Follow-up, Marathi NT, gas station. Mon, Jan 3, 2011.

01/03/2011. Follow-up. I've known this guy who works at a gas station for a few years. His gas station is just a few minutes from my home. I've given him material before, but I always thought he was Hindu. I always assumed it. Well, he finally specifically said something, and said he was Christian. Wow. What a reminder not to assume. His main language is Marathi, and second language is Hindi.

Anyway, I thought I had a Marathi Bible or New Testament, so I offered it, and he accepted. I didn't have it in the car, but I came back on this date to give him the Marathi New Testament.

He had actually came to visit our church during sacrament meeting yesterday, Sun, Jan 2, 2011. He couldn't stay for more Sunday School since he had to get to work.

Follow-up at restaurant. Thu, Sep 30, 2010.

09/30/2010. Journal entry. I went to a Chinese restaurant that I hadn't been to in a while. The same people worked there. I had given them material before, so I just took in a Chinese Liahona magazine. The waitress/owner recognized me. As I put the magazine and my newspaper on the counter to reach for my wallet to pay, she noticed the magazine and said something about it, so I just offered it to her right there. It look like she was eager to receive it. We chatted a little bit, and as usual, the food was pretty good.

She received a Book of Mormon. Then she died...

3 weeks later. She was only 62. In my blog entry, I described her as "... a smiley person, [who] gave off a good vibe, kind of like a halo." That was May 29, 2009. She died unexpectedly in June 2009.

We had exchanged cards. I still have it on my desk. I recently rediscovered it while rummaging. I decided to Google her name to see if she had done anything online. I was startled to find her obituary and two notices of her passing in local religious publications. She had been a minister/pastor for over 20 years, and had graduated from a local theological seminary.

During our encounter she said to me that she wanted to read the Book of Mormon, which essentially was a request for one.

My mind races with thoughts of possibilities, the idea of God's foreknowledge of all things, and how we must acknowledge His hand in all things.

So there she was, three weeks prior to her unforeseen passing, not only willing, but desiring to read the Book of Mormon (I don't think she told me that just to be polite, after all, she said it before I offered her one), and the Lord somehow arranged for her to meet someone who was willing to offer her one and deliver it on the spot.

Who? Little ol' me? But I'm nobody special! Though no specific spiritual promptings were involved on my end, the Lord surely had His hand in this little coincidental meeting. There the Lord was, getting ready to "call her home", and I was possibly her last contact with the church, or her last opportunity to get a Book of Mormon "in time."

Obviously, not everyone accepts the gospel in this life. So, over the years, I've often thought about what will happen in the post-mortal Spirit World with the people to whom I've given material. Will they remember it? If they ask the missionaries in the Spirit World "How come no one told me about this?" *   will the missionaries remind them of the material that I offered/gave them? Will reading the material (Book of Mormon, Gospel Principles, Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet, etc) in mortality help them in the Spirit World even if they didn't believe it here? (I think so.)

I suppose that some of them could be told "the Lord arranged for you to meet that guy so you could have something in writing about the restored fullness of the Gospel." I suppose that could serve to let someone know that the Lord knew about them individually, and sent (or arranged for) someone to meet them and give them a clue or hint.

I also suppose that some of them might even incredulously ask "That doofus? The LORD sent him?" To which the spirit-world missionaries might have to say: "Unfortunately, there just weren't enough LDS willing to share the gospel, so the Lord had to scrape the bottom of the barrel." They might even quote 1 Corinthians 1: 26-29

There aren't enough missionaries to contact all the people who the Lord wants contacted. Everyone needs to be some kind of missionary, or at least a "contacter."

----

* From the January 2009 Ensign, President Eyring's article:

Years ago I worked for a man in California. He hired me; he was kind to me; he seemed to regard me highly. I may have been the only Latter-day Saint he ever knew well. I don’t know all the reasons I found to wait for a better moment to talk with him about the gospel. I just remember my feeling of sorrow when I learned, after he had retired and I lived far away, that he and his wife had been killed in a late-night drive to their home in Carmel, California. He loved his wife. He loved his children. He had loved his parents. He loved his grandchildren, and he will love their children and will want to be with them forever.

