Today I got a call from a concerned friend of a concerned parent. This elders mom doesn't speak English and so he, Douglas called for her. She heard from the elder's brother that our elder had been beat up and had to go to the hospital. I was shocked. We had heard nothing about this, so I told him I would call and find out what had happened. I called the zone leaders. They knew nothing. I called the elder. He kind of laughed and told me he was fine. He had been to neither a doctor or the hospital. So I call back Douglas and try to reassure him that the elder is just fine. He quizzes me and tells me if the elder is just trying to protect his mom it is not working. She has a condition and is very upset. I told him I would check again and call him back. I call again to double check. The elder tells me he is fine. I ask him what he could have possibly said to his brother, the culprit in all this, to make him think he had been beat up. Then! He tells me he told his brother he FELT like he had been punched in the face. Ahhhh.
I called back Douglas and he finally understood, but still wanted to talk to the elder or have the elder email his mom. I told him I was sorry, but not allowed.
Five minutes later the elder calls me, worried about his mom. I told him I think i got the message across. He'll have to explain on Monday when he emails home.
The language barrier a big challenges. I've seen some of the difficulties in the last week trying to communicate with some Koreans..We have to keep persisting.
I love all of you. I hope I have communicated that clearly. We love Canada.
