Godjagova! (May 19, 2008)

So, unfortunately, thanks to an evaluation I had to fill out about our english programs here, I don't have a lot of time to write today, but there's one story I really have to share.

So, last Friday we were walking home when all of a sudden came a voice in English behind us saying, "Good morning!" After checing my watch to make sure it was indeed 4 in the afternoon, I answered, "Good morning..." I turned to see a rather large man in his 20's jogging up. He told us his name was Bogdan, which he translated as "God giving." (I think it means "Gift of God," or something close to that). He asked us if we were American or English, and we told him that we were Americans. He then saw our Books of Mormon and asked to see one. I tried to hand it to him, but I guess he changed his mind and told me to show him the last verse in the book. I started flipping through the index to get to the last verse, but he stopped me and said, "No, no, the last verse," and turned back to the end of the index. He pointed triumphantly at the article called "Yafet," or "Japheth" in English (one of the sons of Noah--the father of the gentiles, by the way). As we stared in mild confusion, he asked me directly, "Are you a citizen of America, or did you live there illegally?" I told him that I was a citizen, trying to hold back a smile, and then he replied with another question: "What is the tract between the Bible and the Book of Mormon?" We stared blankly, trying to translate it into Ukrainian to figure out what he was trying to say, when he said, "Well, I see you don't speak Ukrainian OR English very well." Trying to speed up the conversation, I asked him if he was interested in our English classes, but he laughed and said, "I study English from the supreme creator of the language." He then started backing away, then raised his arm and pumped his fist in the air and said, "Godjagova!"

It took us almost two minutes, but we realized that, rather than cursing us in Hindu like we initially thought, he actually said "God Jehovah," but with an odd combination of English and Russian pronunciation (there is no "h" sound in Russian, so "Jehovah" is "Yegova"). We walked on for a little while until we saw him waiting ahead of us, talking into a walkie talkie with a rediculously long antennae. As we approached, he said (and try not to strain yourselves too much finding meaning in these words), "One more question. How do you say 'vsesvit' in English?" We answered--"universe"--and he said, "Exactly. There is the universe, right? And Jegovah has a galaxy, the chomatsky shlyakh (milky way). Earth--the fourth planet from the sun, right?" (We decided to let it slide and just see where this was going). "Plate tectonics." He pointed at me and asked, "You know what tectonics are, right?" I nodded. "Good. Ukraine has oblasts, which are like states, right? United States of Ukraine. Our grand city, Ivano-Frankivsk." He pointed at the road. "This is an avenue, right?" We nodded hesitantly. He then held up his hands as if he had just made the final, most fail-proof argument in a drawn-out debate, turned, and walked off and out of our lives. Just another day in Ivano.

I love you all, and have a good week!
--Elder Hurst