Email: March 28th

YO! Sup people? Im still kickin it here in Bowl-gaaaaaah-reeee-uhhh. Check it. Haha.

This week was AWESOME. First off...last p-day all 6 of us missionaries went up to Batak. Its a middle of no where town that has some statues and a lake to look at lol. We all headed up there to see the statues. We had to hike this hill and once we got up, Elder Myrick decided that it would be cool to wander off in random fields/woods. We all followed. I had a feeling that we would get lost but I just shrugged it off. We ended up walking for a good 7 miles. We were completely lost lol... We found a road and noticed that we were closer to a town called Pestera than Batak. Pestera was forever away from where Batak was at. I didnt mind the first hour and a half because Bennett *Hes a kid who looks like Harry Potter lol* talked the whole time. I gave him my life story and showed him my album of pictures. I got to a picture with Bryces cousin and I. He was like :O! I know that kid! Were great friends! Hes way cool! I looked at him and said, "Well...thats Bryces cousin so...ya..lol" Bennett thought that was so cool that he emailed Kellett about it hahaa. It was a good convo. I bonded a lot with the 5 other missionaries but eventually I got sick of being lost. A dump truck came by and Elder Davis held out money for him to stop. He didnt. We were all hungry, tired and cranky. We wanted to get back. Time was ticking away for P-day. A few minutes later the truck comes on by again. This time Davis stands in the middle of the road. HAHA. Fnially the guy stops and lets us get in the BACK of his cement dump truck....ya... LOL! SO! I can now say that I have rode in the back of a cement dump truck in the middle of no where, Bulgaria. How many of you can say that? It was intense. I got it on film! Hehehehe.

Moving on from that crazy p-day, I got to go up to Sofia for passport work. I got to see all my groupies!!! It was SOOOO GOOD! I have missed them all so much. It was awesome to just laugh and giggle about our mission. It was a good day.

Sister Killian and I are now in our new apartment. Our water heater is broken so guess what? Ive been taking ice cold showers. Heck ya lol.

This week we went streetboarding with the elders twice and had a lot of success. I met a bulgarian man who graduated at.....wait for it...OHIO STATE! ya...Crazy huh?! He says he loves Ohio! I was so excited to hear that..a bulgarian at ohio state! Weird...but really cool. He was really nice. He told me he already had a book of mormon but would get it out and read it. Another man, Stoyane, came up to us. He seemed very hesitant about our message but kept talking to us. He took our brochure but didnt talk about meeting up again. I could tell he was a homeless guy but he didnt ask for money and he seemed normal. I liked that a lot because all homeless people beg and beg you for money. Ive gotten so used to it that I dont feel bad for just walking past them when they ask me. I know its not Christ-like but....everyone is poor and everyone is in need of a job. I cant hand ALL of my money out hehe. The next day Sister Killian and I were in the park surveying, we stopped to look at some statue that was written in Japanese. Right as we turn around Stoyane is walking up to us. We began to walk around with him and talk about life, the church, the Book of Mormon and just asking questions about his life. He can understand english but when it comes to speaking it hes not so good so I would speak in english and he would answer in Bulgarian and sometimes in english. He is an AWESOME guy. Hes looking for the truth and wants to find God. He told us he was athiest but we ended up talking for 3 hours!! It was SO good though. I told him we had something for him and gave him a Book of Mormon. He accepted it and was very excited to read it. We invited him to church and he CAME! He showed up and was excited to ask me his questions! He said he stopped reading at the part where Nephi was building a ship. Hes AWESOME! He even shaved for church! When you feel good inside, you want your inner self to feel good. Ya? We set up to have another appointment with him that same day and the elders came. We taught the first lesson. It was kind of discouraging because the lesson was completely bulgarian so I felt like I had no idea what was going on even though I was listening for key words. It was a really good lesson though. Stoyane said the closing prayer and committed to the second lesson. Hes excited! Im excited!

