Email: January 25th

Hey all,

Sorry I havent been responding to a lot of you through emails or letters - I really have NO TIME. Some of you, I dont think, realize that. Sorry! I will respond once I get into Bulgaria and have a lot more time to write emails and what not.  

So! I leave next week on tuesday for Bulgaria! I leave the MTC around 5 am and will be taking off at 8:35 am. Soooo...I should be making a phone call to you mom and dad around 9:15 am eastern time. Give or take 30 minutes...depends on how fast I can get through security and what not. Ill be flying to New York and then from New York, VIENNA AUSTRIA! AHH! SO NUTS!  And get this...we're in Vienna from 8:30 am - 3:20 pm :| Oh Manle! (Bulgarian for "Oh my..") Im not sure what the heck we'll do for all those hours hah. Then we fly to BULGARIA! We arrive in at 6 pm and I think we wont do much other than have dinner and then get situated for bed. I am way psyched. I hear the first/second day you go out with your new companion and contact. Oh boy lol. I dont know if Im ready haha.

Last week the TRC went great. I didnt speak too much, I did a good amount of bearing my testimony while Sister Speth would anwered questions BUT the spirit was definitely there and you could feel it. We committed our investigator to be baptized and she said yes! Hehehe. Sister Speth and I are awesome! ;)  

Teaching the new missionaries went great!! We had to begin teaching an investigator infront of all kind of new missionaries and the investigator really liked us and asked really good questions. Afterwards Sister Speth and I felt really good about it. It pumped us up. Experiences like that always make you feel closer to your companion :)

This past week, in all honesty, has sucked. I am SOOO burnt out from the MTC. Im not gonna lie or sugar coat it. I am so ready to be out of here. Ive only been confined for 2 months..I cant imagine what it would be like to be sentenced 30 years in prison...I think I would kill myself lol. No lie. Anyway...lol... ya.. this week has been a challenge. Satan is really pushing my buttons RIGHT before I leave. Bah. Im holding strong though and Im sure Ill feel a lot better once we walk out of this place to leave for the airport lol.  

So..a lot of people have been emailing me like they have never read my blog or email...Jordanne Leake being one of them, can you add her to the email list mom? Thanks :)

Some other people have asked me what I do all day, to tell in detail what a missionary does at the MTC. Here it is! Ready!? We get up, go to breakfast, class, lunch, gym, class, dinner, class and then we go to sleep and do it all over again the next day. Pretty exciting huh? lol.  

Man...re-reading this email makes me sound pretty bitter but Im not lol. Im just ready to spread my wings and fly...fly far away from here lol.

Jaye - Sister Child had NO time to email you back last week because her time ran out while writing to family. She said she would definitely email you today - if she had time. Dont worry. She loved your email. She said your email was real cute and that she thought you were way cool. I told her you were into Mountain biking, running and soccer and she was like, "No WAY! thats so COOL!" hehehehe. Sister Child is a VERY active person, she does all KINDS of stuff. Shes so fun. 

Hmm...what else? No more writing letters. Just emails and dearelders. Im not sure how the whole dearelder thing works for Bulgaria but I do know they charge for stampage on it so....ya. I CAN get packages and I wouldnt mind receiving a care package from my family with Degree deoderant, Crest toothpaste, Peanut butter and...there were some other things but Ill let you know when I get over there lol.

All right all, have a good week. Im not sure when you will hear from me next. I dont know if Ill be able to email next week. So..until then! God Speed.

CECTPA KNHKEND

Email: January 18th

Hey all!

This past week went by faaasssst! It feels like I just emailed you all yesterday lol. Hows everyone and everything? Ive noticed the letters have stopped coming...*eyes* Hmmm lol but! Im getting some dearelders and lots of emails :)

So last thursday Sister Speth and I taught in bulgarian again. It went...all right. I understood most of what was being said but I lacked in the vocabulary part. I wasnt sure how to respond and where to put my words. Bulgarian grammer is SO annoying lol..ah well. We did well. Our investigators would talk in bulgarian to each other and then laugh. It kind of peeved me not knowing exactly what they were saying or laughing about. Probably laughing at our horrible bulgarian lol.

