Spanish, missed op, Chinese declined, at buffet. Fri, Feb 8, 2008

02/08/2008. 986. I was on my way to the next state over to go to an uncle's funeral. I was planning on travelling Friday, having dinner with someone nearby Friday night, and going to the funeral the following day, Saturday.

As I was travelling, I felt inspired to take an exit, and go a certain direction, but I didn't see any businesses that seemed right. I was about to turn around and chalk it up to my imagination, when I felt inspired to keep driving to the next city.

There was a town not far from the Interstate, and there was a Chinese buffet in a shopping center.

I paid, put my stuff down at a table, got some food, sat down, and put out some Chinese material (2 kinds of Chinese Book of Mormon, English Book of Mormon, bilingual Chinese/English New Testament, and DVD) on the table.

When I noticed that the bus-boy was Hispanic, I got out a Spanish Book of Mormon from my bag. (My Asian book-bag contains all the aforementioned, plus Vietnamese, Japanese, Indonesian, and Cambodian. Yeah, it's heavy, but it works.)

When the bus-boy came by, I struck up a conversation with him, and offered him the Spanish and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and he gratefully accepted them.

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Journal entry. Missed Opportunity. Then a group of Asian men came in, and sat down at the table next to me. There was one caucasian man with them. While I was getting more food, I saw one of them look at the books on my table.

It took me a while to realize that they were speaking Japanese, and probably worked at a nearby Japanese auto plant. I got out the Japanese Book of Mormon and put it on the table. And tried to think of a way to start a conversation.

But, I delayed and didn't say anything, and when they left, they left quickly, and didn't pass by my table.

I was so stupid for not acting. It was a perfect opportunity. I was there first, and had the stuff out first, and then they came and sat next to my table, so it was obvious that I had not "targeted" them. They came to me. Some Japanese guys just happened to sit next to the guy with the Japanese Book of Mormon, and DVD's with Japanese audio tracks, and I let the opportunity slip through my fingers.

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987. Chinese declined. I stopped at the cashier counter on the way out, and offered them the Chinese Book of Mormon and the bilingual Chinese/English New Testament, but they were not interested, and politely declined my offer.

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Journal entry. I had several more missed opportunities along the road in Ohio before I got to my destination.

Korean language declined. Wed, Feb 6, 2008.

02/06/2008. 985. A very nice lady looked at, but declined to receive a Korean copy of the Liahona magazine, and the Together Forever DVD (that has a Korean audio track.)

Youtube videos of foreign language Book of Mormon

02/06/2008. I've started a Youtube channel to spread the word of the foreign language editions of the Book of Mormon. The videos are very rudimentary and amateurish. If anyone wants to redo them in a more professional manner, feel free. I'm still too chicken to show my face, but you can hear my voice.

The first two were done with my cell phone, then converted to mp4. The trial version of the program I used to convert from the cell-phone's video format to mp4 doesn't get the audio and video synched correctly. The next three were done with a still camera that has some basic video capabilities, and records directly to mp4. The lighting didn't come out right on the last 2, but the Urdu version came out okay, or at least the best of the five.

The goal is to get the key words of the language and the word "book" on to Youtube so that people searching for them can find a book in their language, and the English edition along with it, so they can have bilingual (diglot) material.

I don't care if people read it merely for the bilingual aspect, or just "something to read" in their native language. Those who are ready for the spiritual message contained in the Book of Mormon will receive some kind of witness or prompting from the Holy Spirit.

Chinese DVDs at restaurant. Tue, Feb 5, 2008.

02/05/2008. 984. After volunteering at the storehouse I stopped for dinner at a Chinese restaurant that I hadn't been to before. I had the books (Chinese/English bilingual New Testament, Chinese/English copies of Book of Mormon, Chinese/English copies of Liahona) out on my table when the waitress brought my food, but she didn't say anything, and I didn't strike up a conversation.

After I was done eating the three employees were taking a break behind the counter. I could have struck up a conversation, but all I offered were two DVD's. I didn't offer the Book of Mormon, and later felt a little guilty about that since they were free and had time to talk.

They accepted the "Finding Happiness" DVD which has both a Cantonese and a Mandarin audio track, and a "Together Forever" DVD which has a Cantonese audio track, and a written Chinese (good for both Mandarin and Cantonese) subtitles option.

