Waffle Man

My new ward here in 부평 (Bupyeong--sorry if I spell it differently every time, I'm not sure how to spell it phonetically…) is so fun.

It's a pretty small little ward, maybe 30 or so come every Sunday, but they're like one big family. They laugh and joke with one another like siblings. And the last week they gave me a proper testing--feeding me chicken feet and pig intestines, looking at me in the corner of their eyes to see if I smiled while I chewed--and I think I've passed! They also gave me a new name, Sister Wasabi, so I'm officially a part of the gang. They're a wonderful little ward and they make me laugh all the time.

I've also fallen a little in love with the waffle man. He's probably about 40 years old, looks like the Korean version of Indiana Jones (He's just as tall and wears this old baseball cap every day), and sells the best street-side waffles I've ever had (Korean street waffles are thin and crispy with cream and strawberry flavored honey sandwiched inside). I buy one from him almost every day, I can't help myself.

As soon as Sister Jung and I walk up to him he smiles and nods his head in a "took-ya-long-enough" kind of way and then heats up a waffle and carefully layers the cream and honey so perfectly. They're so delicious, and I can't help but tell him he's the best vendor in town every time I see him.

His brother, or maybe just a friend, was helping him a few days ago and when we walked up the other man smiled and said, "We've been watching you two preaching. Missionary work must be hard."

We smiled and said we liked it, and we voluntarily came. When we asked if he went to church he put his hand on his heart and said, "I go every week!" and then pointed to my Korean-Indiana-Jones-Waffle-Maker and said, "But this one, well this one is a devil! He never goes to church!"

The waffle man smiled and looked down into his batter. Then he said quietly, "I took their card."

Sister Jung and I raised our eyebrows but the friend started talking about Americans before we could say anything more.

I haven't been able to see him since then (we've been proselyting in different areas) but he's become one of my special focuses. I can tell the waffle man is special. He has a wise-searching looking about him… :)

Love you all so much! I pray for each of you every day!

Love, Sister Washburn (a.k.a Wasabi)


p.s. Anytime I show the people here a picture of our family (the one from Esther and Brian's wedding) they always gasp and say, "You're all so beautiful!" and "What a coincidence, the girls are all wearing green!"