Hindi, Tagalog and Tongan at Stake Conference. Sun, Feb 7, 2010.

02/07/2010. Journal Entry. (These were to members, so I don't number them along with other contacts.) While walking from the parking lot to the auditorium where Stake Conference was going to be held, I met two sister missionaries. I asked where they were from. One said Hawaii, and the other Texas. We chatted a bit on the way in.

Inside, while a friend and I were standing looking for people from our ward to talk to, we again encountered the sister missionaries, and continued conversing. The sister from Hawaii was originally from Tonga and spoke Tongan. She's in our mission sort of "on loan" from the Temple Square Mission. Sister missionaries from the Temple Square mission go out to "regular" missions for a couple months to get some of the "regular" mission experience.

She didn't have a Tongan Book of Mormon, and she agreed to receive one. I suggested she might meet someone who is Tongan.

I asked her companion where her family was originally from, and she said her mother was from the Philippines and her father was Eastern Indian. She didn't speak any of those languages except for a few words, but she agreed to receive a couple copies of the Book of Mormon in Tagalog and Hindi.

We had arrived early enough that I had time to go out to my car and retrieve those copies and give them to the sisters. They were excited about them, and I told them the story of meeting the Filipina member of the church at a Chinese restaurant in Tennessee last November, (#1206).

Road trip. Fri, Nov 20, 2009.

Road trip to Florida.

11/20/2009. 1204. I need to take better notes, or remember to use my mp3 recorder. I was in either Kentucky or Tennessee. I think I was inspired to take a certain exit, and go down the road for a while. After driving a few minutes, there was a yard sale going on, and I felt inspired to stop there. I bought some trinket. I offered a Joy to the World DVD and a Mr. Krueger's Christmas DVD to the two gentlemen there. I described them as Christmas videos from the Mormon church, so that they knew the source. They were just regular English-speaking Caucasian-American guys.

11/20/2009. 1205. At the next exit or shortly thereafter, I was prompted of the Spirit to take that exit and go to a particulat gas station. I bought some gas and something inside, like a beverage. Again, no obvious speakers of foreign languages. To the owner/cashier, I offered a Joy to the World DVD, describing it as a Christmas DVD or Nativity DVD with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and he accepted it.

11/20/2009. 1206. Around 3:15 pm, I saw a sign for a Chinese restaurant. It was one of the offical Interstate signs that shows the businesses for Food - Gas - Lodging at that exit. The Spirit indicated I should go to the Chinese restaurant featured on the sign. So It took that exit and drove the 2 miles to the restaurant.

The cashier/owner looked bright/shiny, so I figured she was my "intended contact." But while I was waiting for my food, and then eating, I also saw a lady who looked like she was from the Philippines. The Filipina lady ordered, left, and then came back later for her food. As she was leaving the second time, I asker her, in Tagalog, if she spoke Tagalog. She said "yes" in English. I offered her a free book in Tagalog from my church. I said it was "the Book of Mormon" and asked if she had heard about it. She said "Yes, I'm a member." But she didn't have a Tagalog copy, and she was willing to accept one. She also spoke Waray, and was willing to accept a Waray copy too.

I forget now if I had paid already by that time, but I had left enough "stuff" at my table to indicate that I'd be back if I hadn't paid, and we both went outside to get the books. It turned out she had parked next to my car anyway.

She asked if I was a missionary or ward missionary. I told her that this was her miracle, that I was from Indiana, headed to Florida on the Interstate, and the only reason I was there was due to a spiritual prompting to go to that restaurant when I saw the sign for it on the road.

She said she hadn't been to church since her mother died, and I replied that Heavenly Father must be looking out for her to send someone to meet her like that. She also accepted a "Together Forever" DVD. I suggested she go see her bishop or branch president and tell him what just happened.

By meeting another customer like that, it made me think that the two previously inspired stops may have been "timing loops" to keep me busy so that I arrived at the restaurant at just the right time to meet her.

1207. I went back in and finished my meal. When the cashier/owner took a breather, I offered her a Chinese Book of Mormon along with an English copy and a DVD, which she accepted.

11/20/2009. Later that evening, going through Atlanta during rush hour, I was in the wrong lane, and twice took wrong turns that delayed me.