Exciting News! Jeffrey R. Holland came to speak last week. He is INTENSE! but way good! He talked about not even thinking about going home and just doing the work. My favorite quote from that talk is, "Do you love him?! DO. YOU. LOVE. HIM?! THEN FEED HIS SHEEP!" Hahahahah! He was seriously yelling. It was like receiving a hug but also a kick in the stomach from him. He really motivates you but also makes you self-reflect on your desire of serving a mission and what your real intentions are. It was AWESOME. Our district had a little testimony meeting after that and everyone was crying - even Sister Speth. Sister Speth has a hard time letting emotions out. Shes told me that she doesnt cry. Its a sign of weakness. But! She did..and I could tell that the spirit really touched all of us. Every one of us talked about how we love each other and how we have all become a big family. Its so true :)

I only got ONE letter this past week and it was from the MTC. True Story. It was addressed to Sister Speth and I and we have been chosen to demonstrate infront of 100 new missionaries how to begin teaching!! YA! Crazy huh??? They have paid actors/actresses come in and the veteran MTC missionaries *Sister Speth and I* get to talk/teach this actor while the newbies watch. So intense! lol. Im excited but way nervous. My district and teachers said they may come down and watch :| lol. Sister Speth and I had to go to a training meeting for this yesterday and I learned soooo much. It was really good. Im glad Ive had this opportunity.

Friday afternoon we learned 100+ bulgarian words in ONE afternoon. Whew! My head was hurting after that one. Im still trying to memorize them lol......along with my..500 other words Im supposed to be memorizing lol.

Sister Pantigoso is still sick. The doctors arent really sure whats wrong with her. They thought it was her gallbladder but now they have no idea. She may get delayed or even re-assigned. Pray for her well being.

Olivia - Nicole Warstler said you were getting onto Josh about writing me - THANK YOU! lol. I STILL havent heard from him.

Hillary - My teachers have now decided to not show me my blog and get THIS. 2 of my teachers, Brother Mattinson and Brother Purvis are now FOLLOWING my blog...but they wont let me see it. Go figure lol.

A fun thing Sister Child and I have been doing is giving each other back massages every night. Its so glory! Ive missed getting my back rubbed by Cy or Ange lol but now I have Sister Child!! :D hahaha. Sister Child is awesome. Her and I really click. The other night her and I gave Sister Pantigoso an Ambien HAHAHAHAHA! Sister Pantigoso got so loopy and she was so high...Sister Child and I were laughing way past quiet time hehehe. Pwhaha!

Staying Alive by the Beegees and Its the end of the world by REM has been playing in my head everyday this past week :| I MISS MUSIC! Jaye, I hope youre working on collecting all the most hot new music for me. I need to stay updated lol. In 14 days I will be able to listen to music! *Church music anyway* and I am so stoked! hehehe. Mmm music.

Since no one has sent me a calling card, I have decided Ill try and get one here at the MTC. I also found 2 huge holes in my duffle bag/suitcase...so I think I need to buy a new suitcase annnnd I need to start putting things together that I will be sending home. Be looking for it.

This should be the LAST WEEK I can receive letters. After this week? Dont worry about it..just dearelder me or email me. I dont want to leave and still have letters coming to me at the MTC. I fly out February 1st and will be arriving in Bulgaria february 2nd? Im not sure. I get my travel plans THIS FRIDAY! YAY!

Well all! Stay safe, remember who you are and have a wonderful week. I love you! God Speed.

CECTPA KNHKEND

Email: January 11th

Hey Everyone!!

WOW! I have received a lot of emails from people I didn't think I would hear from! Thank you SO much for the emails! Along with the DearElders and letters. Because of time restraint on the computer, I will not be able to email you back BUT I promise I will email you back once I'm in Bulgaria. WHICH! BY THE WAY! I will be leaving for Bulgaria in 21 DAYS! 3 WEEKS! AHHH!!! I am SO ready to go...well...Im certaintly not ready to speak the bulgarian language or go straight up to random people and just be like, 'Hey! Wanna hear an awesome message?!' lol but I'll be fine!

The TRC went great this past week. Sister Speth and I taught the first lesson in Bulgarian and it was pretty funny. I couldn't help but looking at our investigator and just laughing at times. Hehehe. What fun. Bulgarian is coming quicker as the time goes on which Im glad for. I hate stutterting when Im trying to speak to my teachers.

Its been a pretty crazy week here. LOTS of naps and rest. Mmmm!! Before anyone gets onto me about napping..let me tell you why. Our whole district has been sick except for me. Bwhahaha. Anyways, Sister Speth and the other 3 sisters wanted to take naps during gym time or PS/CS time..soo..ya..we did. It has been GLORIOUS! I love and miss my naps..mmmmm. Lol. Dont worry mom, I havent missed any class time so Im fine :P On top of us all being sick, Sister Pantigoso was sent to the ER the other night due to pains in her stomach. The nurses thought it was symptoms of Appendicitus but it was actually with her gallbladder. She sees a doctor today about if she has to have surgery to get it taken out. Pray for her. Seriously. We dont want her to get delayed and have to stay behind here at the MTC. That would be horrid!

I just want to say one thing about my district - I love them. A lot. The sisters are so much fun and the elders are truly my little brothers. I tell them everyday that I love them and that they are my little brothers that I have to watch over hehehe. Im not sure how well they like it..but I know they feel the closeness of our district and love within in.