Now, I don’t know how the crowds will be handled in the world to come. But I suppose that I will meet him, that he will look into my eyes, and that I will see in them the question: “Hal, you knew. Why didn’t you tell me?”

----

(Okay, I admit I made the title a bit sensational to draw people in. It's a common thing in the 'nacle, right?)

Follow up at restaurant, Tue, Jan 19, 2010.

01/19/2010. Journal entry. I had lunch with a guy I know from church at a local ethnic restaurant. We were going to go to lunch anyway, so I suggested this one near where he works. I had already placed a couple copies of the Book of Mormon there, so the follow-up was just some chit-chat with the owner when we paid.

Liahona magazine at restaurant. Tue, Nov 17, 2009

11/17/2009. Journal Entry. I had supper at an asian restaurant that I've been to before, but it's been a few years. I think I had given them a Book of Mormon before, so tonight I just offered an issue of the Liahona magazine. I had it on the table while I ate, and the waitress noticed it while refilling my water glass. I offered it to her and she readily accepted it. I forgot to include any contact information on the magazine. I still have some extra issues in that language so I'll likely follow up again with another edition, and try to remember to write some contact info on it

Marathi at gas station. Mon, Nov 16, 2009.

11/16/2009. Journal Entry. I was helping a friend with some computer stuff. I knew he spoke Hindi, and he had previously accepted a Hindi Book of Mormon, but I didn't know (or had forgotten) that he also spoke Marathi. He asked me for help in listening to Marathi music on his computer at work. When I realized that (or was reminded of it), I offered him a Marathi translation of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet, and he accepted it. I had one in the car so I was able to give it to him there, along with an English copy.

There is at least one state in India where the main language is Hindi (I don't know it off the top of my head), but most all the other states have their own language other than Hindi, and Hindi becomes their secondary language. So when you meet someone from India, and they speak another language in addition to Hindi, it's a good chance that that other language is actually their primary language, and Hindi (or English) is their secondary language.

I realize that many people may be accepting material from me as a matter of politeness. But I honestly believe that when foreign-born people accept something merely out of politeness, they will still keep it. And I realize that many people who read this will likely think: "So what's the point if they don't investigate the/your church?" But the material, a book, a pamphlet, a video, or the Book of Mormon, is like a seed that you never know when it will sprout. If you believe that the LDS church is what it claims to be, then you (should) know that the Lord can draw someone's attention to that material that they have on their shelf when they or someone else in their house is ready to move on it.

So I don't consider such things a waste. And even if they never read the material with interest, I can still visualize scenarios in some future world to come, wherein such people (in what the LDS call the Spirit World, awaiting a universal resurrection) will still find some comfort in knowing that the Lord arranged for someone, anyone, to give them at least a hint about God and Christ.

Vietnamese to missionaries. Sun, Jun 7, 2009.

06/07/2009. Journal entry. I gave a Vietnamese copy of the Book of Mormon to our ward's full-time missionaries to deliver to the man I met last Thursday while out jogging. I gave them the building address, and the apartment number. I wasn't sure on the apartment number, but if it's wrong, they shouldn't have to knock on more than four doors to find the family.

Korean, Spanish at Japanese restaurant. Wed, May 20, 2009.

05/20/2009. 1145. I had supper at a Japanese restaurant that I have been to several times already over the past two years. The Korean owner had already accepted various material before on previous trips. I still had plenty of past issues of the Korean Liahona, so I thought I'd offer the owner a couple more. The owner graciously accepted them.

I also took in a Spanish Liahona and an English Liahona for me to read while eating. One of the employees looked Hispanic, and I didn't remember seeing him before, so I went out to the car and brought back in a Spanish and an English Book of Mormon. I eventually offered him the Spanish Liahona and the two copies of the Book of Mormon, and he graciously accepted both. He had heard of the Book of Mormon, but didn't have one already.