11/20/2009. Follow-up. In Georgia, just south of Atlanta, I saw a Texaco gas station sign just beore an exit and I felt prompted to go there. When I got there, I realized it was the same place I had been prompted to stop at almost 2 years ago. I asked the cashier if he still had the books I had given him, and he said he gave them to someone else. I asked if he wanted more, and he said okay, so I gave him Urdu and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and Pashto and English copies of Gospel Fundamentals.

11/20/2009. 1208. At the same gas station, standing next to me in line was a man who seemed to be from Africa. I asked him where he was from, and he said Nigeria. He spoke Igbo, so I offered him an Igbo and an English Book of Mormon and he accepted. We talked for several minutes outside, and I realized I might have had an Igbo Bible in my car, so I asked him if he had one, and he said no. I looked for it, and found it, and offered it to him, and he accepted it. He was driving a very expensive car, so I said that instead of asking him to pay for it, I would like him to "pay it forward" and help someone else out, and it would eventually get back to me. He gave me his business card.

11/20/2009. 1209. I was so excited at that encounter with another customer, that I got back on the Interstate going wrong way. It occured to me that the wrong turns in Atlanta had served as "timing loops" again for this encounter with another customer.

I didn't realize I was going the wrong direction for about 10 miles. I got off the Interstate at next exit after I realized my mistake, and felt prompted to go to one of the gas stations there. I saw a guy dumpster-diving in the trash cans at the gas station and pulling out styrofoam clamshells with left-over food. I gave him some fresh fruit and bread that I had in the car, and encouraged him not to eat from trash cans as he could get sick.

I went inside and purchased something, and realized one of the cashiers was foreign-born. He was from Nigeria and accepted Igbo and English copies of the Book of Mormon. Again, an absent-minded mistake of going the wrong way led to another opportunity. But, due to the timing needed, I had to meet the guy at the Texaco first. What I thought were stupid mistakes actually generated more opportunities.

11/20/2009. 1210. I forget if this was prompted or not, but I got off at another exit and went to a Chinese restaurant. The owners accepted Chinese and English of the Book of Mormon, and an employee accepted Spanish and English copies of the Book of Mormon. I just had an egg roll.

11/20/2009. 1211. Next to the Chinese restaurant was a convenience store. I bought something, and the cashier accepted a Hindi Book of Mormon and Hindi Liahona.

I then went to a Taco Bell or something like that across the road. I thought that might have been inspired, but I did not recognize any opportunities. It's possible that I was supposed to just talk to English speakers.

11/20/2009. 1212. At the motel I stayed at that night, the night clerk accepted a Hindi and an English Book of Mormon.

Chinese, Tagalog, Ilokano at baptism. Sat, May 9, 2009

05/09/2009. Books to Missionaries. Our ward had a baptism of a young married couple. Three sister missionaries from a neighboring ward attended. While the new members were getting dressed two of the visiting sister missionaries bore their testimonies. One of them said she was from China. The other didn't say where she was from, but by her accent I guessed the Philippines.

After the baptism service, I went out to my car and got some Chinese material to give to the one from China, three copies of the simplfied script Chinese Book of Mormon, and one traditional script, two issues of the Chinese Liahona, a Chinese/English bilingual New Testament, a "Finding Happiness" DVD, and a couple English copies of the Book of Mormon. I gave them to her, and told them about my success in placing material at Chinese restaurants. I asked the other sister missionary if she spoke Tagalog and she said yes. She also spoke Ilokano. So I went out to the car and brought back in two copies of the Tagalog Book of Mormon, an Ilokano copy, and two copies of Tagalog Liahonas, and another English Book of Mormon or two.

I told her about the Filipino restaurant in town, and she was excited about that, but it's pretty far from her ward.

Anyway, I told the sisters that I was pretty confident that now that they are "armed" with language matierial, they'll meet people who speak their languages.

Tagalog at store. Tue, Jan 20, 2009.

01/20/2009. 1106. I was volunteering (okay, it was one of those "calling/assignment" kind of things) at one of the church facilities in town, and wanted to stop at a grocery store and buy some sale items before I got back on the Interstate to go home.

