Email: December 12th

Dear family, friends, loved ones and random people!

How are you all doing? I received some pretty crazy emails filled with all kinds of news. Thanks for keeping me updated ya'll. Its so fun to read emails and be like, "What the heck??" Hahahaha. I love it. Im doing well over here in Varna, Bulgaria. Life has picked itself back up unlike the past 3-4 weeks for me here. Its hard, you know? We got transfer calls this past friday. I will be STAYING here in Varna and will be serving with, yes, Sister Pantigoso. She is one of my MTC groupies as well. She was born in Peru, lives in Switzerland and knows FOUR languages. Spanish, French, English and Bulgarian. Will she make me feel like crap when I serve with her? Probably. Will I have fun serving with her? Hopefully. Were kind of 2 different people. We'll see how it goes, I guess *shrugs*. Its sad to see Little Child head out to Sliven, a little town in the middle of no where, Bulgaria.

On that note, Sister Child and I went to ANOTHER doctor this past week for her back. This has been our third doctor we've seen about her back. We found out that she has bone spurs in her back and they are pinching her nerves. not good. We think shes going to need serious medical attention for this (Physical therapy, a chiropractor, lots of running/swimming). She was really upset when she found out. She tried to hold back the tears but as we were making our way from the doctors office to the church she just bawled to me. We will find out soon whats going to happen. Mission Doctors from Ukraine and Russia will give us news soon. Im not sure if she will stay on the mission if she needs help right now before anything else gets serious. :/ The mission can really wring you around. For sure.

Diana is leaving for Spain tomorrow. Im not sure how I feel about it but whatever. Child and I have been playing mom a lot with her. She had no way of getting to Sofia to catch her plane and then she told us she had no way to get from Barcelona to Escala where she will be working. Those 2 cities in Spain are a good 3 hours apart. She kept calling and calling for us to help her. It was draining. The members here REALLY use the missionaries as a crutch. The missionaries are super heros! They have powers to get anything done! HAHAHA. NO! If you are abusing a missionary in your area and having them do your calling or making them get stuff done for the baptism or not even helping them with anything they are in need of? STOP IT AND DO IT YOURSELF. I HATE WHEN MEMBERS ABUSE THE MISSIONARIES. Its really not cool. GAH. Sorry, end of my little rant... Anyway, we got ahold of Pantigoso who has family in spain and they will be picking up Diana and getting her to where she needs to go. Thank goodness for contacts.

Diana took us to this Dolphin Show and the Varna Zoo on saturday. The dolphin show was epic. Ive never been to SeaWorld and if I have I dont remember but it was so FUN! I couldnt understand a lot of the bulgarian but the dolphins were so fun and now I have a goal to swim with dolphins sometime in my life time lol. The zoo was so sad. The animals had nothing in their poorly made cages and looked very ragged. None of them were happy. The bear wasnt in hibernation. He was so nervous and anxious that he just walked back and forth. It was sad. We saw the tiger....thats missing his one of his paws. He limped around and I just wanted someone to shoot him out of his misery. He put his face up to the cage while we stood there and he had this look like, "Please just kill me...please?" I wanted to help him out but...ugh. It hurt my heart for sure.

I taught primary yesterday for the whole 2 blocks. This time Im dealing with kids who range from 9-12 so I needed to have a lesson and some singing and what not. I taught them some christmas songs because they dont know any christmas songs here in Bulgaria. I gave them a lesson on prophets and why we need them. I showed them pictures and asked to know all about Joseph Smith. Before I could even ask some of the questions the kids were answering and dang gina, they KNOW their gospel. I was so proud and I really enjoyed being with them. Child came second hour to take over so I could go to RS but I told her I wanted to stay with the kids. Lol. At the end we played hang man and it was real fun. We sang, said a closing prayer and the kids taught me how to folk dance HAHA. As the kids were leaving primary, I was talking to Elder Patterson and one of the kids passes us and says to Patterson, "Shes really cool! *points to Kinkead*" LOL. It made my day. They were very patient with my bulgarian and would gently correct me. LOVED IT.

