—Eighty-five, thank the Lord!—
As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I was in the city of Tupungato, Mendoza, Argentina (Latitude: -33.3728 Longitude: -69.14755) around April or May 1991, going from door to door talking to people about Jesus Christ with my companion, Owen Quass. We were in a poorer section of town where most of the homes were set back in with a fence and gate in front. In these situations (with either an open door or a yard with a fence and gate) it was polite not to enter the yard, but to instead clap your hands at the gate (or open door).
Thus, we were knocking on doors or clapping at gates when we came to a home with a small dirt front yard (rarely did anyone with any sort of a yard have grass) with a wire fence and gate, with chickens wandering the front yard. We clapped and a very nice older man came to the gate. We explained who we were and that we were sharing a message about Jesus Christ. He let us in to his yard and directed us to sit down, I think, on some old wooden crates he had there.
We usually began conversations by trying to get to know people a little bit. We would ask them questions about themselves and tell them a little about us first. As I had only been in the country about 2 months, I could understand pretty much everything being said to me, but I could not speak the language (Spanish) very well yet. Because of this, my companion was usually the one who started things off in conversation.
At this particular home, Elder Quass (elder is the title male missionaries go by, along with their last names, while serving as full-time missionaries) led out with a few questions about the man’s family and other things. It quickly became apparent that the man was rather deaf. He kept asking, “¿cómo?” (what?) after everything my companion said. Elder Quass had to speak very loudly and slowly for him to make out what he was saying. Then, having seen all the chickens in the yard (there were maybe 20 at most) he asked, “¿cuántas gallinas tiene?” This means “how many hens/chickens do you have? In quick reply the man answered, “ochentiuno, gracias a Dios!” (eighty one, thank the Lord!)
It was obvious at this point that the man misheard the question. He thought my companion had asked, “¿cuántos años tiene?” (how old are you?) We had a hard time containing a laugh. After that, the phrase “ochentiuno, gracias a Dios!” became immortalized in our mission district as a phrase that reminded everyone of this story and brought laughter to everyone’s hearts. I’ll have to thank that man in the next life for unknowingly bringing cheer to many as his story was retold, including in a skit we performed at a church party.