In the same shopping center as the grocery was another kind of store, which I've been to before, but I don't usually go to. There's nothing particularly ethnic or immigrant about this other store, its employees or the customers. But the idea of going to this other one before going grocery shoppping came to mind. It wasn't an obvious spiritual prompting or impression, but the desire to go there felt like it was placed in me from an external source, so I took the gamble and went there to browse.

(One hallmark of a legitimate spiritual communication is that it's prompting you to do something that you aren't particular interested or anxious to do. If the idea is for something that you personally want to do, it's easy to "gin up" a prompting for it, and get confused as to whether it's from the Spirit or is your own idea.)

As I walked around, I heard an employee talking on the phone in a foreign language, so I went back to buy something from her station. She was from the Philippines and spoke Tagalog. I ended up offering her a DVD from church that has an audio track in Tagalog, "Together Forever." I think I described it as being about families, and how some husbands work too much. She agreed to receive it.

I asked, and she said it was okay to give it to her there at work. So I put my purchase down on a table, and went out to my car. I brought back a copy of "Together Forever" and "Our Heavenly Father's Plan". She had said something that made me think that one would be appropriate too, and it also has a Tagalog audio track.

She was genuinely enthusiastic to see and receive them. She said she'd watch at least one of them when she got home from work that night.

Tagalog at gas station. Sat, Dec 27, 2008.

12/27/2008. 1103. I was on my way to make a purchase at an electronics store, when the Spirit guided me to a gas station along the way. I went in and bought a newspaper. The cashier looked Filipina and spoke with a Philippines accent. She spoke Tagalog as well as English. I offered, and she accepted a "Together Forever" DVD that has a Tagalog audio track, and a Tagalog Book of Mormon.

I forgot to journal this right away, so I forget if she accepted the English Book of Mormon, but I'm thinking she did not.

Tagalog and Waray at store. Thu, Nov 29, 2007.

11/29/2007. 923. The cashier was from the Philippines and spoke Tagalog. I offered her a couple of Tagalog Liahona magazines, and she accepted, so I retrieved those from my car. We chit-chatted some more, and I found out she also spoke Waray, so I offered her a Waray Book of Mormon, which she accepted. And she accepted the English edition too. I had those in the car too.

Tagalog and Spanish at Chinese restaurant. Thu, Nov 15, 2007.

11/15/2007. 916. I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant on my way home from an appointment. I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting at the next table over. He grew up here, but was originally from the Philippines and spoke Tagalog. I ended up giving him a couple issues of the Tagalog Liahona magazine, and the "Together Forever" DVD (that has a Tagalog audio track) from my car.

---

11/15/2007. 917. I went back in to finish up lunch, and read a Spanish Liahona magazine. There was a word in Spanish that I wasn't familiar with. There was an Hispanic man sitting at the table on the other side, who was waiting for his order. I asked him what the word meant, but he didn't know. I showed him the magazine so he could read it in context. He seemed a little interested in the magazine, so I offered it to him and he accepted it. I also offered him a "Together Forever" DVD that I had in my Chinese bag.

Tagalog New Testaments to RMs at church. Sun, Jun 3, 2007.

06/03/2007. Journal Entry. There are a bunch of 20-something members who have moved into the ward for the summer for their door-to-door sales jobs. Most are married, but some are single. Two of them had served their mission in the Philippines, so I've been giving them material in Tagalog and other Filipino languages. Today I gave them each two copies of a paperback Tagalog New Testament, from International Bible Society.

Tagalog Liahonas to RMs at church. Sun, May 27, 2007

05/27/2007. Journal Entry. Last week I had given some Filipino language copies of the Book of Mormon to a couple of guys at church, who are in town working a summer job. They had both served in the Philippines.

This week, I gave them some Tagalog copies of the Liahona magazine, and a couple of corresponding English issues. One of them immediately started pouring over one of the Tagalog issues.

I suggested to them that if they keep the Filipino language copies of the Book of Mormon and the Liahona in their cars, they'll likely run into some people from the Philippines.

English, Tagalog, Bikolano, Ilokano to RM's at church. Sun, May 20, 2007.

