Shona at Post Office. Fri, Dec 2, 2011.

12/02/2011. 1304. After volunteering at the storehouse in the morning, I went to a Post Office to run an errand. As I was going in, two young adult women were leaving, and were speaking English, but with an accent. I turned around and went back out, and before they got in their car, and from a respectful distance, I asked where they were from. They said Zimbabwe. I asked if they spoke Shona. They said they did, and were surprised that I knew about Shona. I said there were a lot of Zimbabweans in town.

I said that the reason I asked is that my church has free books in many African languages, and that I had a free copy in Shona if they would like it. They agreed to see it, so I retrieved a Shona and an English copy from my car, and presented the books to them. They gratefully and enthusiastically accepted the books. I said there were phone numbers inside if the wanted another copy, or if they wanted to learn more.

It was a very pleasant encounter.

Yoruba at Post Office. Tue, Jun 14, 2011.

06/14/2011. 1284. I had pulled into the Post Office parking lot behind a taxi. Most taxi drivers in Indianapolis are from Africa. Just as I was crossing the parking lot to go inside, he got out of his taxi and headed towards the front door too, and we ended up walking side by side. I asked what country he was from, and he said Nigeria. I asked if he was Igbo or Yoruba, and he said Yoruba. I asked if he wanted a free book in Yoruba from my church, and he said yes. I offered to give him one there, and asked if he had a moment, and he said okay. He followed me back to my car, and I got a Yoruba Book of Mormon out of the trunk and presented it to him.

Instead of offering him an English copy (I'm running low), I invited him to call one of the numbers on the flyer (the local mission office number or one of the church's 800 numbers) to get a free English version.

He asked where the church was, so I pointed out the list of chapels on the flyer, and circled the two closest ones.

I also offered him an English paperback Bible which he accepted.

It was pure serendipity, meeting him like that, but it was perfectly timed down to the second.

Korean at Post Office. Sat, Sep 25, 2010.

09/25/2010. 1254. I was at the Post Office checking my box. Just as I left the building, an Asian-looking man pulled into a parking space and got out of his car. I felt like I should talk to him.

I got into my car, rolled down my window, and waited a few seconds for him to come back out. When he came back out, I said to him, that I liked to give out books in foreign languages from my church, and I asked him what languages he liked to read. He said he was Chinese, but didn't read Chinese. Then he said his wife was Korean, and indicated he'd take something for her.

So I got out of the car and went around to the other side to get out a Korean Book of Mormon, and a Korean Liahona magazine, and a "Together Forever" DVD with a Korean sound track. He gratefully accepted them, and we went on our ways.

Amharic at Post office. Tue, Mar 31, 2009.

03/31/2009. 1127. I checked my mail at the post office, and went back to my car. There was a taxi parked next to me. It was a taxi-company that is known for having mostly Ethiopians and Eritreans as drivers. I rolled down my passenger side window hoping to talk to him, but his window was rolled up. I poppped open the trunk lid, and went back and retrieved English and Amharic copies of the Book of Mormon from the trunk. I walked around the driver's side of my car toward the front of his so I could approach him respectfully without startling him.

I waved at him and he saw me and rolled down his window. I asked if he spoke Amharic, and he did, so I offered him a free book in Amharic from church. He was very interested, and when I showed it to him, he got out of his car. He indicated he already had a copy, but it was the English edition that he had, so he accepted the Amharic edition. I pointed out my name on my business card inside, and the nearest chapel on the info flyer. I invited him to visit, and also said he or his friends could call the numbers on the flyer for more free copies.

Yoruba at Post Office. Tue, Mar 3, 2009.

03/03/2009. 1116. I was at the Post Office and the photo-copier in the lobby reminded me that I had something in the car that I wanted to photocopy. It was the lyric sheet that came with a Ghanaian LP that I bought back in 2006.

After I checked my PO box, there was a man who looked like he just finished using the copier. I asked him if it was working okay. He said yes, and that he was just going back to his car to get a nickel. He spoke with an accent. I offered him a nickel out of my pocket to save him the trip. He accepted it.

I went out to my car to get the LP record, and when I came back, he was exiting the lobby. I asked where he was from, and he said Nigeria. I asked "Are you Igbo or Yoruba?" He said Yoruba. I offered him a free religious book in Yoruba from my church, and he was interested. He was in a hurry, but I said I'd get it quick from my car. He agreed to wait.

I retrieved a Yoruba and an English copy of the Book of Mormon from the car, and went back and presented them to him. He was definitely interested. He wanted the Yoruba copy but said that he already had an English copy, and had called a number, and had some missionaries deliver one. I wanted to chat more, but since he was in a hurry, I just said that there were more numbers in the book that he could call if he liked what he read or wanted to learn more.

Romanian at Post Office. Thu, Dec 4, 2008.

12/04/2008. 1095. I met a lady and her teenage daughter at the Post Office. I offered, and she accepted, Romanian and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and a couple DVD's, but I forget which titles. They waited outside while I retrieved the material from my car, and I presented it right there in the parking lot.

