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.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Thu, Jul 28, 2011.

07/28/2011. 1289. I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant I hadn't been to before. I ordered, sat down, and put out a Chinese copy and an English copy of the Book of Mormon on the table. When the cashier guy brought out my meal, I asked if he still liked to read Chinese, and he said yes. I offered him the Chinese Book of Mormon, but he politely declined, saying his family was Buddhist.

Chinese declined at Laundromat. Wed, Apr 6, 2011.

04/06/2011. 1278. Right before I left the laundromat, I was able to strike up a conversation with a young Asian-looking man who was getting ready to leave. He spoke Chinese, but politely declined my offer of a free book in Chinese from church. I neglected to mention the name of the book or the church.

Chinese declined at mall. Fri, Nov 5, 2010.

11/05/2010. 1261. I stopped at a mall to use their restroom, and on my way out I walked past a Chinese place in the food court. After walking past it, I felt drawn to it, so I went back and bought something inexpensive. There were no other customers, so I talked a bit with the operator. I offered him a free Chinese book from church and he wanted to see it. He asked where the nearest church was so I gave him a card with the name of the church and the web site address, and the address of one of the chapels, but I didn't actually say "Book of Mormon."

I went out to my car and brought back in a Chinese and an English Book of Mormon along with a DVD. When I went back in an presented him, he saw the title and apparently changed his mind, saying he already had one, and the DVD too. He said he goes to a Chinese church about 45 minutes away.

I think it was a case where the word used to translate "Book" in the title of the Book of Mormon conveys the wrong idea or impression. The word for "book" in the title of the Chinese Book of Mormon actually means "Holy Book" and is the same word/symbol used for "Bible." So, if you look at a Chinese Book of Mormon, the title actually says "Mormon Bible", and people think we use it instead of the Bible.

He was polite, and I didn't want to call him on it since he chose to say he already had one as his way of turning it down. Well, maybe he did have one. Anyway, the offer was made, and a testimony, even if was just in the form of an offer, was given. And he physically saw it, so he now has a memory which the Holy Ghost can use in the future when/if needed.

And he still probably has the customized pass-along card with the phone numbers, web site address, and chapel address on it.

Road Trip. Tue, Nov 24, 2009.

Road trip, on the way back from Florida.

11/24/2009. 1227. Punjabi and English Gospel Fundamentals. Bought chicken sandwich and two cans of soda. Had to drive a ways off interstate to find. Inspired stop.

11/24/2009. 1228. Another exit. Chinese declined at restaurant. But young man was interested in taking ESL class. Inspired stop.

11/24/2009. 1229. Same exit as before, just next door at the grocery store. Borrowed a phone book at the service desk. Another customer spoke with an accent. I struck up a conversation with him, and offered him a Swahili Book of Mormon, but he declined.

11/24/2009. Journal entry. Missed opportunity. I felt inspired to stop at a particular store, but didn't offer anything to the English-speaking cashier/owner.

11/24/2009. 1230. Vietnamese declined. I forget where this was, or what this one was about.

11/24/2009. 1231. An Indian couple at a gas station spoke Gujerati, gave them a pass-along card and suggested calling for Hindi. They spoke of a group of Telugu-owned stores in Atlanta.

11/24/2009. Journal entry. Missed op. Stopped at an Hispanic grocery store, and I didn't make any offers.

11/24/2009. Journal entry. Missed op. Saw a laundromat near the grocery store and thought of going there. I had only 2 days of laundry to do, and I talked myself out of it, wanting to get back home that night. But a guilty feeling later made me realize I should have gone there.

11/24/2009. Journal entry. Gas station. I thought it was inspired but nothing happened. (Several cats were on the property.)

11/25/2009. 1232. Just past midnight at a gas station near Cincinnati, I bought something and offered some DVDs to one or more ladies behind the counter, and she/they accepted them. I think I gave them a Mr. Krueger's Christmas DVD, and a Joy to the World DVD.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Thu, Aug 6, 2009.

08/06/2009. 1177. After finishing laundry, I got back on the Interstate highway to head home. Before I came to a certain exit, a Chinese restaurant not far from there came to mind. I had gone past it on my way to or from a club meeting a while back. I hadn't been there before, but it was on my "to do list." I'm not sure if it was a prompting or not, but I was still up for adventure, so I got off the Interstate at that exit and went there.

