Arabic at grocery store. Tue, Oct 16, 2007.

10/16/2007. 904. On my way home from the Chinese restaurant I passed a large grocery/department store. As I passed by, I believed I was prompted of the Spirit to go there. (For those who believe that Mormons make up their "prompted of the Spirit" stories, I would refer you to this story by Beth Moore, in which she recounts that she was urged of the Lord's Spirit to brush the hair of an elderly man in a wheelchair at an airport. It's very touching. Beth Moore has an organization called Living Proof Ministries.)

As soon as I went in, there was a couple with another lady speaking a foreign language. I chickened out of approaching them, and just went on to buy some produce.

However, when I checked out, the one couple was waiting up front for the other lady to finish checking out.

I approached the couple and asked what languages they spoke. I addressed the man, but the lady was the one who responded to my questions, so I then addressed her. They were from Egypt and spoke Arabic. I offered them a free copy of a bilingual Arabic/English Bible that I had bought from International Bible Society. They agreed to see it, so I asked them to wait while I retrieved it from my car.

I got it and also Arabic and English copies of the Book of Mormon. When I went back they had just come out of the store and were waiting outside. The lady to whom I had already spoken accepted the bilingual Bible, but when I presented the Arabic Book of Mormon, she politely declined. At that point the other lady came out, and she accepted the Arabic Book of Mormon. At first she declined the English Book of Mormon, saying she didn't read English well. But when I suggested that it could be used to learn more English, she accepted it.