We went over to Gabbys house this past week. Gabby is an investigator that the elders are teaching. I think I may have mentioned her? Gabby is in her late 40s and really cool. Her and I really clicked even though she knows no english. I only seem to click with people who can speak english but Gabby and I have so much fun together. I asked her if we could come over. have some tea and talk like little girls. She LOVED IT. She had us come over, had tea, fruit, bread and some bulgarian desserrt. Oooh she loved it. We laughed and talked for a good hour or so. The elders came over and they were worried because Gabby was so happy that she looked drunk. Hahahaha. Gabby says she wants to skype with me when I go home. I love her.

Yesterday I read a great talk from Elder Uchtdorf called, "Pride and the Priesthood" I love that talk. Its powerful and it has a lot of stuff in it that really stuck out to me. Read it if you can. Its good for anyone. Its a lot about how we compare ourselves and beat ourselves up when REALLY we just need to serve others and discover our OWN talents and self worth. Its helped me a lot with my feelings towards bulgarian. Go read it. www.lds.org

Well thats about it! 13 days and then we are SKYPING IT UP. I guess if anyone wants to see me they can head over to my moms house? Not really sure what the christmas plans are for everyone but yaaaa.I love you!!!!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: December 6th

Hey everyone!!

This past week went by really fast
and it was really fun! It ended on a really good note though.

First off, I got sick :/ Im not sure
what was going on but I woke up on wednesday morning with achy bones, a stuffed
up nose, a sore throat and a fever. We stayed home up until 3 when we had a
lesson with Diana. I was feeling better even though I was drowsy from the 2
Nyquil I had in my system lol. We walked down to the church which takes 30
minutes. By the time we got there I was nauseous and had a major fever. I fell
on the churches couch and couldnt move. Sister Child taught Diana with a member
who was there and I laid on the couch looking like some pitiful scrub lol.
After that we got a taxi and went home and called it a day. I slept for a good
2 hours as Child deep cleaned our apt hahaha. I walked out of the bedroom to
see her cleaning to Bon Jovi. Lol...oh the mission. The next day I was still
really sick so we just stayed home and celebrated our one year mark with me
being sick and Child being bored out of her mind hahahaha.

The week did pick up though! We had
Dianas baptism this past saturday. It was very lovely. I think its been the
only baptism that Ive been to on my mission where I really felt the spirit. She
was so excited and happy that it filled my heart. Shes in her early 60s and was
skipping around! She would grab my face and call me her little cheese. She
knows my nickname is Bree so she calls me "My little cheese" Lol.
Shes so funny. Sister Loss came to the baptism because Loss had taught her earlier
in the year at the beginning. Loss gave a talk and then sang a song. Diana was
crying and it was so cute. It was SOOOOOO good to see Loss! I have MISSED HER!
We hugged real tight and we went to another room and talked away lol. She ended
up staying the night and we just had a ball! We didnt get into bed until around
1 am but it was so good to visit and talk like old times. I know after the
mission its gonna be CRAZY when we see each other again. I love that girl..shes
my best friend in the mission right now. Shes dying next transfer...gaaaah. 2
more months with her and then she head back to the states. *Sniff sniff*

In other news, this friday is
transfer calls!!! Which means next week on tuesday I will be transferring. Im
pretty sure Ill be staying here in Varna and Sister Pantigoso will be with me.
Im not sure how I feel about going with her. Shes anotyher groupie of mine and
suffers from a lot of emotional problems.....we'll seee how it works out. ALSO!
I get to skype soon! Ill email later about when exactly Ill be skyping!

Anywho, Nikolai, our new
investigator turned out to be a creep. Whats new?

Have a good week all! I love you and
miss you all...of course.

-Sister Kinkead

P.S. - Some people have emailed me
about what I want for christmas.... here are some ideas if you want to take it
to note...

-Cheez Its
-Starbursts
-Degree Deoderant
-Chocolate *smile*
-Anything else you can think
of??

BUT I WANT A LETTER because last
year I got a package from you guys (family) and there was no letter!! Thats the
best PART! Thanks ya'll.

