Christmas Adventures!

 For Christmas I traveled from my city up to Seoul to celebrate my Savior's birth. I saw some decorations similar to home during the trip. I also saw a very large Methodist church.

 I thought of my sister when I saw this polar bear playing the saxophone.  :)

Street food is a very common thing in Korea.  I have been very cautious about what I eat, especially being careful about food from the street vendors.  However, I heard many positive things about something called Hoteok and decided to try it.  It is a delicious winter snack!! It is kind of a mix between a pancake and an elephant ear you would get at the fair.  The dough is filled with brown sugar, sesame seeds, and sometimes peanuts, crushed into a powder.  It is absolutely wonderful and a treat I now greatly enjoy!

Christmas in Korea this year was definitely not the same as it is at home.  I really missed being at home with friends and family, as well as the holiday traditions.  I was very excited to talk to loved ones a couple times on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  It was a blessing to see their faces and share good conversation.  I am very thankful for family and friends this Christmas season!
Here in Korea, I spent time with some wonderful new friends. We went to a delicious Italian restaurant, "The Spaghetti Factory," which wasn't exactly my typical Christmas meal.  There were beautiful Christmas lights and such all over the restaurant.

 Celebrating with friends

Later on, after dinner, many teachers and I delivered clothing and shoes to homeless people in downtown Seoul.  We gathered the items from our students who were willing to donate.  We looked up the laws in Korea that pertained to the activity, talked to some Korean friends, determined places to go, and sorted the items into different sizes.  My friend made signs for us to show the people because of the language barrier.  We did, however, use universal language to speak to the people. That is smiles and other friendly gestures.

 Sign reads: "Merry Christmas. They are free gifts."

Before, during, and after we prayed for God's help.  We prayed during various situations we encountered. We prayed that our minds would stay focused on Christ and not on ourselves and that God would lead and guide us.  
As we approached people, they tried to talk to us and we determined what particular things they needed.  Many looked very cold and run down.  We found that when we began interacting with one person, others came out of the woodwork.  All of a sudden we had tons of people gathering to see what we had.  We tried to donate things in an orderly fashion.  One of my friends was looking out for our safety the whole time.  We needed to be very careful, yet friendly.
One man needed a pair of shoes, as his current pair was in horrible shape.  We opened our bag of shoes and searched for a pair that might fit him.  We tried to asked him his size and soon he began to write with his finger on our suitcase the number.  We could tell what he wrote and found his size.  He tried on a pair of work boots.  They fit him quite well.  We were SO happy!  I still have a clear picture in my head of him as we walked away.  He was standing with a huge smile, pumping his arms in the air, saying thank you!  We could see God in the experiences. He definitely led the way in serving His people, kept us safe, and made many people very happy, including us!!  I reaffirmed my belief that "In giving, we receive."  It was such a blessing on Christmas day.