Amharic at. Thu, Jan 29, 2009.

01/29/2009. 1110. Amharic and English copies of the Book of Mormon. Details withheld for privacy.

Polish declined. Tue, Jan 27, 2009.

01/27/2009. 1109. I was grocery shopping late at night (for myself this time) and the cashier spoke with an accent. He was from Poland. I offered him a free Polish Book of Mormon, but he politely declined.

What's the buzz with "Book of Mormon languages" ?

This blog has had an increase of visitors recently, with most people coming in from a Google search on "Book of Mormon languages" or "languages of the Book of Mormon."

What's the story? Are you being referred here by friends telling you to search for Book of Mormon languages on Google?

Update:

If you're looking for the church's online language resources, check here.

If you're looking for the 106 languages (plus English and Spanish Braille) that the Book of Mormon has been translated into, check here, at www.ldscatalog.com, under Missionary Work -> Book of Mormon.

If you're looking for the approximately 159 languages in which the church has any material, check here, at www.ldscatalog.com, under Other Language Materials -> List of Available Items by Language. There you will see a list of PDF files which list the materials you can order from the Distribution Center.

If you want to see which 57 Book of Mormon translations are spoken in Indianapolis check here.

My testimony is here.

Thanks for visiting.

Update: Apparently, it was just Saturday and Sunday, the 24th and 25th. Monday the 26th, visits are back to normal.

Yoruba, Amharic at stores. Thu, Jan 22, 2009.

01/22/2009. 1107. I was driving some investigators around to do some shopping as they don't have a car. At one store, the cashier was from Nigeria and spoke Yoruba. I offered, and he accepted Yoruba and English copies of the Book of Mormon. I had them in the car, so I retrieved them and presented them there.

1108. At a different store, I struck up a conversation with someone who was speaking a foreign language with her family. They also spoke Yoruba. I was out of Yoruba books, but we chatted a while. She mentioned that one of her teachers at school was from Ethiopia. I asked if she'd like to give him a free Amharic book from my church, and she agreed. I retrieved an Amharic Book of Mormon from the car, and presented it to her, and showed her the info flyer and pass-along card, and said she could call one of those numbers and get one in Yoruba and English too.

Tagalog at store. Tue, Jan 20, 2009.

01/20/2009. 1106. I was volunteering (okay, it was one of those "calling/assignment" kind of things) at one of the church facilities in town, and wanted to stop at a grocery store and buy some sale items before I got back on the Interstate to go home.

In the same shopping center as the grocery was another kind of store, which I've been to before, but I don't usually go to. There's nothing particularly ethnic or immigrant about this other store, its employees or the customers. But the idea of going to this other one before going grocery shoppping came to mind. It wasn't an obvious spiritual prompting or impression, but the desire to go there felt like it was placed in me from an external source, so I took the gamble and went there to browse.

(One hallmark of a legitimate spiritual communication is that it's prompting you to do something that you aren't particular interested or anxious to do. If the idea is for something that you personally want to do, it's easy to "gin up" a prompting for it, and get confused as to whether it's from the Spirit or is your own idea.)

As I walked around, I heard an employee talking on the phone in a foreign language, so I went back to buy something from her station. She was from the Philippines and spoke Tagalog. I ended up offering her a DVD from church that has an audio track in Tagalog, "Together Forever." I think I described it as being about families, and how some husbands work too much. She agreed to receive it.

I asked, and she said it was okay to give it to her there at work. So I put my purchase down on a table, and went out to my car. I brought back a copy of "Together Forever" and "Our Heavenly Father's Plan". She had said something that made me think that one would be appropriate too, and it also has a Tagalog audio track.

She was genuinely enthusiastic to see and receive them. She said she'd watch at least one of them when she got home from work that night.

Chinese to YSA RM. Mon, Jan 19, 2009

01/19/2009. Journal entry. I was on the other side of town, attending a Single Adult Family Home Evening, and had also given a ride to an investigator who wanted to go to the Young Single Adult (YSA) Family Home evening.

I met one of the YSA branch members whose family is originally from Taiwan. He still speaks and reads Mandarin. He served a mission in California. I told him about my book placements at Chinese restaurants and gave him some stuff to give out too. I gave him a copy of the "Finding Happiness" DVD, a couple Chinese Liahona magazines, and and English Liahona of the same edition as one of the chinese ones to present as bilingual material.

Yo Comments Are Whack!

I'm in love with these two girls, known on Youtube as the "Sister Salad." Liz is my favorite.

You knew. Why didn’t you tell me?

That's the take-away quote from Elder Eyring's First Presidency Message in the January 2009 issue of the Ensign magazine.

I was rather shocked (in a nice way) to read it, because that very thing has been on my mind for the past few years.

In context (bolding mine, notes mine):

For instance, at some moment in the world to come, everyone you met in this life will know what you know now.¹ They will know that the only way to live forever in association with our families and in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, is to choose to enter into the gate by baptism at the hands of those with authority from God. They will know that the only way families can be together forever is to accept and keep sacred covenants offered in the temples of God on this earth. They will know that you knew. And they will remember whether you offered them what someone had offered you.

It’s easy to say, “The time isn’t right.” But there is danger in procrastination. Years ago I worked for a man in California. He hired me; he was kind to me; he seemed to regard me highly. I may have been the only Latter-day Saint he ever knew well. I don’t know all the reasons I found to wait for a better moment to talk with him about the gospel. I just remember my feeling of sorrow when I learned, after he had retired and I lived far away, that he and his wife had been killed in a late-night drive to their home in Carmel, California. He loved his wife. He loved his children. He had loved his parents. He loved his grandchildren, and he will love their children and will want to be with them forever.

Now, I don’t know how the crowds will be handled in the world to come. But I suppose that I will meet him², that he will look into my eyes, and that I will see in them the question: “Hal, you knew. Why didn’t you tell me?”³

1. Romans 14:11; Philip. 2:11; Mosiah 16:1; Mosiah 27:31; D&C 76:110; D&C 88:104.
2. 1 Cor. 13:12;
3. D&C 88:81

Twi at store. Fri, Jan 9, 2009.

01/09/2009. 1105. After picking my car up at the dealer's after having it serviced, I stopped at a nearby international grocery store. There were two men conversing as I checked out. I listened to their conversation a bit as I drank my Jamaican Ginger Ale. I joined their conversation. One was from Liberia, and the other from Ghana.

I offered the Ghanaian man a free Twi Book of Mormon and he agreed to receive one, so I retrieved a Twi and an English copy from my car and came back and presented them to him, and he graciously accepted them.

Shona at store. Fri, Jan 2, 2009.

01/02/2009. 1104. I was on the other side of town doing errands, and stopped at a dollar store to do some shopping. I met a man who was from Zimbabwe who spoke Shona. I offered him the Shona Book of Mormon that I had in the car, and he accepted it. When I offered the English edition, he said he already had a copy that he received from three ladies, who I assume were the sister missionaries who served in that ward.