Earlier in the evening as I decided what to do for supper, the thought of going there occurred to me, but I didn't want to, as Japanese restaurants can get pricey. (It's worth it, for good food, but still it's more than eating at home or a less-expensive place.) However, the impression persisted in spite of my desire for something else, so I followed it through and it turned out well.

Follow-up, X declined, Scouting: Wolof, Bambara. Sat May 9, 2009.

05/09/2009. Follow-up. I had lunch with a single sister from the neighboring stake. We ate at a restaurant that I've been to before, and I wanted to do a follow-up there. After we paid, I asked the owner if he had read any of the book that I had given his wife on my previous trip. I don't think he had, but they still had it on a shelf under the cashier stand. They had given the English copy away to another employee or friend, and kept the one in their language. The man agreed to receive another English copy.

We went out to my car and I obtained an English Book of Mormon and another one in their language. There was another man at the restaurant, who I think was either a vendor or a friend of the owner who had been talking to him, and I thought of offering the other one to him.

The owner accepted the English language one (follow-up). But the other man declined (1136) the one in his language.

On the way home, I saw a new place kind of like a flea market mall. (Scouting.) I stopped in and it was where vendors rent lockable booths. I wandered around and met a family from Senegal who spoke Wolof, and a man from Mali who spoke Bambara. I only had copies of the Book of Mormon in the car. But there's no Book of Mormon in those lanaguages. There are translations of "Gospel Fundamentals"; but I had taken the copies of "Gospel Fundamentals" out of the car to make room for passengers. So I'll have to go back next week.

Chinese at restaurant. Wed, Apr 8, 2009.

04/08/2009. Follow-up with a previous contact. I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant that I haven't been to in over a year. The owner had accepted a Chinese Book of Mormon, a Chinese Liahona and the "Finding Happiness" DVD. Today, the owner was making the rounds in the dining area, and noticed the Chinese Liahona on my table. We struck up a conversation, and I offered it to him and he flipped through it. He accepted it, but declined to receive another church DVD that has Mandarin and Cantonese audio tracks on it.

Follow-up with more Korean material. Fri, Feb 13, 2009.

02/13/2009. Journal Entry. I went to a meeting of a social club that I belong to. A guy I met last August was there. He read some of the articles in the Korean Liahona magazines that I gave him, and said that his beliefs were slightly different.

I told him about some church videos that have Korean audio tracks, and offered them, and he said he'd like to see them. I brought some in from my car, and he accepted two of them, Together Forever and Finding Happiness.

Friendshipping investigators. And Samoan, Thai to missionaries. Sun, Feb 1, 2009.

(Coincidences pile up.)

02/01/2009. Journal entry. I gave a ride to the investigator and his young-adult grand-daughter today. This was their seventh time at church. Between the meetings, I asked one of the sisters who's going to the Relief Society's "Enrichment" day to take the grand-daughter and her grand-mother to the event. The grand-mother doesn't speak English and doesn't get out of the house. So it should be exciting for her, and her grand-daughter will be along to translate.

Since there's a YSA (Young Single Adult) branch in town, our ward doesn't have any young singles who are near the grand-daughter's age. I asked her if she'd like to visit the Young Single Adult branch, and she said yes. (She's been to two of the YSA Family Home Evenings so far.) So I went to the YSA branch this afternoon (our ward meets in the morning), to find someone who could take her there.

And coolest of cool, there's a sister member of the YSA branch who lives in the same apartment complex as the investigator family!

So I got her name/number, and gave the investigator's address and phone number, and my name and number to her. I'll tell her (the investigator) who to expect next week if she still wants to go.

I also talked to the sister missionaries who work in the YSA branch (along with another ward that meets there) and told them the story, and to be on the look-out for her.

I also told the investigator (the grand-daughter) that I'd give her a ride to the YSA's FHE tomorrow, and the sister missionaries said they'd be there too.