Behind the counter, they had a television with a built-in DVD player.

English DVD at restaurant. Mon, Feb 4, 2008.

02/04/2008. 983. I was at a Chinese restaurant, and blew my chance to strike up a conversation with one of the employees when he brought my food. Even though I was the only customer eating in the dining area, they were still pretty busy preparing phoned-in orders for carry-out.

A family with a bunch of kids came in to eat in the dining room. They ordered and sat down. The kids were real cute. The family sat at the table directly in front of me, and the kids kept making eye contact, so I felt comfortable striking up a conversation.

I told the lady she had cute kids. She was flattered and said thank-you. Then I offered her a DVD (Together Forever) from church about families. She agreed to receive it and came over and accepted it. I said our church believes families can be together forever. She read the cover and some of the back, and handed it to her husband, who was sitting on the opposite side of her away from me.

It was a polite and friendly encounter. The restaurant employees were so busy, I didn't get another chance to converse with them.

Please share your Book of Mormon flooding stories here.

Have you given out a Book of Mormon in a foreign language? Do you have an interesting "Flooding the Earth" story? If you have, and if it fits in with the theme of this blog, please consider posting a comment on this blog entry.

I'm starting to get feedback from others who have given out copies of the Book of Mormon in languages other than English. Rather than have those comments sprinkled throughout various blog entries, I'll designate this blog post, put a link to it in the sidebar, and ask people to share their "flooding stories" here.

Chinese at restaurant. Fri, Feb 1, 2008.

02/01/2008. 982. I had supper at a Chinese restaurant that I hadn't been to before. I ate with a friend who is not a member of the church, so I didn't want to make too big of a deal out of it. I offered the waitress two DVD's, Together Forever, and Finding Happiness, which she accepted.

Blogs that link here.

Other blogs (or web sites) that link to this blog from their side-bar or main page. This list is not necessarily an endorsement or approval of their blogs.

1. Alex and Gretch
   
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5. Beauty Within
   
6. Being LDS
   
7. Blogger of Jared
   
8. Bloggernacle Times
   
9. Blognitive Dissonance
   
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35. Latter-day Commentary
    
36. Latter-Day Select, blog list
    
37. LDeSsays.com -- Practical Mormonism for practicing Saints
    
38. LDS and Mormon Blogs, blog list
    
39. LDS Poetry by Kelly Miller
    
40. Look Inside, Starchuck
    
41. Manda's Blog, Shboogoo.
    
42. Meet Mormons (Come ask a Mormon)
    
43. Messenger and Advocate
    
44. Mitchell Family Times
    
45. Mormanity, Jeff Lindsay
    
46. Mormon Archipelago, blog list
    
47. Mormon Blogosphere, blog list
    
48. Mormon Hippocrates
    
49. Mormon Mentality
    
50. Nothing Wavering, blog list
    
51. On Life's Ocean, Moon Tapestry
    
52. Onelowerlight's Daily Photo Safari
    
53. Peasant at the Diner, The. Or, to save on postage...
    
54. Peru Mission Moms
    
55. Plain Vanilla
    
56. Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord, LDS Missionary Quote Book
    
57. Rich Family Forever, The Rich Life, Come What May and Love It
    
58. Rod of Iron, A
    
59. Scherer Family Blog
    
60. Seer Stone, The
    
61. Spiritual North
    
62. Stuff about the Duffs
    
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64. Thinking in a Marrow Bone
    
65. Times & Seasons
    
66. Who are Mormons?
    

Blogs (or web sites) that link here from a post (or article), not their sidebar.

1. Bird's Eye View, A
   
2. By Common Consent
   
3. Enduring to the End
   
4. Everlasting Burnings
   
5. Feed Distiller - Mormonism
   
6. Giffs
   
7. Katrina's Backyard
   
8. LDS & Mormon Videos - Youtube
   
9. Making Moments, Chas Hathaway (Blog is mentioned 7:30 into the podcast.)
   
10. Millennial Star
    
11. More Good Foundation Blog
    
12. Mormon Hacker
    
13. My Blog Ate My Homework
    
14. Popcorn and Podcasting (Blog is mentioned 7:30 into the podcast.)
    
15. Posts of My House, The
    
16. Small and Simple
    
17. What's Up in Georgetown Ward (Moroni Wears a Tie)
    

Thanks for the links!