Punjabi at Post Office. Mon, Sep 8, 2008

09/08/2008. 1063. I was in line at the Post Office. There was a family in line behind me (mom, dad, and a small child) and the father was wearing a Punjabi-style turban. I asked him if they were from Punjab and he said yes. A minute or so later, I asked if they liked to read Punjabi, and they said yes. I offered them a Punjabi Sunday School manual, making sure they understood it to be Christian religious material. They agreed to receive it. I said I'd meet them out front later when we were done.

After I transacted my business at the counter, I went outside to the car and retrieved a Punjabi and an English copy of Gospel Fundamentals, and Punjabi and English copies of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet. I waited in the lobby for them, and they graciously accepted the material when they came by. I was in a hurry, so I didn't have time for more explanations. But there was church contact information in the books, along with one of my personal calling cards.

There's more to the story, but that's essentially what happened.

Polish at Post Office. Fri, Oct 5, 2007.

10/05/2007. 896. I checked my PO Box at the Post Office. As I was passing through the lobby, there was a lady with a small boy talking to him in a foreign language. It sounded Eastern European. At an appropriate moment, and from a respectful distance I asked her what language she was speaking. She said Polish.

I said the reason I asked is that my church as free books in Polish. I offered her the Book of Mormon in Polish. I forget the order of what we said, but she asked which church, and I responded. At first she said to just give her a phone number to call, but when I said I could bring in a copy from the car, she agreed to see it.

I went out and brought in a Polish copy and an English copy. She accepted both. I asked if she was going to the International Festival at the State Fairgrounds the first weekend in November. She didn't know about it. So I wrote down the info on a piece of paper, and told her the local Polish club usually has a booth there. She didn't know about the local Polish club, and was definitely interested in making contact.

More of the back-story...

I wasn't going to check my PO box that day. But I had a flat tire (fortunately I had a good spare tire) and took my car to a repair shop that happened to be near the Post Office. After getting a new tire (it was a side puncture, so the tire couldn't be fixed), and some other car work that I needed anyway, I decided to check my PO Box while I was in the area.

There was actually a tire repair shop down the street from where I had the flat, but they were booked up all day with appointments, and the next nearest store (of this tire store chain that I like) was near my Post Office.

While I was changing the flat tire, and lifting five boxes of the Book of Mormon out of my trunk so I could get to the spare tire underneath them, I realized that this event was going to put me on a path that I would not otherwise have been on that day. I started to think "Aha. Something interesting is going to happen."

Daily Recap: Urdu followup, Russian-Turkish, Igbo, Punjabi. Fri, Aug 31, 2007.

08/31/2007. Journal Entry. I went back to the restuarant where I had supper Tuesday, where the manager had accepted Urdu and English copies of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet. (The church is currently out of the Urdu Book of Mormon.) I had told her I'd bring back an Urdu Bible. So I took one over, and had lunch there today. She accepted it and an English Bible. I gave her an NIV (New International Version) English Bible, from the International Bible Society.

875. After eating, I went to a discount store near there to buy another pair of pants that they had on sale, but they were out of my size. I bought some other stuff I needed, and when I was checking out, there were two young ladies in line behind me speaking a foreign language in what sounded like an Eastern European accent. After checking out, I loitered near the door, and after they paid, I asked what languages they spoke. One said Russian and Turkish. They accepted my offer of Russian and Turkish books from church, and I asked them to wait there while I went to the car to retrieve them.

They didn't wait long, because by the time I got the books out of the car, they were already in the parking lot, but they were coming towards me anyway. They cheerfully accepted the books, and also eagerly accepted the English copy too.

876. Igbo-speaking Nigerian man at Post Office. One of his friends had given him an English copy of the Book of Mormon, but he left the book back home in Nigeria. He gratefully and enthusiastically accepted the Igbo and English copies I gave him.

877. Clerk at convenience store. Punjabi and English copies of Gospel Fundamentals.

Wolof at an office. Wed, Jul 11, 2007.

07/11/2007. 846. I stopped by a local office to conduct some business. I had previously telephoned that office, and knew from talking to the receptionist that she was from Senegal, and that she spoke English, French, and Wolof.

I needed to see someone else in the office, but since I knew I'd also be dealing with the receptionist, I took in Wolof and English copies of Gospel Fundamentals, as well as a couple copies of the Book of Mormon in foreign languages.

In the course of speaking with the other person in the office, I gave a very brief explanation of my foreign language book placement project. The receptionist was very interested when she learned I had something in Wolof, and she accepted both the Wolof and the English Gospel Fundamentals.

Yoruba declined at Post Office. Thu, May 31, 2007.

05/31/2007. 828. I was at a Post Office and met up with a man from Nigeria on the way out. It was a fortuitous meeting, as I did nothing to create the encounter. I struck up a conversation by asking where he was from, and what languages he spoke, then offered him a Yoruba language Sunday school manual from the church. His next question was what church. When I said the name of the church, he indicated both verbally and with his body English that he was not interested. I didn't have the presence of mind to offer him a small sized pass-along card that I had in my wallet.