Another investigator came to church yesterday as well! Margarita. Her and I talked some and I actually understood everything she was saying to me, without Killian being there! It was sooo cool. FINALLY! I can get to know people and not feel so out of the loop hehe. She asked ME for a Book of Mormon so I gave her one and then she invited Sister Killian and I over for DINNER! MY FIRST D.A! Hahahaha. We learned about family home evening in RS and she said she wanted to have dinner and then family night with us!!! :D:D:D:D!!! That is AWESOME. Shes not even a member and shes applying it to her life. She lives alone and her son is in Germany living so I can see how she wants some company. She is really cool too!!

I love how ALL the success comes RIGHT before next transfer. Im 99% sure Im leaving Plovdiv and I am sad to leave these 2 people behind. *Sighs* Pray for them!

All 6 of us missionaries with some investigators and people from church went bowling saturday night for Yvonnes birthday. It was SOO FUN. I have 5 leb to my name so Davis and I made a bet that if he lost the first game and I won, I got 5 leb from him but if I lost and he won, he got all my money. I won the first game and won his money. We betted again the second game..I lost the 5 leb I had just made. Im pretty sure we were gambling lolol but...it made the game much more fun and we ended up with what we started with so...we didnt lose or gain anything hahahaha. I bowled a 113 *brushes shoulder off* I think thats pretty good for me hahaha. I felt like a normal person which made me homesick. it was hard to get back into my skirt and go back to work..I wanted to party it up. Im ok now though hehe.

Well all, have a good week and pray for Stoyane and Margarita! I love you all!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: March 21st

Umm...lets just say this past week has been crazy!!! Too many stories and really, no time to tell them. Soooo, ask me in 15 months, ya?! lol. But seriously, no time right now.

Mom - I got your package! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Mom...I love you... :) You're awesome! Oh and..my ward is great. At first I was a little hesitant but Ive really grown to love them. They are strong people.

Dad - Youre awesome. You send me an email of your personal study and its great. I know it may NOT be your personal study but it sounds like it when you type it up for me hehehe. I told Elder Jones about you. He said his dad would copy and paste all kinds of scriptures and talks to him in his email hehehe. Funny. I love you Dad! Youre awesome! Keep holding strong.

Sister Killian and I are moving apartments and transfers are in 2 weeks so..we'll be packing up twice. Annoying lol. I think I will be leaving Plovdiv and going to another city...I have a feeling I might be going to Sofia..I would prefer Varna right now though. Right on the beach, not too big of a city, at least I dont think so and...ya. A nice change up. I need it, I think lol...

Killian and I met with Yvonne's extended family this past week, which means we went down to gypsy land! My first time! It was a really good visit. Its WAY poor down in gypsy land but since everyone is UBER poor they are SO nice to you. I had people wave to me, smile and say Hi. That shocked me. People dont do that in the city lol. It felt good. I would smile and return the Hi :D. People do like us! lol. We met with Yvonnes 2 aunts and 2 cousins in their apartment that was being renevated which means...we sat on a cement block and read out of the Book of Mormon as they smoked hehe. We bore testimony and I felt the spirit! It was so awesome! They were really nice people and I think they listened to what we had to say with an open heart. Im hoping Killian and I can meet them again and maybe teach them. I dont mind going back to gypsy land..as long as Yvonne is there with us...if we didnt have a guy with us..ehhh..it would be a little sketchy hehe.

Bulgarian is starting to click more and more each day and Im loving it. I used to hate learning bulgarian but not so much now lol.

WELL! Sister Kinkead is still alive, thank goodness and trudging right along! Pray for me! Have a great week all. I love you!!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: March 14th

This week flew right on by. It started out really slow but it really picked up the pace. Killian has been stressing out lately over little things...*shrugs* got me...so she was a little quiet in the beginning of this week but we talked and I prayed she would jump back into her normal self and she has. Good thing. Wakling everywhere in silence is awkward...I can imagine its like being married to someone for so long and you go to bed at night, side by side but yet you feel miles apart. Lol. Ya, it was kind of like that...even though Im not married and have ever had an experience like that...lol

Anyways lol.... Nikki, the muslim guy who showed up to church last week, showed up to the church for a lesson. He called us and told us to come outside of the church because he had something for us. I was like...Uhhhhh...I am not getting kidnapped lol. So we walk outside and he gives both Killian and I flowers LOL. He then told Killian that he loved her a lot and couldnt stop LOLOLOL. I was LAUGHING. The funny thing is, I understood it all and needed no translation from Killian LOL. It was SO awkward. Between Killian and I, she attracts all the guys..not me, whew lol. We told the Elders and they blocked him from calling us and told us to ignore him. We havent seen him since. Hahahahahha. I love it.

