Chinese declined. Tue, Nov 22, 2011.

11/22/2011. 1303. I was taking a break while volunteering at the storehouse and went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant that I hadn't been to before. It was a very good meal. After I paid I offered the Chinese Book of Mormon to the waitress/owner, but she politely declined.

Chinese at restaurant. Mon, Nov 21, 2011.

11/21/2011. 1302. I was shopping at a store and ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while. He was going to eat supper by himself at a nearby restaurant, and so we could catch up, he invited me to go along. I had already eaten supper, but went anyway.

I had been there before, and offered material, but the nearby Chinese restaurant was under new ownership, so I took in a Traditional Chinese Book of Mormon and a Simplified Chinese copy, along with an English copy.

After the meal (I just snacked), I offered the waitress the Book of Mormon, and she graciously accepted the Traditional Chinese and the English copies. She said she wasn't very good at reading English, so the books would be a good learning experience for her.

On the way out, I also offered the Book of Mormon to the owners, but they politely declined.

Korean, declined. Mon, Nov 21, 2011

11/21/2011. 1301. I stopped at a gas station to buy a newspaper on the way to another store. The cashier was Korean, but declined my offer of a Korean Book of Mormon.

Ewe, French, at store. Sat, Nov 12, 2011.

11/12/2011. 1300. I was at a checkout counter of a large national chain. The cashier had a name tag indicating an African name, and he spoke with an accent. I asked if he spoke French (Parlez vous francais?), and he said yes, and asked how I guessed. I said because of his name-tag and his accent, and many African speak French.

He was from Togo, so I asked if he knew so-and-so, the guy from Togo (and Ghana) who joined the church in our ward a couple years ago. And he did know him and his family.

We talked about languages and church material, and he was open to receiving something. So after paying I went out to my car and retrieved a couple DVD's, and Ewe and English copies of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet. I went back in and presented them to him (there was no one in his check-out line at the time). He was pleasantly surprised to see the Ewe pamphlet, and he graciously accepted the material.

Spanish at restaurant. Tue, Nov 8, 2011.

11/8/2011. 1299. I had supper at a really good Mexican restaurant on the other side of town. It had been a while since I've been there. I forget if I had offered material there before, but the waitress was new, and I knew I hadn't given her anything.

After eating and paying, I was the only customer there, so I offered her a free Bible in Spanish and English and some other material from church. She agreed to receive them. I went out to my car and retrieved a Spanish New Testament, and English TNIV Bible, a Spanish Book of Mormon, and a multi-lingual "Special Witnesses of Christ" DVD.

She gratefully accepted them, and told me a little bit of her current spiritual and church investigation. I showed her the list of LDS chapels on an info flyer that I had put into one of the Bibles, and I pointed out the Spanish Branch, and the English speaking ward closest to where she lives.

French, Wolof at gas station. Mon, Nov 7, 2011.

11/7/2011. 1298. I was driving home, and there was a gas station on the corner on the other side of the street. I was planning on going straight through the intersection, but I received a strong prompting to stop at the gas station, so I checked to see that there was no traffic to the left and in back of me, and made a last-second left turn and pulled in.

I bought a cup of hot chocolate. The other cashier spoke with a heavy accent, so after I paid I went over to him and asked where he was from. He was from Senegal and spoke French and Wolof. I offered him some church material in French and Wolof, and he agreed to receive them.

I went out to my car and dug around a while, but I couldn't find a French Book of Mormon. But I did have a Wolof Gospel Fundamentals, a French Liahona magazine (the international edition of the Ensign), and a "Together Forever" DVD that has a French audio track. I went back in and present them to him, and he graciously accepted them. I mentioned that there were phone numbers in there (on the flyers) that he could call if he wanted more information.

Korean, English to elders. Fri, Nov 4, 2011.

11/4/2011. Journal Entry. While traveling around the far side of town, I spotted two elders putting air in their bike tires at a gas station/convenience store.

I stopped to chat and see if they needed any church literature to give out.

They did need English copies of the Book of Mormon. The local mission office has cut back on the number of copies of the Book of Mormon they give to the full-time missionaries. I suppose that local members in the wards where missionaries serve need to make up the difference. They used to get 10 copies every 6 weeks, and now it's only 5 copies every 6 weeks.

I gave them one of my English copies, and showed them how I mark it with Post-It notes (at 3rd Nephi 11 and at Moroni 10:3-5), an info flyer, and custom-made pass-along cards.

They had recently received a referral request for a Korean Book of Mormon, but hadn't received the Koren copy from the office, so I gave them one of my Korean copies.