05/20/2007. Journal Entry. A bunch of 20-something members have moved to town for summer sales jobs, and are attending our ward. Two of them are RM's who served in the Philipines. One's mission language was Tagalog, and the other Bikolano. Last week I gave them the names/addresses of a couple of Filipino owned stores/markets in town, and said I'd get them some Filipino Books of Mormon to give out if/when they encounter any Filipinos.

Today, I gave the one a Bikolano, a Tagalog, and two English Books of Mormon, and an English KJV Bible. I gave the other a Tagalog, and two English Books of Mormon, and an English KJV Bible. The latter said he met someone in the past week who spoke Ilokano. I asked if he could find them again when he's back in that neighborhood. He said yes, so I went out to the car and retrieved an Ilokano Book of Mormon along with another English copy from the car and gave them to him.

Tagalog - Ilokano at dinner. Tue, Dec 12, 2006.

12/12/2006. 769. I was at a dinner and presentation for a group that promotes civic leadership among immigrant communities from a certain part of the world. I had met several of the people before at a festival earlier this year.

One of the ladies told me her mother had given her a Tagalog Book of Mormon (that she had received from me), and this lady wanted another one, so she could give it back to her mother. I went out to the car and got her a Tagalog copy along with two English copies so she and her mother could both have a set. She then mentioned an Ilokano-speaking friend who just recently came to the states and who could use a set, so I retrieved an Ilokano/English pair from the car.

I belong to two ethnic associations, and one regional association. I've been to several events. I didn't plan to make, and didn't make any pitches or presentations tonight, but the church did come up in conversation. I did give the name and phone number of a Mandarin-speaking brother at church, who is teaching a Sunday School class in Mandarin to investigators, to a Chinese couple sitting next to me. That was the most overt thing I did.

It was a cool time. I enjoyed meeting civic-minded, intelligent, uplifting, positive and energetic people from all over the world. And the food was great.

Road Trip, Sat-Sun, Sep 2-3, 2006.

09/02/2006. I took a weekend trip to a town in Illinois.

09/02/2006. 700. On the road, at a gas station to get some pop, I met a Korean lady. She declined to receive a Korean Book of Mormon.

09/02/2006. 701. First stop for gas. I gave one of the owners Hindi and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and Punjabi and English copies of Gospel Fundamentals. He was mildly pleased, not overly enthusiastic, but definitely on the positive side of the scale.

09/02/2006. 702. At the next gas station where I stopped for pop, the cashier declined to receive an Urdu Book of Mormon.

09/02/2006. 703. At another gas stop, some young Koreans declined the Korean Book of Mormon. But the young man cut me off when he misunderstood what my intention was. That station was out of gas. So when I went to the next nearest gas station, and they were also there, but I blew an opportunity to approach them again. I was afraid of trying to correct his misunderstanding. The guilty feeling for not approaching the second time let me know that it was worse to let the misunderstanding continue than try to repair it.

09/02/2006. Missed oppotunity: I stopped in one city in Illinois to shop, and saw a lady with children in the store. She was obviously from India, but I failed to seek an opportunity to speak.

09/02/2006. 704. At another gas station, for soda this time, the cashier enthusiastically accepted Hindi and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and Punjabi and English copies of Gospel Fundamentals. He was very pleased to received them. This was an inspired visit, and felt prompted to take that exit.

09/02/2006. 705. When I got to my destination, and got off the interstate, I felt prompted to stop at one of the gas stations along the main crossroad. Ahead of me in line was a woman who spoke Urdu and she accepted Urdu and English copies of the Book of Mormon. I retrieved them from my car, and met up with her outside before she got on her bus to continue on her trip.

09/02/2006. Missed Opportunity: I stopped at another gas station for something on the way to lunch. A woman came in and pre-paid for gasoline. She spoke with an accent, but I blew my chance to start a conversation. It was doable, but I wasn't quick enough.

09/02/2006. 706. I had lunch at a Thai restaurant, and they accepted copies of the Book of Mormon in Thai and English, and a couple copies of the Thai Liahona. I had looked up this place on the Internet before the trip.

