Persian to members at conference. Sun, Aug 22, 2010.

08/22/2010. Journal entry. It was right after stake conference, and people were milling about. A member of my ward asked me for a Persian and an English Book of Mormon for a friend of his. I had them in the car, so I went out and retrieved them and gave them to him. He even offered to pay for them, which I accepted.

A + B = Persian at store. Wed, Mar 4, 2009.

03/04/2009. 1117. Today I picked up our ward's full-time missionaries, took them to an investigator's, sat in on the lesson, joined the discussion, and afterwards took them back to their apartment. After I dropped them off, and was on my way back home, I felt inspired to stop at a little cafe/restaurant that I haven't been to before. It's not ethnic, but the impression to stop there was strong.

I had lunch there and liked it. I did not make any book-placement attempts. On the way back home from lunch I felt inspired to stop at a certain close-out store along the way. It's one that I've often been to just to shop. Again, I hadn't planned on it, and didn't really want to, but the impression was strong.

I entered and started browsing the aisles that I normally browse, looking for deals. A fellow shopper walked over towards the check-out counter and asked for someone to get something down from a top shelf for her. It looked like it was going to be a while as the cashier had to call back to the stock room for someone. I offered the other shopper to get it down for her if it was in my reach, and she indicated I should be able to reach it by myself. I followed her over and got it down for her. I didn't have to use a ladder or step-stool or climb on anything to get to it.

She spoke with an exotic accent; and her appearance, demeanor and voice indicated she was a classy educated person.

I forget my exact words, but I commented positively on her accent and asked her where she was from. She said Iran. I asked if she spoke Persian/Farsi, and she said yes. I asked if she still liked to read in Persian and she said yes. I said that the reason I asked was that my church had free books in Persian, and that I had one with me in the car that she could see if she wanted. I said that it was a Christian religious book, but I forget if I mentioned at that point that it was the Book of Mormon.

She expressed interest, so I asked if I could get it and bring it in for her, and she said okay. I went out to the car and retrieved the Persian and an English copy of the Book of Mormon from the trunk, went back in, and presented the Persian copy to her. She started asking questions about where the church was, so I pointed out the information flyer that I had in it. I pointed out the chapel that I go to, but she was not familiar with that area. She actually lived in a suburb of Indianapolis, about 15 blocks from the LDS chapel in that suburb. So I pointed out the chapel that was close to her.

We chit-chatted some more, and I pointed out my two favorite passages that I had marked with Post-it(tm) notes: Moroni 10:3-5, and 3 Nephi chapters 11 through 26. I said I taught myself the numbers by studying the page numbers, but had forgotten them soon after. I also offered her the English, and she graciously accepted that one too.

She asked about a Persian Bible, and I wrote down the URL for the International Bible Society for her. I said that if she couldn't find it online, to call me, and I'd get her another number to call. The LDS church also sells copies of the Persian/Farsi Bible, but not online.

We met up later in the store, and she re-commenced the conversation, telling me what she does, giving me her card. I actually might be able to direct some business her way. She told me she speaks several other languages, which I noted on the card, and I said the church has translations of the Book of Mormon in those languages too. I did not offer her more copies, and I don't remember if I encouraged her to call the 800 number for more free copies.

Anyway, it was a cool encounter that I enjoyed, and I think she really appreciated getting reading material in Persian, and had no qualms that it was Christian in nature.

It wasn't until after the encounter that I realized that the inspired stop-over at the cafe was likely a "timing device" so that it put me at the store at just the right moment.

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.

Persian. Wed, Jul 11, 2007.

07/11/2007. 847. I was at the lobby of a public building, and happened to leave right after a man who had been speaking in a foreign language on his cell phone. He hung up just as he left. Outside I asked what language he spoke, and he said Persian.

I offered and he accepted a Persian (Farsi) Book of Mormon. He declined to receive the English. He stood around while I retrieved it from the trunk of my car. He seemed pleased, and said he worked with some Mormons. If he ever wants to get an English copy, there are phone numbers in the book I gave him, or he can ask his co-workers.

Farsi ( Persian ) at store. Wed, May 2, 2007.

05/02/2007. 819. Farsi (Persian) at store. I'd like to give more details, but out of respect for privacy, I don't want to give enough detail that would identify the store or the person I met. Local LDS leaders, both stake and mission, know who I am, and if they read this and want more information, they can contact me for more information. This was a really cool guy, but I didn't get his name.

I was on my way home from having lunch at the Chinese restaurant mentioned in the previous blog entry. Not far from home, I stopped by this one store because I had a $2 off coupon for any purchase, and my errands took me right by it on my way home. I went in looking for stuff I needed anyway, and browsed their store flyer. I'm in the process of building up a year's supply of food and consumables, so I'm currently a little flexible about what I can buy.

I was browsing some products, and heard a cool accent around the corner. I couldn't tell if the people talking were employees or customers or both. As I was studying which combination of stuff to buy that was on sale and with coupons, I somehow forgot to go around the corner to check out who was talking.

Anyway, when I checked out, the cash register printed a coupon for a competing product to one that I bought, and since I was stocking up anyway I decided to buy that product and use the coupon right there. After paying I took my purchases out to my car and went back in. The guy with the accent was still talking around the corner, and after I picked up the other products, I went around to where he was. And in a break in their conversation, I said he had a cool accent, and asked where he was from. He said Iran. I asked if he spoke Farsi, and he said yes.

I then asked if he were Muslim or Christian. He said Muslim. I said the reason I asked was that my church had a free book in Farsi called the Book of Mormon. He was very interested in seeing it. He said he used to live in _____, and had visited ____, and even went to a Temple open house. I said I had the Farsi Book of Mormon in my car, and asked if he'd be there for a few more minutes, and he said yes, so I said I'd be right back after paying.

I went up front and paid, and took the stuff out to my car, and got a Farsi and an English Book of Mormon from the car, and went back in.

He happily accepted the books, and started to flip through the Farsi one, and asked where there was a Mormon church. I showed him the flyer that has the list of chapels in the books, and also said my card was in there if he had any questions.

He probably would have chatted some more, but I didn't want to take up more of his time since he was on the job.

Arabic, Persian, Turkish at gas station. Sun, Feb 11, 2007.

02/11/2007. 792. I was on the way home from a late session at the laundromat. I stopped to get gas and buy an early edition of the Sunday paper. It was Saturday night, but it was slightly past midnight, so it was Sunday morning.

I bought gas, paid at the pump, and went inside to get the newspaper. I had to look around to find them, and another customer pointed them out to me. He spoke with an accent, so I struck up a conversation and asked where he was from and what languages he spoke. I offered him some free copies of the Book of Mormon in his languages and he agreed to see them. After I brought them in and gave them to him, he said his car had broken down, and he needed a ride to get his other car at a house just a few minutes away. He seemed like a professional type person, so I felt safe in giving him a ride.

We chatted some more on the ride over, and while waiting for his other car to warm up. He told me about his business and invited me to stop by to talk more. He mentioned that he knows some Mormons and that they're nice people. I plan on stopping by his business soon.