Twi at grocery store. Sat, Oct 13, 2007.

10/13/2007. 901. I went to a nearby 24-hour grocery store to do some late night shopping. As I was in the produce section near the doors, a security guard closed and locked the entrance doors on that side so that customers would have to enter the doors near the cash registers until the morning shift started.

I was standing only a few feet away at the first fruit stand, within conversation distance. The thought that this might turn into a gospel contact never occurred to me. Well, you know me, I'm Mr. Chatty anyway, so as he turned away from the doors, and towards me, I said something just to say something, like "That time of night?" (ie, to lock that set of doors.)

He said "Yes" and something else, enough that I could tell that he had an accent. I said something like "Ah, you have an accent. Where are you from?" He said Ghana. I asked if he spoke Twi (pronounced "chwee") and he was pleasantly surprised that I knew about the language. I said something about the many Ghanaians in Indianapolis, and mentioned one of the cultural events I went to.

I said my church has lots of books in African languages, and he asked which church and I told him. He knew about the church, and had had some contact with members. I offered him a Book of Mormon in Twi, and agreed to receive it.

I left my shopping cart in the produce section, and went out to my car and retrieved copies of the Book of Mormon and Gospel Fundamentals in Twi and in English (four books total). When I returned, he was near the main entrance, and there were no other customers, so it was easy to talk to him. I presented the books, and he beamed. I didn't want to interfere with his duties, so I wrote my name and phone number on one of the inserts, and said he could call me or one of the other numbers if he wanted any more information. We shook hands, and he went back to work, and I went back to shopping.

As I went in the doors near the cash registers, another store employee looked at me, as if he had seen me give the books to the guard and wondered what I was up to. I probably should have enthusiastically said something like "I had some books in his language!" which I have said on other occasions to third party observers who looked askance at the transaction.