Email: November 14th

Hey everyone,

This week was nutso. We had so many experiences that made you think twice and say, "Wait...what?" Hahahaha. Bulgaria is quite the entertaining mission. It all started with our new investigator Marynella. Marynella was an older woman who looked like she lived a very humble lifestyle but was very sweet and was always smiling at the corner of her mouth. Child and I began to the first lesson with her but I think it ended up being way too much information for her liking. We ended the lesson with our testimonies and right in the middle of Childs testimony Marynella gets up, grabs her purse and coat, says, "Im sorry, I have to go, Ill call you" opens the door, closes it and walks out of the church. LOL. I sat there and was like, ".....Lol....wait..what just happened??" I wasnt even mad..I was just so confused that it made me giggle. Child, however, was quite upset and kept beating herself up for not planning better or being better in the lesson. Whatever, you know? You just do what you can do and move on. Some people are ready and some arent. Thats the point that Im at on my mission. I do my best and if it fails? Well - try better and move on but Im done making myself feeling like crap. Im sick of beating myself up for the language or something. Im DONE lol.

Moving right along in weird events. Child and I went to go see a less-active named Geefka. We traveled to her apt which was nicer than the average bulgarian apt, I was impressed. She talked with us for a bit and actually fed us GOOD cookies and treats lol. You always get stuck eatting cardboard tasteless cookies at other bulgarians apts. Anyways she leaves the room and brings back her medicine. Shes showing each pill she takes, how much it is and how hard it is to pay for it and then she says something in bulgarian that neither Child or I understood. Child said, "Ya" and then was handed a plastic glove. LOLOLOL. My eyes got big and I wondered what Child agreed to LOL. Geefka then shows her this gel she needs rubbed ALL over her back and all over her chest and stomach LOLOL. I began to laugh and think, Is Child really going to do this?! The lady basically takes off her upper clothing and we can both see everything. Take note that this is the FIRST TIME Child and I have met this lady! Child rubbed her whole back and basically massaged it for this lady. The lady then puts her clothes back on and says, "I can do the front later" I was like, THANK GOODNESS. I wasnt sure if I was gonna have to intervene or what lol. SO AWKWARD. She was a really nice lady but it was getting a little too touchy for my liking.

The last event that was weird for Child and I was the bulgarian hospital. Hahaha. Child is having huge back problems and Ive already killed off a companion who had back problems and I take this stuff very seriously. Child wouldnt call Sister Roth about it so I called her about it and we were told to get it checked out by a doctor here in Varna. We went to this clinic type place that was very sketch. You dont make appts, you just stand in line after everyone else who is waiting for that specific doctor. It was really weird. The building was very commy too. They did an X-RAY on her back with this equiptment which was manufactured before WWII and then told her that nothing was wrong with her back. HAH. They gave her an injection of some pain killer type medicine, which helped but...yaaa. Child just wants to shrug it off but Im not gonna let her do that. You dont mess around with back pain.

Diana is still doing great but plans to move to Spain after she gets baptized to work for some bulgarian family there. She knows zero english or spanish.....Yaaa...you got me on how shes gonna get around there lol. Ah well.

I love you all! Im out!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: November 7th

Dear loved ones,

Know that Sister Kinkead misses you a lot and loves you. I appreciate hearing from you all and I yearn to be with you all, hanging out, laughing and having good times. Im not trunky per se..I just want you all to know that I miss you!! Im glad to hear that youre doing well and life continues on. Im doing well over here in Bulgaria. Sister Child and I work really well together. She is someone who knows the balance between having fun and getting the work done here and I like that. I cant stand working with robot missionaries or missionaries who dont work at all. Ive had both companions. I like when people can find the middle. You work hard but you also enjoy your mission and not feel like its a chore.

