Yoruba at fitness center. Wed, Oct 7, 2009.

10/07/2009. 1194. I was working out at the apartment complex's fitness center when a group of three people came in. The man was helping two ladies with their exercises. The man had an accent, but the ladies did not. During a break in their conversation, while the man was within conversation distance with me, I asked where he was from. I guessed wrong at first, but he said he was from Nigeria. When I asked if he was Igbo or Yoruba, he looked surprised that I would know about those languages/groups. I said there were lots of Nigerians in town, and he was aware of that too.

After he went back to helping the other two people he was with, I took a quick break and ran back to my apartment and retrieved a Yoruba copy and an English copy of the Book of Mormon. I put the books next to my machine, and started exercising again.

When he had his two friends busy with their exercises, he came back near me and we conversed some more. I eventually asked him if he still liked to read in Yoruba, and he said yes, so that's when I presented the Yoruba Book of Mormon. He was very excited to see a book in Yoruba, so we talked about it, and about the church for the next half hour or so. There was a flyer in the book listing the local chapels, and I pointed out which one I went to, and which one was where he lived in another part of town.

It really made his day to find something to read in Yoruba. He was very grateful. He mentioned that he hadn't been to any church in a while, and he seemed like he might visit some day.

English at fitness center. Fri, May 29, 2009.

05/29/2009. 1150. I had gone to check something at my apartment's fitness center, not working out. I was in street clothes, not workout clothes. A 60-ish lady who I didn't recognize came in to exercise. She was a smiley person, and gave off a good vibe, kind of like a halo. I struck up a conversation with her, not with a placement in mind, but just to be chatty, and maybe give encouragement and be upbeat about exercising.

I helped her with some exercise and cardio-vascular tips. The conversation gravitated to the book she was reading, and then religion. She's a minister in a protestant church. Then we started talking about the LDS church, and some of the history. At some point she said she'd like to read the Book of Mormon, so I offered to get her one. Since she's a serious Bible student, I also offered her an LDS edition KJV Bible, because it has our footnotes and Topical Guide, which everyone else calls a "concordance." I also offered her the Sunday School manual, Gospel Principles. She agreed to receive all three, so I went to the car and my apartment and got them for her, and we exchanged calling cards.

[Follow-up to this story here.]

At the fitness center. Fri, Mar 13, 2009.

03/13/2009. 1123. I met a cool neighbor at the fitness center. I struck up a conversation like I do with most people I meet in the fitness center. He's originally from Africa, so we talked about his home country, and immigration in general. I have an LP record with folkloric music from his country, and gave him a CD of it, along with a copy of the lyrics sheet. (There's no copyright notice on the LP, and if there were, it's old enough that it might be public domain by now anyway.) We had a long conversation as we worked out. I offered, and he accepted copies of the Book of Mormon in his native language and in English.

Vietnamese declined. Thu, May 17, 2007.

05/17/2007. 823. I was working out at a fitness center on a treadmill. A young Asian man got on the treadmill and we struck up a conversation. He's originally from Vietnam. We talked a bit about Vietnam, a local Vietnam veterans group, and some local Vietnamese restaurants. I eventually offered him a Vietnamese Book of Mormon, but he politely declined. I did give him my calling card with my name/phone/email, and also the web site and the phone # for the local Vietnam Veterans group in case his father, who also lives in town, would be interested in visiting with them, or speaking at one of their meetings.

Hindi. Spanish x 2. Tues, Aug 29, 2006.

08/29/2006. 697. I met a nice young couple from India at the gym. They helped me practice some words in Hindi. They accepted my offer of a Hindi and an English Book of Mormon.

08/29/2006. 698. I met my home teacher at the chapel to go out to eat at a nearby restaurant. We call that home-teaching. He works not far from the chapel, and has to be there Tuesday nights for a calling. So he walks there from work anyway. I picked him up and we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant that neither of us has been to before.

We had a good dinner and a good visit. The radio in the restaurant was tuned to a local Spanish AM radio station. There was talk on the radio, and it sounded like a religious show.

After we went to the counter and paid, I offered the cashier/waitress a free bi-lingual Spanish/English New Testament. She accepted it. I then offered free copies of the Book of Mormon in both Spanish and English, saying that we believe in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. She hadn't heard of "Los Mormones" before. She graciously accepted the Books of Mormon, too.

08/29/2006. 699. On the way home from the chapel, I stopped at a drug store. Right before I went in, a Mexican-looking man parked his bicycle in front of my car and went in. I felt like he'd be receptive to an offer of Spanish material. But I blew my chance in the store.

After I left, I noticed that his bicycle was gone, but he was only around the corner of the building, looking over his photos that he had picked up. So before leaving the parking lot, I just pulled my car into another parking space, rolled down the window, and asked him if he spoke Spanish, and started a conversation that way.

I offered him a free Spanish Bible, but he sort of declined in a soft way, saying one of his roommates had a nice big Bible. I asked if he had a DVD player, and he said yes, so I offered him three free church DVD's that have Spanish audio tracks. He accepted those. We chatted a bit more. I then offered the Spansih Bible again, so he could own his own copy, and he agreed, so I got out an NVI version Spanish New Testament. For some reason, I was disinclined to offer a Book of Mormon, hoping he'd first make contact with the missionaries. I wrote the local spanish-speaking missionaries' phone number on one of the info flyers in one of the DVD cases.

Moment #545. Amharic at gym. Thu, Mar 16, 2006.

03/16/2006. I was at the gym using an elliptical machine. The man next to me appeared to be Ethiopian and was talking to the guy on the other side of him. I had thought I had already given this man an Amharic Book of Mormon. When the guy on the other side left, I struck up a conversation. I was mistaken, I hadn't given him anything before. He let me practice a little Amharic that I had learned from a CD.

When he was done with his workout on the elliptical, I offered to give him a Book of Mormon in Amharic that I had in my car. He accepted, and asked me to let him know when I left. He then moved to another kind of machine. I finished my elliptical workout, and he was still on the other machine. I didn't want to interrupt his workout, so I got the Amharic and English Books of Mormon in a plastic bag from my car, and stayed longer and did some more exercises until he finished.

When he was done, I approached him again, made sure he really wanted the books, and handed them to him. It's bad form to pester or proselyte fellow customers at a gym, but there's nothing wrong with conversations as long as both parties engage willingly. A couple of the employees may have seen me approach him and give him the books, but I can honestly say he sincerely wanted them, and was glad to receive them.