Last night was EPIC. I have a funny story to tell. Last night we had Personal study and then we had story time with Brother Mattinson. Well after all that was said and done, Brother Mattinson left early to watch some basketball game. Sister Child and I were BURNT OUT. Our minds did not want to work anymore. I was so done with bulgarian and my mind couldnt focus on reading anymore talks out of the ensign. I sat in my chair and then all of the sudden, Sister Child marks me with a dry-erase marker. Im like, 'What?!' So I grab a marker, take off my jacket, roll up my sleeves and go after to mark her! HAHA! We laughed and giggled and decided to have an official marker war. We went to our corners and Elder Young introduced us to the class and then we began round one! HAHAHA. Mom - dont hate me. Lol. We had 3 rounds, leaving me with 19 marks, one on the neck and Sister Child with 14 marks. It was SO much fun. I think Sister Speth was judging me but I didnt care. It let out a ton of stress and energy that was just boiling up in me. Seriously.If you knew what this place did to you after being confined to it for 6 weeks? You wouldnt judge me lol. It was a lot of fun hehehe.

Wanna know something else funny? Apparently I snore so loud that ALL of my roommates now have ear plugs and sleep with them in HAHA! My bad. Hehehehe. Sister Pantigoso will yell "KINKEY!" during the night if Im getting too loud. Ahhhh. Love. I can feel it! Hahahaha. I love her.

So!! How is everyone doing? Life good out there in the 'real world'? lol. Where the heck is Joshua Farrar?! I wrote him a letter and he hasnt responded back at ALL. Geeeeeeze. Someone tell him to get on it!

What else...went to the temple again today...that was nice.

Ryan, you need to dearleder me and finish telling me your story! You cant just write to me about something and leave me hanging! Noooot cool! lol

Jaye - You better write Sister Child back!

Well..I need to get off here. I really have no time today to write letters so dont be offended if I dont write to you this week. Including you, mom and dad. Sorry! Hope this email will suffice! :)

Love,

CECTPA KNHKEND

Email: January 4th

Hey everyone!!

Wow! So many people emailed me this week! Hopefully I have enough time to tell you all about this week hehehe. By the way, I LOVE receiving emails, letters and dearelders! Ryan, I got your letter yesterday and I jumped for joy! It was good to hear from you. My teachers were looking at me funny lol. Also, Megan, if you want my emails directed to you, give my mom your email address. :)

Ok SO! It has been a GLORIOUS week! A lot better from when you last heard from me. The language has been coming a lot faster for me this week. We learned some of the most hard concepts of grammer structure and what not this week but I prevailed! I never got aggravated once with myself and its been good. I actually caught onto all of the concepts faster than some of the missionaries. That felt good. I have felt like Ive been behind everyone this whole time!

This thursday is our first time to teach a WHOLE lesson in Bulgarian. I was kind of worried about it but Ive learned to just laugh instead of cry hahahaha!! Sister Speth and I will be fine :) Pray for us!!

I got an email from a sister in Bulgaria. She said that we need to send our blow dryers/straightners and travel irons home. Apparently they blow up when used in Bulgaria. So...look for a package from me mom. I'll be sending some things home. Also!! President Roth is VERY lenient with the rules. We are allowed to use facebook, listen to any kind of music and watch movies ont he mission. I quote, "Listen to wordly music if thats what gets you out of bed to go and do the work" HAH! When I heard that I thought that was pretty cool...but....Ive prayed on it and Ive pondered it and I think I will obey the white handbook mission rules. No facebook, no movies, and no wordly music. Obey with exactness, ya?? :)

Tomorrow I will be starting my 6th week here at the MTC. Can you believe that? Its flown but at the same time its gone by kind of slow. Im anxious to get out of this confinment lol! Also..Im looking forward to some different food. Everything tastes the same here at the MTC. Who ever said the food here at the MTC was a liar...or either their own mom was a bad cook! hahaha :P

Hillary - Im glad to hear that my blog is a hit. Can you please dear elder me the link/title of the blog? My teachers want to look it up so we can all check it out hehehehe! Hit me up!

Today we got a chance to go to the temple for only our second time! We havent been able to go the past 2 weeks. Christmas, Cleaning and then the New years. Blah! It was a good experience, again. Im glad :)

So this past week I read a wonderful talk given by Dieter F Uchtdorf. "Continue in Patience" Wow. It really hit home for me. If you can read it, DO! I can print as many talks off as I want to from lds.org here. I love it! I print a ton off and read them during personal study :)

Angela - Sister Child and I quote Salad fingers and 'I like tutrle' BWHAHAHAHA!

Oh by the way...I think Sister Child is going to write Jaye a letter today so look out Jaye! If she does write you, like she said she would, write her back. Ya? :)

Well..I could go on and on and on about how much Ive grown but I need to jet! Choose the right everyone, remember who you are and love life! God Speed

Sister Kinkead