09/02/2006. 707. I gave a Gujerati Bible from the International Bible Society to the owners of the motel I stayed at.

09/02/2006. 708. On the way to my dinner date, I felt prompted to go exploring in a shopping center as I passed by. I found a Filipino market there, and went in to buy some snacks. The owner and three customers accepted copies of the Book of Mormon in various languages that they spoke. A) The owner accepted English, Tagalog, and Hiligaynon copies of the Book of Mormon, and the "To This End Was I Born" DVD. B) A male customer accepted Tagalog and English copies of the Book of Mormon. C) A female customer accepted Tagalog, Cebuano, and English copies of the Book of Mormon. D) Another female customer accepted Tagalog and English copies of the Book of Mormon.

09/02/2006. 709. A single lady who is one of the church singles representatives in that stake, and one of her friends, met me for supper at a Chinese restaurant. She picked out the restaurant, but it was on my list that I compiled from www.anywho.com.

We gave Chinese and English copies of the Book of Mormon to our waitress. She also accepted a Chinese copy of the Liahona, and a bilingual Chinese/English New Testament from the International Bible Society. Another waitress who spoke Korean and Chinese and English accepted copies of the Book of Mormon in Korean, Chinese, and English, and a Korean Liahona. We also gave our waitress a bilingual Korean/English Bible to give to the Korean lady. I gave one of the sisters who ate dinner with me a Japanese Book of Mormon to take to work.

I've had so much success meeting immigrants at laundromats, I took some laundry with me on the trip. My dinner date told me where a nearby laundromat was, in a section of town that had a lot of immigrants.

09/02/2006. 710. On my way there, I stopped at a Chinese market, bought some more snacks. The cashier there accepted Chinese and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and a couple DVD's.

09/02/2006. 711. At the laundromat I met a couple from India and they accepted Telugu and English copies of the Book of Mormon. I was out of Hindi Books of Mormon by then, otherwise I would have offered him Hindi too.

09/02/2006. 712. While at the laundromat, I left my English Ensign on a table while I put my clothes in a dryer. A man was looking through it when I got back. I asked if he'd like a free copy in Spanish, and he said yes. So I went out to the car and gave him a Spanish Liahona magazine just before he left. He politely declined my offer of a Spanish Book of Mormon.

09/02/2006. 713. Right after I handed him the Spanish Liahona and walked back in to the laundromat, I met another couple from India and they accepted Kannada and English copies of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet.

09/02/2006. 714. After doing laundry, I went next door to the Kroger grocery store to buy some fruit to eat Sunday. While in the check-out lane, two African-looking couples came in, speaking French. I retrieved French and English copies of the Book of Mormon, and a DVD from my car, and went back in. They were getting ready to check out, and I talked with them a bit. Among their group, they also spoke Lingala, Swahili, and Tshiluba, so I went back out and got another French, and some Lingala copies of the Book of Mormon, and a Swahili copy, plus a Tshiluba copy of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet. They ended up accepting 2 French, an English, and I think at least one Lingala copy, and one Swahili copy.

-----------------------

09/03/2006. Sunday. I visited one of the local wards in that town. I mentioned a couple book placements to their Bishop before the meetings, and he said to write them down on slips of paper to be taped up on a drawing of a temple that was on display in the foyer. So I grabbed some slips and wrote down summaries before the meeting, and finished them up after sacrament was over.

It was Fast and Testimony meeting. There was a time when no one got up to say anything for at about a minute, and I felt prompted by the Spirit to get up. On my way to the lecturn I asked the Bishop if it was okay for a visitor to speak, and he said yes. I gave very brief descriptions of the above encounters. There were 15 in total. The congregation chuckled when I mentioned I brought my laundry. My encounters were also discussed a bit in the combined Elders Quorum and HP group meeting. And after the meetings, one of the brothers bought a Simplified Chinese Book of Mormon from me.

I also visited the afternoon ward in that building, and gave a couple of the above addresses to the elders (missionaries) asking them to follow-up at the Philippines store and the Chinese restaurant, but to do so as customers, as the people didn't request missionaries. I suggested they shop at the store, and eat lunch at the restaurant, and just ask if they were the ones who received a Book of Mormon and see if they had any questions.

