Roadside Bible/Book of Mormon giveaway.

In December 2014 I tried a new contacting method with our ward's full-time missionaries. I made up a couple signs. One said "FREE BIBLES AHEAD" and the other "FREE BIBLES HERE."

We put on cheap Santa hats, and stood along the street during afternoon rush hour in front of a parking lot.  I had the "AHEAD" sign and stood about 3/4ths block "upstream" of traffic, to give people a few seconds to decide if they wanted to pull in.

There was a right-turn-only lane into the parking lot, so people slowing down to turn did not hamper traffic flow.  And we "aimed" our signs at only the near-side traffic, on our side of the street, going away from town.  We did not want to cause traffic congestion or accidents by people making a left turn mid-block into the parking lot we were using.

The missionaries got good results with it, including referrals and appointments.  They answered a lot of questions, and had a lot of what they call "mini discussions".

I did it several times with them, and they did it several times on their own.

In April, I did it with missionaries from the next ward over, a DL and  ZL on an exchange, and they got three appointments with folks in the ZL's actual area.

For pictures and more details, see:
http://indybookslinger.tumblr.com/post/119054893710/street-contacting-posters-are-22-by-28-the

Spanish at laundromat, Tue, Mar 12, 2013.

03/12/2013. 1322. As I was finishing up my laundry, an Hispanic man was folding his clothes next to me. I asked if he spoke Spanish, he did, and I said I like to give out free Bibles, and showed him the Spanish Bible I had with me. I offered it to him, and he accepted it. I then explained that our church also believes in the Book of Mormon as I showed him the Spanish copy that I had with me. I offered him the Spanish Book of Mormon, and he accepted it. He started to look at the flyer and pass-along cards I had put inside. I explained that he could call one of those numbers if he wanted to learn more, and I took my leave.

Korean, Tues, Mar 5, 2013.

03/05/2013. Journal entry. I was at a store where the owner had previously accepted a Korean Gospel Fundamentals book, but declined the Book of Mormon. After shopping, I offered a Korean language videotape, The Lamb of God, and she accepted.

Chinese at reastaurant. Mon, Feb 25,2013.

02/25/2013. 1321. I took our ward's full-time missionaries to a nearby Asian restaurant. We asked our waitress what languages she spoke, and she said Chinese. After she went away, I pulled out a Chinese Simplified and a Chinese Traditional copy of the Book of Mormon from my book bag and put them on the table. On her next trip to us, she saw them and commented on them. I offered her a free copy, and she accepted the Simplified Chinese one, as she is from China. At first she declined the English copy, but I think she understood when I said she could learn some English by reading them together, and she accepted the English one too.

Pass-along card at gym. Sat, Feb 23, 2013.

02/23/2013. 1320. I gave a pass-along card to some neighbors who I invited to church.

Pass-along card at store. Sat, Dec 22, 2012

12/22/2012. 1319. I was browsing at a nearby furniture store where I knew some of the employees. There was a lady there who had just arrived that day from Sweden. She was visiting her son, but he had left her there while he went on a quick errand. She said she was jet-lagged and needed something with caffeine and sugar to keep her awake. I offered to go to the nearby gas station, and I brought her back some coffee and hot chocolate. We talked a bit about the church, and she was familiar with it. She declined to receive a Swedish Book of Mormon, but she did accept a pass-along card.

Amharic at store. Fri, Dec 21, 2012.

12/21/2012. 1318. I saw an East African-looking man at a store, but I neglected to strike up a conversation with him. Through no effort on my part I ended up next in line behind him at the check-out, but there still didn't appear to be a clear opportunity to say something. Afterwards, as I went to my car, I saw him get into his taxi, so then I knew he was from Africa, and decided to approach. He was from Eritrea, and spoke both Tigrinya and Amharic. The church doesn't have anything in Tigrinya, so I offered him the Amharic Book of Mormon, and he accepted. I retrieved a copy from my car and presented it to him. I pointed out the list of chapels that I put in it, and pointed out the phone number for the mission office that he could call and get an English copy if he wanted.

English pass-along card at store. Wed, Nov 28, 2012

11/28/2012. 1317. I was at a store waiting on a service to be performed, and struck up a conversation with another customer. I found out she works at the same place where a former bishop of another ward works, so I asked her if she knew so-and-so.  Her office was near his, and she had worked with him on certain things.  Small world.  So I explained how I knew him, that I used to live in that ward when he was bishop.  I don't think she knew he was LDS, but she had a very high opinion of him. I suggested she surprise him by addressing him as "Bishop so-and-so" next time she ran into him.    I used the opportunity to give her a customized pass-along card that I had made...

I also gave her one of my personal calling cards.

Hausa at laundromat. Sat, Nov 24, 2012.

11/24/2012. 1316. At a laundromat, I met a man from Niger who spoke Hausa.  I offered him a Hausa copy of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet, and he accepted it.

Arabic at restaurant. Sat, Oct 20, 2012.

10/20/2012. 1315. The owner of a restaurant where I was eating spoke Arabic.  I offered him a Book of Mormon in Arabic, and he accepted.  I gave him both an Arabic and an English copy that I had in the car.