Sister Child and I have a baptismal date with Diana! Thats exciting. We committed her to baptism and we think she'll be getting baptized either on the 26th of November or a little bit later. We need to figure out whats going on with her. Everytime we meet with her she is sad but lights up by the end of the lesson. Child and I think that its her family - theyre anti. We've been asking her if shes been doing her homework and keeping her commitments, the answer is always a no and she just dances around it all. She knows the stuff but for some reason shes sort of distant to us. This week were going to meet with her and ask her why shes not keeping her commitments and tell her that its very important to read your scriptures, pray and keep her commitments. I love her, shes sweet and means well. Yesterday in our lesson I gave a lesson about Lehi's vision and how we need to hold onto the iron rod and make it to the tree and taste of the fruit and be filled spiritually. I related it to baptism and how baptism is part of the path and how we can taste of the fruit. Child said it was a really good lesson but she said she could tell that I was overthinking my bulgarian and thats why I kind of stuttered and couldnt find words. *Shrugs* I can do what I can do, you know?

We've been getting a lot of receives lately but no one will meet with us. The usual, "Im too busy, Ill call you" or they say yes and stand us up. Gah. The other day when we were streetboarding in center, Child and I hear this loud screaming. I look over and I see this homeless looking man who is crouching down by a bench screaming his heart out. Hes hitting his ears and head, scratching his face and just screaming like something was attacking him. I felt bad because people here are literally insane here. Life here just makes them crazy and I think some are just mentally sick and dont get the medical attention they need. I had never seen anything like that though - only in horror movies. Its sad.

Way texted me this week. Hes so precious. He asked me how I was doing and told me about the halloween party they had at church. He then ended the text saying, "We miss you a lot Sister Kinkead!" Awwww lol. I called him up and talked for a bit. Its a matter of time until he gets baptized. Hes still learning from the Elders in Sofia and hes really loving it. Hes going to church and to all the activities. Go Way!! I miss him but hopefully Ill be able to travel into Sofia to see his baptism! I hope!

This past saturday Sister Child, Radka and I were invited to go visit a small womens shelter here in Varna. I was psyched. We were going to make hats and scarves and visit with the women. We got there and one of the women ran out to say hi. We were told by the supervisor that the women were really nervous but very excited to have us - so excited that they made us salad, soup, bread and cake!! When we went inside I noticed that all these women suffered from physical/mental problems. But they surprised me when they sat us down for lunch and they made a very impressive lunch for us. They were SO proud to have us eating it. It was sooooo tender. After lunch we taught the girls (Radka and Child did..I didnt know how to hahaha) how to make hats and scarves out of yarn. They loved it. We got lots of pictures and the women gave us lots of kids. A lot of them have a mentatlity of a 10 yr old but they were very cute. They would run around saying, "GIFT! GIFT!" and then they would hand me a bracelet or something. They dont see much of anyone besides themselves and I know they loved having us there. As we got in the car to leave, some of the women ran out and hugged us, asking us when we would be back. Awwww. I loved the experience. I really want to get back into the states and work at some women shelters.

Mom - I got my debit card. Thanks for sending that to me! I activated it and all. Also, I checked my online bank account and it says I have a ton of money. Who put all that money in there? Im not complaining..just curious lol.

I love you all and Im thinking of you, know this. Bulgaria is in good hands and Im spreading the word!

-Sister Kinkeadgb

Email: October 31st

Name that artist. Can you? Dont google. Thats cheating.

Hows it going all? Bulgaria is coooold and Ive been drinking lots of hot cocoa. Mmmm lol. Its my new morning drink. Get my mug, warm up some milk, stir some cocoa in it and bam! Got me some hot chocolate.

Ive been doing well. This week we got 47 work hours in! It was so intense! We did a lot of work for our halloween party. Sister Child and I made a pinata for it and got decorations and what not around for it. It was this past saturday. A good amount of people showed up, maybe, 50-60, it was good. All the kids and adults loved the pinata and it survived some good beatings. I got tons of video and pictures. Ill have to send some later. Ive been spoiling you guys with a ton of pictures lately haha. Afterwards Radi and Eva, two kids around my age in the branch, were putting a ton of anti-bacterial gel on their hands and then lighting them on fire. Of course Sister Child is over there doing it with them because she is so freakin nuts lol. Radi calls me over and says, "Sister Kinkead, do you want to try?" Im like, "Erm...noooo..." He looks at me and says, "Why not? Are you a....chicken?" I look at him and say, "Nooo!" He then says, "Then why not?" I finally think to myself, what the heck? Im in Bulgaria, why not? Lol! So I tried it and they got a video of it. Its pretty cool actually. I didnt even get burnt! Lol..I probably sound so bunk right now. (Bunk - not a good missionary) I am though! I just have fun too!

