Mongolian. Thu, Jun 24, 2010.

06/24/2010. 1242. I saw an Asian lady, and started a conversation by asking what languages she spoke, and she said Mongolian. I asked if she still liked to read in Mongolian and she said yes, so I offered her a free Book of Mormon and a magazine in Mongolian from church, and she agreed to accept them. I retrieved them, along with an English Book of Mormon, and presented them to her. She seemed genuinely interested in them. She was pretty outgoing herself, so she didn't seem to mind that I had started a conversation with her. She even asked some questions about the church, so I got out the info flyer that I put in one of the books and showed her the chapel I go to.

She didn't know any other Mongolians in town, so I gave her the name and number of the other local Mongolian person who I know. He's not LDS but has contacts with local folks from Mongolia. They used to have an informal group that got together, but I haven't spoken with him in a while. I also told her about the young man who I knew from Mongolia who joined the church in 2006, but has since moved.

Mongolian to friend of friend. Thu, Mar 22, 2007.

03/22/2007. 806. I had lunch with the guy who joined the church in November of last year, and two of his friends who came to visit him from another city. One of his friends was already a member long before I met the guy who joined in November. The other was not a member.

After eating we stopped by an auto parts store so they could get something before they went on an out-of-town errand. I asked the one visitor who was already LDS if their non-member friend had a Book of Mormon in his language. He said no, so I got the Mongolian and English out of trunk, and gave them to him so he could present them to his friend.

Spanish, Korean, Mongolian. Fri, Feb 9, 2007.

02/09/2007. 789. I had lunch by myself at a Mexican restaurant. This is my second visit. This is near where I live. I'm trying a new approach for restuarants where I expect to return, so instead of offering material on my first visit, I'm going to try offering material on my 2nd visit, so that I'm not a 100% new stranger when I make the offer.

The attentive waitress moved quickly between between tables and I was not quick enough to start a conversation. I had my Spanish and English Books of Mormon in a bag on the chair next to me, and had the Spanish and English Liahona magazines on the table.

I ended up presenting the Spanish and English Liahona magazines to the cashier after I paid, and she cheerfully accepted them. I hope I didn't make the waitress jealous, but I plan on going back there anyway, and will take more magazines and copies of the Book of Mormon.

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02/09/2007. 790. While running errands I passed a store I hadn't been to in a long time. I bought some food, and found out the owner was an acquaintance of a former customer. We chatted a bit, and I offered him a Korean Liahona magazine, and he accepted. I found out one of the employees there was Mongolian. I didn't offer him any material, but I got his name and number, and gave it to a local friend from Mongolia who recently joined the church. It made his day (my friend) because he didn't know any other Mongolians in town, and now he knows there is a small Mongolian community in town, and is in contact with them.

Mongolian at Library. Sat, Sep 9, 2006.

09/09/2006. 722. Good things often happen on the way home from the chapel. It's our ward's month to clean the chapel, and the Elders Quorum's weekend.

I did my part, and headed home. There's a public library on my way home, and right before I passed it I had the idea of stopping in there. I dismissed the idea, but after I passed it, a voice in my head said something like "Aren't you going to go to the libary?"

So I turned around and went back to the library. There were some other people who went in at the same time as I but they didn't seem like they were my intended contacts. I figured I could check email, so I signed up for a public Internet workstation, and waited and browsed.

When my turn came up, I logged in, checked my email and messed around a little bit on the Internet. Then I signed off, and headed for the front door.

Right before I got to the front desk, I saw an Asian man there, and our eyes met. An alarm went off in my head, and I knew he was my intended contact.

I continued on towards the door, went about a step past him, then turned around and asked "Sir, what languages do you speak?" He said "Mongolian."

He was just concluding his transaction at the front desk and getting ready to leave, so it was a smooth encounter. I offered him the Book of Mormon in Mongolian, and he was very positive in his response that he'd like to see it. So we went outside together, and he waited while I retrieved it and an English copy from my car.

He was a very humble and reserved man, so he did not show a lot of emotion, but I could tell he was amazed and grateful when he saw it. And he wanted the English copy too.

I then asked him if he knew the Mongolian lady who worked at a beauty supply store on such-and-such road. He said no, that he didn't know her. This man and that lady at the beauty supply store are the only two Mongolians I know, and they didn't know each other, so I figured I should put them in contact with each other.

We both had some time free, so I suggested he follow me in his car. So I drove from the library to the beauty supply store, and he followed. When we got there, he reiterated he didn't know anyone who worked there, and we went in together. Unfortunately, she wasn't there. But the owner said she was just off that day, and would be in tomorrow.

The young man I was with didn't have a phone, so he couldn't leave his number for her, but he wrote a note in Mongolian, and the owner said he'd give it to her.

At least the young man knows where she works, and can go back to try to meet up with her. I also found out this man's parents are also in Indianapolis.

I don't want to rejoice too much, because it might be that they already know each other, and he just didn't know where she worked, and in that case, I'm making too big a deal of this.

But, if they don't know each other, then this was a really cool thing to get two Mongolian families in town together. Imagine living in a big foreign city, thinking you're the only Mongolians in town, and you meet fellow country-men.

Plus, this young man received a book containing the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ in his native language, Mongolian!

Oh, and he did express interest in going to church sometime. So I showed him the list of chapels, where our chapel was, and drew a crude map on it. I also explained a little about the family ward and the singles branch that meets there.

I would probably have asked for his phone number to arrange for a ride, but he didn't have a phone. I didn't feel confident enough to ask for his address.