09/03/2005. 715. German declined. After church I stopped at a park before getting on the Interstate for the trip back home. I took a walk on the path around the park. Going the other way were three 20-something ladies speaking a foreign language. I asked what language they were speaking, and one said German. I offered them the German Book of Mormon. The speaker politely declined. I took her answer as being for the group, but afterwards it occurred to me that I should have asked the other two also.

09/03/2006. Journal entry. This was weird, but it resulted in a follow-up. On the road home, I took an exit that I thought was inspired, and bought some bottled water and something else at the nearest gas station. Nothing happened at the gas station. Leaving the gas station, I thought I was prompted to turn away from the Interstate and go the other way. At the next intersection, I thought I was prompted to turn right and take a road that paralleled the Interestate. I thought my imagination was running away with me, but the worst case scenario would be that was going to "go exploring." The road took me to the next little town, and then there was a sign pointing to the Interstate, so I turned there. And when I got to the Interstate, I realized I was at the gas station I visited in # 704. So I bought some pop for the road, and greeted the man I had met yesterday. I'm not sure what to make of it.

09/03/2006. 716. On the road home, I stopped at a place and offered an Hispanic lady a Spanish Bible and Spanish Book of Mormon which she accepted. Another lady with her declined.

Moment #644. Tagalog-Ilokano at laundromat parking lot. Sat, Jul 8, 2006.

07/08/2006. As described in the previous entry, I was at the laundromat. I made a trip out to my car to put some stuff away, and a young couple exited about the same time I did and headed towards their car which was parked right next to mine. At an appropriate moment, I struck up a conversation by asking them if they spoke any foreign languages. The man said yes, so I asked where they were from. He said the Philippines. I asked if they spoke Tagalog and they said yes. I asked if they spoke any other languages, and he said Ilokano.

They were boyfriend and girlfriend, a cute young couple that looked like they would fit in well at our YSA branch. I ended up giving them Tagalog, Ilokano and English Books of Mormon, and a "Together Forever" DVD that has a Tagalog track. I also gave them wwo issues of the Tagalog Liahona, and I invited to YSA the branch.

Moments #578-581. Booth at a Multi-cultural Festival. Sat, May 13, 2006.

05/13/2006. Today I exhibited my collection of 104 translations of the Book of Mormon at a multi-cultural festival at one of the local malls. The deal with the sponsoring organization was that I could exhibit and offer materials, but not actively proselyte.

I applied to be an exhibitor in my own name, and not as a representative of the church.

I believe that a book that has 104 world-language translations fits the concept of multi-cultural very well.

I didn't plan ahead very well, and didn't enlist anyone else with a truck or van to help transport the books. There was another person I could have contacted, but I procrastinated and didn't call him.

I ended up taking two complete sets of 104. Plus several more copies of the more popular translations for which I know there are speakers in town.

I haven't done anything like this since July 2004. It's hard to plan for because you don't know how many people will show up, or what languages will be represented among the attendees. I also took about 15 translations of the Bible. It's better to have extras than not enough, so I basically took almost everything I had in stock. It was about 30 boxes.

I got up early and rented a Uhaul truck, left my car at the Uhaul place, drove home, loaded up the 30 boxes and took them to the mall and set up on my two assigned tables. I had to make about 5 trips with the dolly. I left about 4 boxes in the truck since they were extras. I also enlisted the help of three "mall walkers" to carry a box or two each. I figured they were there to get exercise, and I was offering them a chance to be Good Samaritans while getting their exercise.

There were two basic groups of exhibitors. Public schools and non-school groups. The non-school groups included vendors, social organizations, authors, clubs, associations, fraternities, and some other non-profits.

One thing I needed but didn't have was signage on a tripod or easel to draw attention to the display. I was on the 3rd row of tables in from the mall's main traffic flow, so unless someone actually walked down my aisle, they couldn't tell what I had.

I did get several visitors to the tables, and was also able to strike up conversations with other exhibitors.

Moment #578. An English Book of Mormon to an English-only speaking person.

Moment #579. An Indonesian Book of Mormon, plus 3 multi-lingual DVD's.