Sister Child and I went out to dinner with Eva this week. Shes a 22 yr old girl and soooooo cute. Shes real fun and knows perfect english so its good to be around someone who you can really connect. Sister Child and I also went and hung out with Radka, another girl in the branch. We went over to her house for a lesson and we got in this huge discussion about communism, bulgaria in WWII and all this other historical stuff. Did you know that Bulgaria has a concentration camp? I want to go... Anyways, its really fascinating to learn about the history here. After the war, communism began and they changed history around in their history books here and taught false teachings to the kids in school. So crazy! Communism her was soooo crazy. Communism - Satans church. Literally. You are NOT allowed to think for yourself or anything. Totally corrupt, yo.

Child and I met with a named George this past week. He took us out for dinner. He bought us anything we wanted and kept asking me if I wanted anything. Ive never seen that before in Bulgaria...if youre offering your money for complete strangers, you have to be in "the family" You know? He really rubbed me the wrong way. I dont like him at all and he kissed Childs hand. She says hes just friendly but I think shes blind. Hes eyeing her for sure. He thought I couldnt understand or speak bulgarian so he would tell Child what he wanted to say to me. I could understand him just fine..I just stopped talking to him...Im not sure if that was right for me but I know his intentions and Im not going to play his game and get tangled in that web. Hes not good news. I dont like him. Child wants to keep teaching him..I want to hand him over to the elders. We'll see. Im not going to anymore places with him though.

I made a friend already in the branch here. His name is Borislav. Hes a 40 yr old man with no wife or kids but he speaks perfect english and real cool. Him and I talked a lot at the halloween party and he asked me if I liked to play chess. Of course I do! lol. Were gonna play sometime..I know he just wants company, you know? He told me that he has been waiting for me for awhile now. He had asked about the 4 new sisters that came in in february (When I got into country) and someone had said, "Maybe Sister Kinkead will serve here in Varna, Borislav!" Since then hes remembered the name lol. He told me that hes glad he finally got to meet me and that Im pretty "famous" LOL. I have no idea why. Maybe Im famous for being the one missionary who doesnt know bulgarian? Lolol.

Anyways, thats about it. Today we may go go-carting and then were going over to a members house for YSA FHE and for dinner! MMM! I love you all!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: October 24th

Dear family, friends, loved ones and random people who like to see what Briana Kinkead is up to,

Varna is a sweeeeeeeeet place to serve! I LOVE THE SEA! I forgot how nice the sand, the ocean and the breeze in my face FELT! Sister Child and I had a pretty slow week this week and last week when we were contacting on the street, Child had a bad encounter with a woman trying to tell her that she was completely stupid for trying to preach to a country that doesnt believe in God or anything holy. I went over and saved Child and she looked at me and said, "We are leaving. NOW." We packed up our stuff and headed out to go find some less-actives. During that time we happened to end up at the beach. Child looked at me and said, "Can I just have one moment?" I looked and her and said, "Go for it" We both walked out on the sand and just felt the peace and calmness of the sea. I let the breeze hit me and I felt the anxiety, stress and pain of the mission leave me. The ocean is a great place to go to when you are feeling weighed down. I think it might be one of my favorite places in Bulgaria. Were going today there actually to go see the huge lighthouse. Yaaay!

In other news, were not really working with anyone except this lady named Diana. Shes a sweet lady. She always puts her hand on my knee when my leg begins to bop up and down, up and down lol. It annoys the heck out of her hehehe. The members here in Varna are really legit and very nice. I love it. I can actually feel the spirit in church, its amazing. I havent felt that in a long time...probably, a year? Ive missed it. I can really understand a lot more than I used to. I get about 80% of what is said in church now, its glory. I can actually sit and listen and not just zone out for 3 hours. I love it.

