Marathi at gas station. Mon, Nov 16, 2009.

11/16/2009. Journal Entry. I was helping a friend with some computer stuff. I knew he spoke Hindi, and he had previously accepted a Hindi Book of Mormon, but I didn't know (or had forgotten) that he also spoke Marathi. He asked me for help in listening to Marathi music on his computer at work. When I realized that (or was reminded of it), I offered him a Marathi translation of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet, and he accepted it. I had one in the car so I was able to give it to him there, along with an English copy.

There is at least one state in India where the main language is Hindi (I don't know it off the top of my head), but most all the other states have their own language other than Hindi, and Hindi becomes their secondary language. So when you meet someone from India, and they speak another language in addition to Hindi, it's a good chance that that other language is actually their primary language, and Hindi (or English) is their secondary language.

I realize that many people may be accepting material from me as a matter of politeness. But I honestly believe that when foreign-born people accept something merely out of politeness, they will still keep it. And I realize that many people who read this will likely think: "So what's the point if they don't investigate the/your church?" But the material, a book, a pamphlet, a video, or the Book of Mormon, is like a seed that you never know when it will sprout. If you believe that the LDS church is what it claims to be, then you (should) know that the Lord can draw someone's attention to that material that they have on their shelf when they or someone else in their house is ready to move on it.

So I don't consider such things a waste. And even if they never read the material with interest, I can still visualize scenarios in some future world to come, wherein such people (in what the LDS call the Spirit World, awaiting a universal resurrection) will still find some comfort in knowing that the Lord arranged for someone, anyone, to give them at least a hint about God and Christ.