Moment #580. Tagalog/English and Hiligaynon/English pairs of the Book of Mormon, plus a Tagalog New Testament, and a Samarenyo Bible.

Moment #581. Thai Book of Mormon, Thai Liahona, and Thai/English bilingual New Testament.

There were also some people who accepted just DVD's.
- 2 DVD's to an English-speaking person (Finding Faith in Christ, and To This End was I born).
- 1 Together Forever DVD to a lady who spoke English and Spanish.
- 3 DVD's to another English-speaking lady (Heavenly Father's Plan, Finding Faith in Christ, and Together Forever).

When the event was over, I packed up and loaded the boxes back in the truck. (I didn't have to unpack all the boxes at the exhibit, but had kept some hidden under the tables in case they were needed.) On my way out with the last trip, I met the Thai lady.

I drove home, unloaded the 30 boxes, drove to the Uhaul, checked out, got my car, and drove home. Took a shower, and went to church for a wedding reception for some friends.

I decided not to load all the "standard" books back into the car as I was tired. They were still separated as my "car boxes" as opposed to "home inventory boxes". But I figured it was just going to be for a few hours and I would risk it.

Then Murphy's law happened. I did need them after all. Twice. After the reception, I stopped at the gas station near the church, and recharged my pre-paid gas card (you get a 4% discount that way, almost 12 cents/gallon now). However, their gas was 10 cents a gallon more expensive than another station of the same brand on my way home. So I didn't buy gas there. But I did see two men who looked like African immigrants. There was an opportunity to say something to one of them outside the gas station, but I didn't take advantage of it. I had some pass-along cards in the car, but that was all, and I didn't think of them at the time.

So I drove home, and stopped at the other station on the way where the gas was 10 cents/gallon cheaper. As I was filling up, an African-looking man with an accent asked me for directions. Argh! I still didn't remember I had pass-along cards, but I gave him one of my business cards, and said I'd get him a New Testament and another book from my church in one of the languages he spoke.

Moment #492. Tagalog/Cebuano. Tues, Nov 22, 2005.

11/22/2005. A monthly errand took me past one of my favorite Asian stores, and I needed some peanut oil for stir fry. The cashier looked Filipina, but I hadn't met her before. I asked if she was the daughter of the other lady who owned or ran the store. She said no, just a friend.

I asked her, in Tagalog, if she spoke Tagalog, and she said yes. I explained that I had learned a couple phrases from a CD. We chit chatted a bit, and I got around to offering her a free Book of Mormon in Tagalog. She said okay, but that she was from Cebu, and that her dialect was Cebuano. I said I had a copy in Cebuano too, and asked if it was okay if I brought them in. She said sure.

So I brought in a Tagalog, a Cebuano, and an English Book of Mormon, along with a multi-lingual DVD of Together Forever, that has a Taglog track. She said they didn't have a DVD player, but with the cost of them down to $35, I figured they'd get one soon.

She wasn't quite as excited as the owner of the store was the last time I was there, but she was happy to receive the material, and not the least bit reluctant.

Book of Mormon Moment #448. Tagalog. Wed, Oct 19, 2005.

10/19/2005. I stopped at a nearby Fed-Ex Kinko's copy center to check something at a public internet terminal. Upon leaving, there was a man in the parking lot getting out of his car, and he seemed to be African, but I did not make an approach. There was only a split second as he was about to go inside and I was headed in the opposite direction.

Anyway, I stopped at a gas station on the way home for some soda. I guess I didn't get enough caffeine at lunch.

I stopped and there were two clerks. One looked Asian, and I thought he could be Thai. But there was a lot of people so I got into the other line.

After I checked out and paid, there was a lot less people, so I got back in the line for the Asian guy, and when it was my turn with him (there were no other people behind me, so I didn't delay anyone) I asked if he was Thai. Oops, wrong. He was Filipino, and spoke Tagalog. I offered a free Book of Mormon, from my church, in Tagalog. He was pleasantly surprised and eagerly said yes. So I retrieved a Tagalog and English copy from the car, and presented them to him. Again, no one else was in his line, so I didn't disrupt things. He was very happy to receive them, and I suggested he could call me or the other numbers in the books if he wanted more information.