So get this, for language study, I read, "здрач" which means, "Twilight" Hahahah! Yep! Im reading Twilight in bulgarian, its so funny. Its easy to read because I get the gist of it and its interesting to see how they translate certain things and pick up some slang that I hear out on the street. Its so fun.

Hmm, nothing really else going down here. The work is slow at the moment. We are having a huge halloween party this week and we are making a pinante! Holla! Its gonna be fun! Im looking forward to it. Child and I are rocking it up. Shes so chill and doesnt freak out about things like Loss would do. I mean, worrying is fine but when it gets to the extreme? I cant handle it. However, Loss and I hear from each other everyday and I miss her a ton. Shes definitely a best friend for life.

Anyways, thats my email for this week. I love you all and you are in my thoughts.

-Sister Kinkead

P.S. - Thanks for the card madre! Im sure Ill receive it soon

Email: October 17th

Hey everyone!

I was pretty psyched to check my email today! 17 birthday emails! Holla! Lots of pictures, videos and news!! So much is going on! Thank you SOOO MUCH everyone. Really. I appreciate it. I dont get anything as a missionary and its good to just hear from family and friends as to whats going on in the life back in America. Thank you, thank you and as the bulgarians would say, "Мерси" aka Merci in french. I dont know why they say merci here but..they do.

So Im with Sister Child here in sunny beach! Aka Varna. Its a pretty sick city and I can tell thats its rockin during the summer time. Tourist central yo. I went to the black sea and it was really cool! I havent been to a beach since I was like...14. Its been awhile. Child is a good companion. Shes been showing me all around and we've been trying to find people because we have no investigators at the moment. At times Im homesick for Sofia and the awesome investigators that we have there, especially Way. I called him this week to see how he was doing. He answered the phone and was so excited to hear from me. We talked for a good 15 minutes or so. He told me he learned how to pray in chinese and hes been reading the BOM. Hes so legit!! He told me that he was so glad to hear from me and that it "filled" his heart. AWWWWWWWW. Way is so precious and tender to me. At the end of the convo he told me how he tried to study in America but they declined him because he was older than 26 (hes 32). I think that was a hint of some sort...lol...but I still love him and I know he will get baptized soon!

The language...its still getting me down at times. Being with a groupie and seeing how much theyve improved from the MTC really makes me think where I should be in the language. Child and I are abooout the same page when it comes to the language but she can understand better at times and sometimes Im just stuttering to get out sentences. I get so flustered and scatterbrained when someone stops on the street and DOES want to talk to me. What do I say now?! What do I say that will make them want to meet with us?! How do I say this word in bulgarian?!?! AHHHHH. Its FRUSTRATING lol. Since Im new in the ward I got up and talked about myself and bore testimony. It comes when Im calm and I want to bear testimony but anything other than that? You can just forget bulgarian lol because it wont come. Ugggggggggh. The ward is really cool, I like them. This girl named Deedee has really taken to me. She looks 17 but is 27 lol. Apparently shes hard to get to know but she was by my side ready to talk. Its interesting. Hopefully I can get to know her more. Hmm what else? Creepers all around here in Varna. Child has been hit on a lot lol...I love it, they dont ever really mess with me. Good thing too. I remember when a guy in Sofia tried kissing my hand. I yanked it away and told him, No, no no no! That is not the way! lol.

Its winter here, thats for sure. Its like a hurricane outside right now. The winds are BLOWING, the rain is pouring, its freezing and I hope the black sea gets wild and overtakes Varna so I have an epic story to tell hehehehe. I just need something to happen!

Oh! this lady gave me her scarf the other day while I was talking to her about the book of mormon. Im actually wearing it right now..its real nice and comfy...even smells good too. Bulgarians, sometimes they can show some hospitality lol..

Well, I love you all, have a good week! Ima keep keepin' on here! Love YOU!

-Sister Kinkead