The food was much better than what the appearance of the restaurant might lead one to believe. On one of her trips past my table, the waitress noticed the Chinese Liahona and Chinese Book of Mormon I had put out. I offered them to her, saying they were free. But she declined, saying she didn't believe. I'm not sure if she meant they were Buddhist, or another Christian religion, or were agnostic.

I'll probably be back in that area next week, and might be able to follow up with a DVD, such as Together Forever.

Chinese, declined at restaurant. Tue, Dec 2, 2008.

12/02/2008. 1094. After volunteering at the storehouse, had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, late evening, I struck up a conversation with a member of the owner's family in the dining area. I was the only customer there. She spoke and understood fluent Mandarin, but didn't read it, growing up here in the US. I offered a video, but she was hestitant, didn't say yes or no, so I didn't push. I didn't see the parents, so I'll try offering something to them next time.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Tue, Nov 18, 2008

11/18/2008. 1091. After volunteering a bit at the storehouse, I stopped for supper at a Chinese restaurant that I hadn't eaten at before. It was better than average, both in terms of ambience and food, so I'll probably stop by there again.

My waiter noticed the Chinese Book of Mormon and Chinese Liahona on my table as he passed by, and I offered them to him on his next trip to my table. He politely declined. Other than restaurant vocabulary, his English seemed a bit limited. He may have thought I was trying to sell them. He was a bit nervous or unsure of how to respond, so I didn't follow up by offering a free DVD. Anyway, I made sure to leave an extra generous tip.

There were a couple other employees, so maybe I can offer something to them on future trips.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Fri, May 9, 2008

05/09/2008. 1019. I was driving through a town adjacent to Indianapolis around supper-time and stopped at a Chinese restaurant that I hadn't been to before.

I ordered, sat down, and placed the normal stuff on the table: both kinds of Chinese Book of Mormon (traditional script and simplified script), an English Book of Mormon, two DVDs (Together Forever, and Finding Happiness), and Chinese and English copies of the Liahona magazine.

The cook brought out my meal but didn't seem to notice the material. They were rather busy, so I didn't engage him in conversation other than a quick "thank- you."

I read the English Liahona, and eventually went back to the counter to buy another soda. I took the three copies of the Book of Mormon with me, and asked the cashier if she like to read Chinese. She said yes. I showed the books to the her, and offered them to her, mentioning that they were from my church, and were free. But after reading the cover, she said something like "We're different." I took it to mean different religion. Her body-English was polite but firm in declining to receive them. I didn't go into the bi-lingual aspect though, and I don't think I took the DVDs to the counter either. She seemed rather busy, taking orders over the phone, working back in the kitchen, and preparing to-go orders, so I didn't go back to her to present the DVDs. (Oftentimes, they accept a DVD or two if they turn down the books, since it's easier to watch TV than read a book, and many restaurants have a TV/DVD combo going while they work.)

I think it would still be worth while going back to present the DVDs.

Chinese declined at gas station. Sat, Apr 5, 2008.

04/05/2008. 1010. I stopped at a gas station on the way to view General Conference at the stake center. The cashier appeared Asian, so I waited around for the person after me to get done, then asked the cashier what languages she spoke. She mentioned one of the main Chinese dialects.

I offered her a free church book in her language, but she politely declined. Then there came more people in line behind me, so I didn't switch to offering a video, nor mention the bi-lingual nature. But it may be worth a follow-up later to see if she wants a video.

Spanish, missed op, Chinese declined, at buffet. Fri, Feb 8, 2008

02/08/2008. 986. I was on my way to the next state over to go to an uncle's funeral. I was planning on travelling Friday, having dinner with someone nearby Friday night, and going to the funeral the following day, Saturday.

As I was travelling, I felt inspired to take an exit, and go a certain direction, but I didn't see any businesses that seemed right. I was about to turn around and chalk it up to my imagination, when I felt inspired to keep driving to the next city.

There was a town not far from the Interstate, and there was a Chinese buffet in a shopping center.

I paid, put my stuff down at a table, got some food, sat down, and put out some Chinese material (2 kinds of Chinese Book of Mormon, English Book of Mormon, bilingual Chinese/English New Testament, and DVD) on the table.

When I noticed that the bus-boy was Hispanic, I got out a Spanish Book of Mormon from my bag. (My Asian book-bag contains all the aforementioned, plus Vietnamese, Japanese, Indonesian, and Cambodian. Yeah, it's heavy, but it works.)

When the bus-boy came by, I struck up a conversation with him, and offered him the Spanish and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and he gratefully accepted them.