Missed opportunity at Post Office. Mon, Jan 8, 2007.

01/08/2007. There was a white-haired caucasian man at the Post Office. He entered and exited at the same time I did. He looked in his late 50's or early 60's. The Spirit indicated to me to initiate contact and say something, an opening line even came to mind, but I disobeyed. I chickened out. Ack.

Missed op at Post Office. Wed, Nov 15, 2006.

11/15/2006. Missed opportunity. I left the Post Office, got in my car and started to back out. The driver of the car next to mine then got out of his car to go inside. It appeared to me that he was from Africa, but I was already backing out. We made eye contact. He might have been someone I met before. I could have gone the six feet back into my parking spot and caught up with him, but didn't. I was afraid that going back would have made it look too contrived.

Missed opportunity at Post Office. Mon, Aug 28, 2006.

08/28/2006. I pulled into a parking space at the Post Office and two Asian men crossed in front of me. As I got out of the car, I considered approaching them, but they had walked about 10 feet away. As I hesitated trying to decide, the moment was lost and they had walked away. I could have caught up with them without it looking too awkward if I had not hesitated.

Moment #508. Indonesian at Post Office. Tue, Jan 17, 2006

01/17/2006. I stopped at the Post Office on the way to the gym in order to check mail and mail out a package. In my PO Box were some copies of the February 2006 Liahona in several languages. I then got in line to mail out my package.

It's happened before, so I wondered "Will I meet someone who speaks one of these languages?"

There was an Asian-looking man at the counter in the inner lobby. The line was long, so I was standing in the outer lobby. After that man was finished at the counter, he walked by me and I politely got his attention and asked what languages he spoke? He was polite and humble. He said he spoke Indonesian. I said I thought he might have spoken Chinese, and said I was going to offer him a free magazine, and showed him the Chinese Liahona.

I forget how we finished our brief conversation, but we said goodbye and he continued on his way.

I forget at what point I remembered I had an Indonesian Book of Mormon in the car. I think it occurred to me while we were talking, but I wasn't fast or smooth enough to mentally shift gears from Chinese to Indonesian. I was expecting the Lord to make it too easy.

I turned around, and the man was still at a counter in the outer lobby. I came to my senses and realized I could still offer him the Indonesian book. Giving out a Book of Mormon is worth more than losing my place in line.

I got out of line, walked over to the man, and struck up a conversation again. I looked kind of scruffy in my sweats and uncombed hair. There were other people in the lobby noticing us but I didn't care.

I told the man I had a book in Indonesian in my car, that it was from my church, that it was free, and I wanted to give it to him. He seemed a little reluctant, but it was more from surprise that someone wanted to give him a free book. He was a very humble man, and not reluctant to converse, but I was just presenting him with a situation he was not familiar with.

I asked if I could just show it to him, and he indicated it was okay. I asked him to wait in the lobby, and would get it. I retrieved the Indonesian and an English Book of Mormon from my car. He was still at the same spot, and I presented it to him. He was genuinely interested, and probably wanted to chit-chat for longer than I was willing to. He said he's been in the United States for about 30 years, that he was retired, and hasn't read anything in Indonesian for a long time.

He was still surprised at the new situation I had presented him, but he was genuinely grateful, and looked at a couple passages in the Indonesian Book of Mormon almost wistfully. It was more than a merely flip through.

I also presented the English copy, and opened both books to 1 Nephi 1:1, to show him they are parallel, hoping that he would read them together, and hoping it would generate interest.

We shook hands and I then got back in line in the inner lobby.

Moment #73. Hindi/Swahili at Post Office. Oct 14, 2004.

10/14/2004. Interesting coincidence with a friend of a previous contact.

I got my PO box mail, and tore up the junk mail at the counter near the front door.

A young adult man came to the counter and put a box in the waste basket. He looked Indian (from India). We made eye contact, so I asked "Do you speak any foreign languages?" He said Hindi. I said I had a book in Hindi, called the Book of Mormon, in my car, and would like to give it to him. I asked if he'd like to see it, and he said yes. He followed me to the parking lot, and I retrieved a Hindi Book of Mormon from my trunk.

As I removed it from the plastic bag, he saw my other box marked "African." He asked if I had African languages too. I said sure, what are you interested in? He said Swahili. I handed the Hindi book to him, and took out the Swahili Book of Mormon. He said he grew up in East Africa.

A light bulb went off over my head, and I told him that just last week I gave a Swahili Book of Mormon to another Indian man from East Africa (Moment #61 on Oct 4th). I described the previous man to him, and said he drove a white Cadillac, and I asked if he knew him. This man said "I know him as my uncle."

Small world. Both encounters were on Indy's West side, just a few miles and 10 days apart. But, is this really a coincidence?

I also gave him an English copy. I mentioned that my phone number and other information was in the books in case he wanted to learn more. We shook hands and departed.