Yoruba at rehab hospital. Tue, May 3, 2011.

05/03/2011. 1281. I was visiting an elderly friend in a rehabilitation hospital/nursing home, after he had a mild stroke. I hung out with him while a nurse took him to the workout room to do some exercises. I accompanied him back to his room to free up the nurse/technician to take care of others. But when he got back to his room, he needed a couple of nurses to help him from the wheelchair into bed. There is a science to getting people into and out of bed, and I haven't been trained on it, so he called for a couple nurses to help him.

One of the nurses spoke with an accent and had a foreign name on his name-tag, so I asked him where he was from. He said Nigeria. I asked if he was Yoruba or Igbo, and he said Yoruba. I offered him a free church book in Yoruba, but he said he never learned ot read it, just English. I ended up giving him one of my custom pass-along cards.

The writing systems used for most African languages are phonetic, so if he wanted to take the time, he could teach himself to read Yoruba with a pair of copies of the Book of Mormon in Yoruba and English.

If my friend is still there the next time I'm over at that side of town, I'll take in a Yoruba copy just to show the guy.

DVDs at an assisted living center. Sun, Nov 16, 2008.

11/16/2008. 1090. On the way home from church I stopped at an "assisted living center" (not quite a nursing home) and offered the receptionist "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" and "Joy to the World" DVD's for their facility. The receptionist said she'd give them to the director.

Urdu at nursing home. Sun, Aug 17, 2008.

08/17/2008. 1053. I went to a nursing home that is located within ward boundaries to pick up someone I know and take her to Stake Conference. She was eating breakfast in the dining room when one of the employees came over to talk to her. He was from Pakistan and spoke Urdu. I offered him an Urdu Book of Mormon and he said okay. While my friend ate, I went and got one out of the car and brought it back and presented it. He flipped through it quickly, and thanked me. I didn't offer an English copy, as he said he had one.

Igbo at nursing home. Wed, Jan 23, 2008.

01/23/2008. 978. Last Friday I visited a lady from my old ward who is in a nursing home on the Northwest side of town. As I was leaving, I heard an employee speak with an accent, so I asked him where he was from. He said Nigeria. He spoke Igbo, so I asked if I could come back and bring him a book from my church in Igbo. He said sure.

So today I went back to see the member, and also to take him an Igbo and English Book of Mormon. I didn't see him on the floor, so I asked someone in an office, and just as I was asking her, he showed up. He gratefully and enthusiastically accepted the books.

English at Nursing home. Mon, Nov 5, 2007.

11/05/2007. Journal Entry. I finally got back to the nursing home, and my widow friend was back, along with her daughter in law. I took her a belated pumpkin (with a face drawn on, not carved) for Halloween, but it's okay to have pumpkins out through Thanksgiving. I had given her one a few years ago last time she was in a nursing home recovering from surgery and she liked the idea.

It occurred to me to give her some material to have at the ready should she have any gospel conversations at the nursing home. There was a TV and VCR/DVD player in the lounge area. So I went out to the car and brought back in 6 church DVD's. There was one she hadn't seen yet, "The Testaments". And she could show them in the lounge if anyone was interested. I also gave her a TNIV paperback Bible (from Int'l Bible Society) and a Book of Mormon to offer anyone should they ask about the church.

I suggested she could just donate them to the nursing home library or activity room when she leaves.

There are several church members who work at the nursing home, too.

I struck up a conversation with her room-mate about cats since she had a cat magazine on her table. Do you ever feel awkward visiting a friend in a hospital or nursing home, and never know what to say or how to greet their room-mate? It seems impolite to just ignore them and pretend they're not there. Yet you don't want to intrude on the other person.

Well, I decided a long time ago to not pretend someone isn't there. And chances are the room-mate would appreciate being acknowledged. And it's possible they don't receive visitors or enough visitors anyway. So I make it a point to say something to the room-mates of the people I visit in nursing homes and hospitals.

Filipino at nursing home. Mon, Nov 27, 2006.

11/27/2006. 759. I went to visit someone at a nursing home in the next town over. His roommate was receiving some kind of therapy, and while waiting on the therapy machine, the therapist was free to chat. I mentioned something about his name, which was prominently displayed on his name tag, and asked where his family was from. He said the Philippines. I asked, in Tagalog, if he spoke Tagalog, and he did, plus a couple other languages. We chit-chatted about the local Filipino club and other stuff.

Due to moving, I didn't have my Book of Mormon inventory in my car. I normally have all the Filipino language Books of Mormon in my car. Murphy's Law. So I gave him one of my custom-made pass-along cards* and my calling card, that I keep in my wallet. I said I'd bring some copies of the Book of Mormon next time I visited, and leave them for him at the front desk if he wasn't there.

When he had to go back to working on my friend's roommate, I switched back to conversing with my friend.

* The church's pass-along cards are an odd-size, and are not convenient for men to carry in their wallet. So I went online to Office Depot and used one of their online standard templates, and designed one, and bought two boxes of 1000 for $15.99 per box, including shipping. You design it and see a proof online, and they ship directly to you. No need to go to the store.

I chose the template that has a main line, a small line under the main line, and text in the four corners.

The main line says: Free Book of Mormon (use a large point size)
The sub-main line says: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
The upper left corner says: From The Church / of Jesus Christ / of Latter-day Saints
The lower left corner says: Available in over / 100 languages.
The upper right corner says: www.mormon.org
The lower right corner says: Indianapolis: 317-802-9650 / Toll Free: 888-537-2200
( / = line break )

That's the Indianapolis Mission office, and that 888 number is on the church's official Book of Mormon pass-along card.