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

02/01/2009. Journal entry. One of the sister missionaries at the YSA branch is from Samoa, and wants to meet local Samoans, so I gave her a Samoan Book of Mormon to give out when she meets any. They also asked for a Thai Book of Mormon since they are teaching a Thai family, so I gave them one, and also a Thai Liahona.

Ewe investigator to YSA FHE. Mon, Dec 22, 2008

12/22/2008. Follow-up. In order to take the 18 year old female investigator to the YSA (Young Single Adult) branch's Family Home Evening (FHE), I needed another member to chaperone to make it all proper. During the day, I telephoned and invited a 40-ish single member who lives in the same apartment complex as I do, to accompany me. She wasn't able to make it, but suggested her 18 year old daughter go, as her daughter has been bored lately. The daughter is still in high-school, and part of the YW (Young Women) program at our ward, and hasn't been to the YSA branch before.

The investigator lives just a few minutes from us, so I figured it should all be kosher. I would have preferred someone older to go with me, but as long as there were three of us it was cool, and it probably made the investigator feel better to have someone her own age to go with too.

I had some car problems before we started, so we got to the FHE late after the lesson portion, and they were just starting to set up for volleyball.

We walked in, and I introduced the member and the investigator to three of the branch members who were in the foyer. They all went into the gym ("cultural hall" in Mormon-speak), and I went over to the nearby gas station and bought newspaper, soda, and a sandwhich to nosh on and a newspaper to read in the chapel kitchen while they had fun playing volleyball.

Later on, on the ride home, the young member seemed to have gotten the most out of it, and her attitude seemed to have rejuvenated. The investigator seemed happy about the event, but she was pretty reserved, and was still probably overwhelmed just being in the US.

I gave the girls my cell phone for them to call home and tell their families that they were on their way home.

Investigators, Ewe. Sun, Dec 21, 2008

12/21/2008. Follow-up. The man for whom I printed an Ewe New Testament, and his grand-daughter came to church today. They came last week too, but I didn't make it to church last week. They seemed to enjoy the investigators' Sunday School class (Gospel Essentials) taught by one of the missionaries.

The grand-daughter is 18 so I invited her to the Family Home Evening at the YSA (Young Single Adult) branch for tomorrow night, hoping to find a chaperone to accompany us so I could give her a ride. She's been in the United States only a couple months, and hasn't made friends her own age yet, or enrolled in any school, so I figured it would be good for her to meet people her age in a nice setting.

They've also had at least one visit and gospel lesson presentation from the full-time missionaries who delivered the Ewe New Testament.

Next installment in the the story here.

Follow-up, Ewe. Fri, Dec 5, 2008.

12/05/2008. Follow-up. I received a phone call from a man with whom I spoke while in line at a Kroger grocery store over a year ago. I forget what all I gave him back then. On the phone, he said he was looking for an Ewe bible. I said I'd try to help him out, and get back with him. He gave me his name and address.

I found an Ewe New Testament online here as 27 PDF files. There does seem to be a print version in existence, but it was not available.

There is also a free audio Bible in Ewe, but the distributor wants you to install their special software in order to download it. I'm very skeptical of that, and don't want to install that kind of software out of fear it may contain a computer virus. You should not have to install special software in order to download an audio or MP3 file. Something's fishy there.

So I downloaded the PDF files. They are double-spaced, and not efficiently typeset, as they are intended for reading on a computer, not for printing out. Printing them out would be over 800 pages. Even duplexing (double-sided printing) would be 400 sheets of paper.

So I decided they needed to be "two up" and duplexed, which would reduce it to 200 sheets of paper. The paper would be held to be read in landscape mode, with 2 virtual pages on each side of the sheet, and printing on both sides of the sheet.

I first went to Staples, and they said they could not reformat it for me, that they could only print it as it was in the file. The best they could do would be double-sided printing, and get it down to 400 sheets.

Later, I decided to go to FedEx Kinko's and see if their printers were smart enough to be set to do "2 up" printing (and duplexing) without having to reformat the files.