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Journal entry. Missed Opportunity. Then a group of Asian men came in, and sat down at the table next to me. There was one caucasian man with them. While I was getting more food, I saw one of them look at the books on my table.

It took me a while to realize that they were speaking Japanese, and probably worked at a nearby Japanese auto plant. I got out the Japanese Book of Mormon and put it on the table. And tried to think of a way to start a conversation.

But, I delayed and didn't say anything, and when they left, they left quickly, and didn't pass by my table.

I was so stupid for not acting. It was a perfect opportunity. I was there first, and had the stuff out first, and then they came and sat next to my table, so it was obvious that I had not "targeted" them. They came to me. Some Japanese guys just happened to sit next to the guy with the Japanese Book of Mormon, and DVD's with Japanese audio tracks, and I let the opportunity slip through my fingers.

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987. Chinese declined. I stopped at the cashier counter on the way out, and offered them the Chinese Book of Mormon and the bilingual Chinese/English New Testament, but they were not interested, and politely declined my offer.

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Journal entry. I had several more missed opportunities along the road in Ohio before I got to my destination.

Chinese declined. Tue, Jan 22, 2008.

01/22/2008. 977. After doing a project at the storehouse, I stopped for supper at a Chinese restaurant that I haven't been to in a long time. I made a placement attempt here before, at least a couple years ago, but I forget if they accepted the material. And I couldn't tell if the people working there tonight were the same owners/opeators from before.

Anyway, the person who brought my food noticed the books on my table, but didn't say anything. After eating, I went to the counter and offered them the Chinese Book of Mormon along with the English, but they politely shook their head no. They also declined the "Finding Happiness" DVD that's in both Mandarin and Cantonese.

Chinese declined. Fri, Jan 18, 2008.

01/18/2008. 976. I had supper at a restaurant on the other side of town after running an errand and making a visit. I saw it on my way back, and realized I hadn't been there before.

When the server brought out my food, she noticed the books on the table and hestitated a few seconds to read the covers. I asked if she like to read Chinese, and she said she didn't have time to read. We spoke a little bit more, then she went back to work. The other waitress also looked at them a little.

When the other waitress came back to check on me, I asked if she'd like a free copy, and she politely declined, saying she already had a bilingual Chinese/English Bible. I've learned that it's usually not productive to try to explain that the Book of Mormon isn't the Bible. And I didn't have any Chinese Bibles, or Chinese/English bilingual Bibles with me to illustrate that it's different, and that we use both. I didn't have any Chinese Liahonas with me either.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Fri, Dec 14, 2007.

12/14/2007. 932. I took the ward's two full-time missionaries (elders) to lunch at a Chinese buffet restaurant.

I placed some material on the table right after sitting down, Chinese Liahona, Chinese/English Bilingual New Testament, Simplified Chinese Book of Mormon, Traditional Chinese Book of Mormon, English Book of Mormon, and "Finding Happiness" DVD.

The waitress did a few double takes on them, but wasn't interested. We could tell from later interaction with her that her English was limited to restaurant vocabulary.

I've made little labels that I tape to the books, that say in Chinese "This book is free". A Mandarin-speaking friend did those to me, and emailed a graphic to me to use.

But she just wasn't interested, or perhaps she misunderstood and thought we were trying to sell them.

The hostess/cashier wasn't interested either.

After lunch, we stopped at a gas station so the missionaries could buy some snacks and so I could get a newspaper, but we didn't see any opportunities there.

Some investigators lived in an apartment complex on the way back to the missionaries' apartment. And since the missionaries are on bicycles this week (trading their car off with another set of elders), we stopped by there so they could drop in. They actually saw two households of investigators/contacts, and introduced themselves to a friend of one of them.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Tue, Dec 4, 2007.

12/04/2007. 925. I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant that recently opened not far from where I live. When the cashier/owner brought my food to my table, he did a double-take on the Chinese copies of the Book of Mormon and the Chinese Liahona that I had on the table.

He looked at them a while, but declined my offer to give them to him.

Right before I left, I gave him a custom Book of Mormon pass-along card, with my name and number written on the back, and the name/number of an LDS friend who speaks Mandarin. He showed the card to the cook, and explained something to him in Chinese.

Chinese declined, Urdu, Persian. Wed, Sep 4, 2007.

