the Translation department.
If you find out, please let come back here and let me know in another comment. Thanks.
Thank you for your response.
I notice with some interest that on the Language Catalog Order Form (93015434) for Urdu on ldscatalog.com, they do not have a listing for the Book of Mormon although they do have one for selections thereof. (Not sure if it's relevant, but the form is dated 9/12/2006.)
I'm going to order some material from that form. If you want anything, e-mail me and I'll donate it you.
They haven't released the full translation of the Urdu BoM yet. But it's in the pipeline. So when the "Selections of.." ran out, they didn't print any more. But they've been out of stock for nine months. So I'm frustrated.
Ah. Thank you for your clarification. Now I am doubly disappointed.
As you may have noticed, very little can replace material in Urdu. Even though Hindi may have similar vocabulary, the writing system is completely different. I can only read it because my father, who was born in India, taught me. But of my relatives, I am one of very, very few that can read Hindi.
If I can find anything out, I will let you know. I may even write to The Brethren if that will get a response.
How are we to spread the Gospel to these people if we can't provide material in their language? (Well, I suppose they are my people too, as I am of the same ethnic origins...)
For now, we'll have to make due with the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet, and "The Living Christ Testimony", and maybe Articles of Faith cards, in Urdu.
Good news. I followed your advice: I called the translations department and left a message. I got a call back. The full Book of Mormon in Urdu should be out the third week of October. They will not be reprinting the selections. E-mail me if you'd like more details.
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