I was helped by a very knowledgeable customer-service rep at a 24-hour store, and he was able to do it. So we got it down to a little over 200 pages, I 3-hole punched it, and bought a binder.

On the way home, I stopped at the missionaries apartment. The man's address was in our ward. I gave the missionaries the Ewe New Testament printout, a CD with the Ewe New Testament PDF files on it, an Ewe copy of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet, Twi and English copies of the Book of Mormon.

The next day, I got a call back from the missionaries reporting that they met with the man, gave him the material, and had scheduled an appointment to meet with him again.

More follow-up here.

Follow-up at grocery. Chinese. Sat, Jun 28, 2008

06/28/2008. Journal entry. On my way home from the laundromat, I felt impressed to go slightly out of my way to stop at a 24/7 grocery store.

In front of me at the check-out line was a young Chinese couple. The man's shirt bore the name of a local Chinese restaurant, but there are several restaurants with that name, so I didn't know the exact one. But I had been to all three that I was thinking of with that name.

I struck up a conversation with him as he was waiting on the cashier, and he told me which was his restaurant, and he remembered some of the material I had given him, though I had forgotten exactly what all I had given them.

They were parked near me in the parking lot, so I retrieved a couple DVDs from my car and met him half-way between our cars. He was eager to talk, so it was not an imposition on him. He already had one of the DVD's, but not the other, so I gave him the one he didn't have.

Their restaurant is in our ward boundaries, so I ought to take our full-time missionaries there for lunch soon.

Follow-up, Korean - Japanese. Tue, Mar 25, 2008

03/25/2008. Journal entry. This was to be a follow up to visit I made here with the ward missionaries on March 3rd of this month. One of the employees there is Korean, and another is Japanese.

There is a member in our ward who went to Japan on his mission, and still speaks Japanese. He even teaches English, part time, to people from Japan. His wife is part Japanese, but doesn't speak it.

Earlier in the month I invited them to go with me to this restaurant to follow up. I probably could have scrounged up a date to make it a foursome, but I didn't want the hassle of trying to work around the schedule of another person.

Our waitress/hostess was the same lady who served the missionaries and me earlier, and she recognized me.

The Japanese employee was not there, and was out of town on a trip.

The place was not busy, so there was plenty of opportunity to chat with the waitress/hostess. We didn't discuss the gospel much, but learned which Christian religion she's a part of. And she gave us some of her family story.

On Sunday, their restaurant is only open in the evening, so theoretically, they could come to church.

I gave her some more material, Korean, Japanese, and English copies of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet.

Follow-up (Urdu) at store. Fri, Dec 7, 2007.

12/07/2007. Journal Entry. I shopped at a store that I was at on March 30, 2007.

On the previous trip I had given the owner an Urdu and an English Book of Mormon. His son was working today. We talked a bit, and he had seen the book on a bookshelf at their home, but hadn't read any of it. He had some questions, and we started to have a gospel conversation, but then he needed to attend another customer. I gave him a pass-along card with the mormon.org web site URL written on it.

Liahona magazines at Chinese restaurant. Wed, Dec 5, 2007.

12/05/2007. Journal entry. I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant that I first went to on October 16th. I've been there a couple times since then because the waitress was very interested.

The same waitress/cashier was there tonight, and I gave her a new set of Liahona Magazines, the November conference issues in both Chinese and English.

She sat down at my table and we talked just a little.

Follow-up at Chinese restaurant. Mon, Apr 23, 2007.

04/23/2007. Follow-up. I had supper at a humble Chinese strip mall restaurant that I haven't been to for maybe 18 months. I had left a Chinese/English pair of copies of the Book of Mormon back then. Tonight, after finishing eating in the dining area, I went back to the counter and gave them a "Finding Happiness" DVD and a "Our Heavenly Father's Plan" DVD, both of which have Cantonese and Mandarin audio tracks.

They didn't have time to chat, so I didn't ask them if they had read the Book of Mormon or had any questions or wanted to learn more. There were pass-along cards, and lists of the local chapels in both DVD cases.