Missed op at laundromat. Mon, Jan 31, 2011.

01/31/2011. Journal entry. Missed opportunity. I wanted to do laundry before the big winter storm hit, because it looked like the roads would be bad for at least 3 days. I chose a laundromat which I haven't been to in a while because it's closer than my favorite one. I wanted to get back home in time, and I was cutting it close.

There was a Southeast Asian lady at the laundromat who was within conversation distance of me, and I did say something about the television that we were watching, but I procrastinated about asking where she was from, etc. I never got another (or made another) opportunity to speak with her.

The freezing rain started a few minutes before I got home, but I did make it back home before the roads iced up.

German declined at store. Sun, Jan 30, 2011

01/30/2011. 1270. On the way home from church, I felt inspired to stop at a certain store. I didn't really need anything, but figured I could stock up on something I would use anyway. I met a couple of dignified ladies who were speaking a mixture of English and what sounded like German. I asked one of them if they were speaking German and she said yes. I asked if she still liked to read in German and she said yes. I said the reason I asked was that my church had free books in German, "Das Buch Mormon" and offered her a free copy. Though, I'm not sure I pronounced the name correctly in German. She politely declined. I tried to offer her a pass-along card with the church's phone number, but she also politely declined that too.

It was a pleasant encounter. It didn't seem to bother her, she was just not interested.

Joy to the World DVD at gas station. Mon, Jan 24, 2011.

01/24/2011. 1269. I made a large purchase at a gas station, but I was about 40 cents short. I asked the cashier to take off an item, but she gave me the 40 cents out of her own pocket. I thought of how I could return the favor, and thought of a DVD. So I retrieved a "Joy to the World" DVD from the car and went back in and presented it to her, and she graciously and enthusiastically accepted it.

Location of Indianapolis (Carmel) temple announced.

01/24/2010. Journal entry. The Indianapolis Star newspaper has an article announcing the location of the Indianapolis temple. It's actually to be located in Carmel, the suburb immediately North of Indianapolis, at the Southwest corner of intersection of 116th Street and Spring Mill Rd.

That location is four blocks West of Meridian Street. Meridian is the center N/S street running through Indianapolis and Carmel. According to the map, it's close to Clarian North Medical Center and some fancy hotels.

Official church announcement here.

Church's Google outline of the property here, showing it's on the Southwest quadrant of that intersection. Using Google's distance-measuring tool (under Settings), and measuring the boundaries of the property, it looks to be 1,937,100 square feet or 44.5 acres. (Assuming the whole pond is included as per the note, and the boundaries squared off.)

KSL.com of Salt Lake also carried the announcement.

Related web sites:
temples.lds.org (official web site),
indianapolismormontemple.org (official web site),
ldschurchtemples.com (unofficial web site),
indianapolistemple.com (unofficial web site),
indianapolismormontemple.com (unofficial web site),
mormontemples.com (unofficial web site).

Fon at gas station. Tue, Jan 18, 2010.

01/18/2010. 1268. I stopped at the nearby gas station to see my Marathi friend, but another cashier was on duty. He was speaking French on his cell phone. So after I asked about my friend, I asked where he was from, and he said Benin. He spoke English, French, and Fon. I offered him a copy of Gospel Fundamentals in Fon, and he agreed to receive it, so I retrieved it and a copy of the Joseph Smith Testimony in Fon from my car.

When he saw it, he was very enthusiastic and grateful for it. For some reason I decided not to offer a French Book of Mormon.

01/18/2010. Journal Entry. Later in the day, on my way back home, I stopped there again, and gave Marathi and English copies of Gospel Fundamentals to the other guy.

Convert receives the Priesthood. Sun, Jan 16, 2011.

01/16/2011. Journal Entry. The man who I saw baptized in July 2009 received the Aaronic Priesthood today. I had met him in April 2007, and he started investigating the church in December 2008.

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I'm just getting caught up. This and the previous 5 entries were posted Mon Jan 17, 2011.

Amharic at coffee shop. Tue, Jan 4, 2011.

01/04/2011. 1267. After leaving the drug store, and starting to drive way, I saw an Ethiopian-looking man enter the coffee shop next door. So I parked again, grabbed an Amharic Book of Mormon from the trunk, and went into the coffee shop, and ordered a hot-chocolate and bagel.

On my way out, I stopped at the man's table where he was sitting by himself, and asked if he spoke Amharic, and he said yes. I asked if he'd like to receive a free book in Amharic from my church, and he said okay. So I gave him the Amharic Book of Mormon. I forget what more I said, probably something about phone numbers on cards inside in case he wanted to know more.

The other patrons at the tables within ear-shot of us stopped talking and were obviously listening in, and watching, but I didn't care.

Swahili & Luganda at drug store. Tue, Jan 4, 2011.

01/04/2011. 1266. This was an assignment. I was inspired to do laundry on the other side of town at a laundromat that I used to frequent. Nothing happened at the laundromat or the nearby store where I bought something, so I thought I had blown it. But as I left I saw someone enter a nearby drug store who I wanted to meet. I went in looking for him, but couldn't find him in the store. So I just bought some stuff I needed anyway that was on sale. On my way to the check-out I heard a man speaking English with a slightly British-African accent, so I struck up a conversation with him.

He was from Uganda and spoke Swahili and Luganda. I offered him some church material in those languages and he was very positive and enthusiastic about receiving them. So I asked him to wait while I retrieved them from the car. I brought back in a Swahili and an English Book of Mormon, and Luganda and English copies of Gospel Fundamentals.

When he saw them he was even more enthusiastic. We chit-chatted a bit, and I asked him to call me later and let me know what he thought of the material.

A few years ago, I met someone from Uganda who spoke Luganda, but I didn't have any Luganda material with me at the time, so that's when I started keeping the Luganda Gospel Fundamentals in the car.

Follow-up, Marathi NT, gas station. Mon, Jan 3, 2011.

01/03/2011. Follow-up. I've known this guy who works at a gas station for a few years. His gas station is just a few minutes from my home. I've given him material before, but I always thought he was Hindu. I always assumed it. Well, he finally specifically said something, and said he was Christian. Wow. What a reminder not to assume. His main language is Marathi, and second language is Hindi.

Anyway, I thought I had a Marathi Bible or New Testament, so I offered it, and he accepted. I didn't have it in the car, but I came back on this date to give him the Marathi New Testament.

He had actually came to visit our church during sacrament meeting yesterday, Sun, Jan 2, 2011. He couldn't stay for more Sunday School since he had to get to work.