Cambodian at store. Mon, Sep 21, 2009

09/21/2009. 1190. I was shopping at a store, and the clerk who served me was a very personable and intelligent young adult. He appeared Asian, so I asked where his family was original from. He said he was born here, but his parents were from Cambodia. I took a gamble and asked if he'd like some free Cambodian material from my church so his parents could have something to read in Cambodian. He said sure. I may have asked if he had heard of the Book of Mormon already, but I forget. He did say it was okay to give the material to him at the store. So I retrieved Cambodian and English copies of the Book of Mormon from the car and went back in and present them and he graciously accepted them.

Pass-along cards at Vietnamese restaurant. Sat, Nov 17, 2007.

11/17/2007. 919. I'm accompanying a friend on a trip to Texas. He went off to visit friends, while I stayed at the hotel to do Internet work. Afterwards, I went out to eat, and found a Vietnamese restaurant right across the road. Good food.

My waitress was from Cambodia, but the owners were from Vietnam. I gave both the hostess and the waitress a customized pass-along card, with "Vietnamese" hand-written on the one, and "Cambodian" written on the other. They both seemed enthusiastic, and sounded like they would call the 800 number.

Liahonas to RM at church. Sun, May 20, 2007.

05/20/2007. Journal entry. While waiting in the foyer after church, I met an RM, just four months off his mission, who served a Cambodian-speaking mission in Boston.

He was happy when I told him of the several Cambodians I've met in town, so I gave him the locations where I've met a Cambodian waitress, a Cambodian shop owner, and a Cambodian employee of a grocery store. He had heard of the Cambodian waitress, and been trying to look up the restaurant in order to eat there, and that was where I ate last week.

I'm out of Cambodian Liahonas, but I gave him two issues of the Liahona in the language spoken by the owners of that restaurant, and an English edition that corresponds to one of the others.

Cambodian at Asian restaurant. Tue, May 15, 2007.

05/15/2007. 822. I stopped for lunch at an Asian restaurant that I haven't been to before. I gave some books to a friend to take there, and I think she placed them, but I don't remember exactly. So assuming that they already had the Book of Mormon, I took in some Liahona magazines in that language, along with the corresponding English issues.

I got there towards the end of the lunch rush. There were a lot of people in the dining room, and the one waitress was moving pretty quickly to serve everyone.

By the time I finished eating and paid, all but one other table had emptied, so I had an opportunity to ask if she liked to read in _______. She said that she didn't read _______, so I asked her where she was from, and she said Cambodia. I offered her a Book of Mormon in Cambodian. She agreed to see it, so I said I'd get it from my car. I went out and got it and an English copy and brought them in.

She seemed genuinely glad to see something in Cambodian, but she kept calling it a Mormon Bible. Maybe the word for "book" that is in the Cambodian title of the "Book of Mormon" is the one used for Bible, as is the Chinese. Anyway, she also accepted the English copy to go with it.

Fortuitous follow-up, Cambodian. Fri, Jan 26, 2007.

01/26/2007. Tonight, I met the older brother of a young lady I met on July 3, 2006. I was at a grocery store, a well-known local chain, that I haven't been to in a long time, near my new home.

One of the employees who was bagging groceries looked Asian. I took my groceries out to the car, and came back in to buy a newspaper and try to meet him.

When I got back in, he was working in a different area up front near the check out lanes, but wasn't busy, and was approachable. I asked what languages he spoke, and he said a little Cambodian, but he didn't read it. I asked if he knew the young lady that worked at a certain gas station/convenience store, and he said she was his sister.

I asked about the Books of Mormon and magazines I gave her, and he said he had seen his parents reading them a few times. Cool!

I offered him another magazine for his parents, and he agreed to give it to him. I went back out to the car and got another Cambodian Liahona, and a copy of Finding Faith in Christ DVD.

I thought the DVD had a Cambodian track, but after getting home and looking it up on the web, I see that it was Thai instead of Cambodian. Thai writing is similar to Cambodian to my untrained eye. Unfortunately, the DVD case does not list the languages in English, only in the target language. So unless you know how to read the Thai on the case, you wouldn't know that the DVD has a Thai track.

Anyway, I presented the material, and he was very grateful. But his manager/supervisor kind of looked askance at me from a distance. I hope I didn't get him in trouble.

He looked at the card inside, and then commented it was the same one in the books at his parents' home. I mentioned that the Church has more material in Cambodian, and if his parents want more, to call me and let me know.

Moment #634. Cambodian at gas station. Mon, Jul 3, 2006.

07/03/2006. On the agenda was to pick up mail, buy gasoline, have lunch at a new Chinese restaurant I found Saturday.

Knowing that the "moments" that happen at the Post Office and at gas stations are time-sensitive, I sought guidance, trying to feel if I should go eat first, or pick up mail first. With the low-fuel light showing, my natural inclination was to get off the Interstate and go to the Post Office and get fuel near there, as that was the closer exit. But the "tug" was to stay on the Interstate and get off later at the exit nearest the Chinese Restaurant I had in mind.

I don't like gambling with the low-fuel light, but the tug was definitive, and it indicated to stay on the Interstate. There would be a gas station immediately after getting off at my intended exit, and I'd pass right by it on the way to the restaurant. I've placed books at that gas station on at least two occasions, so it would be good follow-up. Besides, if the Lord wanted me to run out of gas, there must be a purpose in it.

As I write this, my conscience convicts me that I didn't properly formalize a mental or vocal prayer in that instance. I was neither humble enough in my supplication, nor did I properly express gratitude after receiving the obvious "tug". I should not have waited to see the result before expressing gratitude.

I made it to that gas station without running out of gas. There was a van-load of hispanic landscaping workers using the other side of my pump, but I didn't communicate other than a polite nod and a "Muy buenas" to one man with whom I made eye-contact. I probably could have made an approach, but I was not confident enough.

After fueling the car, I went in to buy a newspaper to read during lunch, but none of the employees were immigrants at this time.

I continued down the street to the Chinese restaurant, and as soon as I entered the next intersection, I received a definite impression to go into the gas station/convenience store on that corner. I've made two placements there before, one just a few months ago.

I had to buy something, so I got a different newspaper this time. I got in line, and one of the cashiers was a college age woman who appeared Southeast Asian.

There may have been someone behind me, but after paying I asked quickly "Do you speak any foreign languages?" "Yes." "Where are you from?" "Cambodia." "Can I show you a free book in Cambodian from my church?" She couldn't read Cambodian, only speak it, but I offered them for her to give to her parents or relatives, and she was genuinely interested. If I held up anyone behind me, it was less than 10 seconds.

I went out to my car and got two issues of the Liahona in Cambodian, and a Cambodian and an English Book of Mormon.

I went back in, got in line, and let a couple people in front of me so as not to delay anyone. I told the other customer something like "This isn't business, it's just a personal thing" pointing to the books, as an indication I didn't want to delay them for non-business chit-chat.

The cashier was rather excited about the material. I asked her if she knew another Cambodian lady who worked at an Asian market down the street. She didn't know her, so I gave her the other lady's name, the name of the store, and the location, thinking she'd enjoy meeting another Cambodian who worked just a few blocks away.

I don't know when this lady's shift ended, so going to the Post Office later may not have affected this encounter, but it did affect an enounter later on.