09/04/2007. Journal entry. I was down to my last Urdu Book of Mormon, which I don't want to give out in case I need to photocopy it. So I decided to take back the Urdu Book of Mormon that I had on display with the other languages at the Indianapolis Storehouse. I thought giving it out would be more important than the notion of a particular display being a complete set.

09/04/2007. 879. At the end of the day doing errands around town, I decided to have supper at a Chinese restuarant that I haven't been to before. I had a Chinese/English bilingual (diglot) New Testament, and the two types of the Chinese Book of Mormon on my table when the waitress brought the food. She noticed them and seemed interested at first, but declined, saying they were Buddhist. The restaurant had other customers so she didn't have time to chit-chat further.

09/04/2007. 880. I stopped at a store near the restaurant. I bought some stuff I needed. The cashier was originally from Pakistan, has been in the US a long time, and was very receptive to receiving an Urdu and English Book of Mormon. So after paying I went out to the car to retrieve the material. He also accepted the Urdu and English Joseph Smith testimony pamphlets. He was very chatty, to the degree that another cashier was eyeing us. I didn't want to bother him with too much small talk while he was on duty, but he was very eager to talk, and we exchanged contact information.

09/04/2007. 881. I stopped at another store on the way home. I hadn't browsed this kind of store in a long time. I bought a couple items. My cashier was from Iran, and spoke Persian (Farsi). I offered and he accepted a Persian and an English copy of the Book of Mormon, so I retrieved them from the car and took them back in. There were no other customers in his section, so we were able to chat some.

The latter two guys were pretty cool, and are the type of people I'd like to get to know better, so I hope to go back to those places.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Tue, Jun 19, 2007.

06/19/2007. 836. Chinese declined. (Road trip to visit family, continued.) The third place that I visited at this exit was a Chinese restaurant next door to the gas station mentioned in the previous entry.

Since I had already eaten, I just ordered two egg rolls to go. The cashier spoke Mandarin, but had been in the US for a long time. She declined my offer of a Chinese Book of Mormon, but did accept a pass-along card. I forget if I offered her a DVD.

Chinese declined, at restaurant. Sat, May 5, 2007.

05/05/2007. 820. On the way to the evening session of Stake Conference, I stopped at a Chinese restaurant. After I sat down, another member came in. He attends the other ward (congregation) that shares the same building with the ward that I attend. He ended up joining me at my table. When the waitress brought my food, she was moving too fast to say anything. But when she cleared the plates I was able to ask which dialect she spoke and offer her a Book of Mormon and a DVD. She did look inside the book but politely declined both the book and the DVD. I also had a bilingual Simplified Chinese/English New Testament from the International Bible Society on the table.

The brother who joined me said he sometimes goes to a Chinese restaurant in his town, so I gave him a copy of both Chinese editions of the Book of Mormon, a traditional Chinese edition, and a Simplified Chinese edition, and a hard-cover English copy.

Chinese declined at restaurant. Mon, Feb 19, 2007.

02/19/2007. 796. I had supper at a nearby Chinese restaurant at a strip-mall. I've had lunch here before, but I don't think I've ever attempted a book placement here. I placed my order and sat down. The cashier brought my main dish first, and said he'd be back with the egg-roll. He glanced at the Chinese Book of Mormon and the bilingual Chinese/English New Testament on my table, but he was moving too fast for me to strike up a conversation.

When he came back with the egg-roll he looked at the book again, and I asked him if he liked to read Chinese. He flipped through the Chinese Book of Mormon, and I made my offer, but he had to put it down and go back to the counter to attend to customers who just came in.

After he attended to the other customers, he seemed to talk to the other employees about the books, as a couple of them glanced in my direction. But of course, I don't know what they said.

After I finished eating, I went back to the counter to place a tip in the tip jar, and offered the books again, but he very politely declined.

As this is very close to me, I'll be back in the future, and will try to offer some videos that have Mandarin/Cantonese audio tracks* next time.

*Finding Faith in Christ, $1.36/each.
  Finding Happiness, $1.50.
  Joy to the World, $2.88/each.
  Special Witnesses of Christ, $1.50/each.
  To This End Was I Born, $1.50/each.
  Together Forever, $1.18/each.
  Introduction to the Church, $1.50/each.
  Our Heavenly Father's Plan, $1.50/each.

I buy them in cases of 50 in order to get the lower price. If you buy individual copies, they are $4.50/each, except Joy To the World, which is $6.20/each in single quantities. Go in with your ward mission leader, or other members of your ward, to get the lower price, which makes them cheaper than the Book of Mormon.