Mom, I got everything ready for so you can go get a background check for me. I have a bulgarian form saying you have my consent and I have an english form saying you have my consent. I stapled it together and mailed it off. Not sure how long it will take to get to the US. Getting those forms only took me.....the whole day. I had to hire a translator and I had to talk back and forth with the notary. Oh my gosh. I am so glad its over lol.

I taught my english class this past week again. I taught body parts and we played "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" HAHAHA. It was SO fun to watch bulgarians struggles to find the words in english and do the motions. They loved it though! I lvoe my english class. Ive become so close with all of them.

We went to a hospital this past week trying to find this woman who is really sick. We went to 2 hospitals and had no luck of finding her...we will continue our adventure of trying to find her this week. BUT I want to say one thing about Bulgarian hospitals.... :| They...are...SCARY. They are like hospitals you see in horror movies. Ugh. I cant even imagine what it would be like to be admitted into one..I think I would rather die than be taken to a bulgarian hospital lol. I told Killian if anything happens just let me suffer and call Sister Roth LOL. Seriously!

Sister Killian and I havent found anyone who wants to learn from us but we set up a time to meet with Yvonne, the 20 yr old gypsy boy from our branch. We met with him and shared our testimonies of a mission and how it can bless your life. He has the desire and he really wants to go but for bulgarians to be able to go and serve they AT LEAST have to have 1000 lev which means 700 US dollars. He doesnt have it. He works a lot to pay for all of his family's bills..I think his parents dont do anything and live of their son. Its sad. But..it happens all the time here. It touched my heart. He really wants to go but he doesnt have the money. I bore my testimony about how hard it was for me to be able to come here to Bulgaria but with the Lords help he provided and made a way for me. I told him that the Lord loved him and watched over him constantly. I cried. Hehe. I felt the spirit so strong though and I know Yvonne did too. He got a little uncomfortable so he laughed a little but I know he took my testimony to heart. That same day, we had a brancch activity where we all got together to eat and socialize. Yvonne waved me over to talk to him and he told me that I was a really nice person. He said, 'You are so nice, Ive known this the whole time too. The first time I saw you, I knew that you were a really nice person. Before you came here, Killian was cold..and strange...but shes warmed up. Im going to miss you when you leave Plovdiv..." My heart went out to him! I SO needed that. I feel so WORHTLESS here in Bulgaria because I cant speak the language but to hear Yvonne say that to me? I AM making a difference in lifes here...even if its the members!! It made my NIGHT. I love that boy! He asked if I ever worried about my family back home. I told him I didnt because I knew the Lord was watching over them and blessing them because of my service. He didnt say anything for a few seconds and then he said, "I worry about my family...I went to Belgium for 2 months and I worried so much...." I know Yvonne asked me that question because hes thinking if he could leave his family for 2 years. I know that my answer comforted him. :)

Yesterday the Elders got a call from President Roth. He wants Yvonne to be a mini-missionary. WOW. The Lord is working!!! Yvonne got WAY excited. Its so cool to see everything unravel before our eyes as we work with Yvonne. :) THE CHURCH IS TRUE.

Have a great week all. I love you AND if I dont email you back? Its because I have limited time and writing my main email takes up most of the time..sorry. I try to get back though. It may just take a few weeks lol.

Email: March 8th

Hello from Bulgaria!

This week was long but it went by so fast at the same time, which Im glad for because this week was BLAH.

Sister Killian and I tracted into a CRAZY family. A crazy mother, a stable daughter with 2 little ones and a random man who is the family's "friend". We tracted into them and they let us in because they had known past missionaries who were really cool. We went into their house which had an OVERBEARING smell of smoke. They sat us down in their kitchen/smoke room. Ugh. All the windows and doors were closed. We sat and talked for a bit while the mother, her daughter and random male friend made 5 homemade cigs for themselves and smoked them. Thats like...15 cigs being smoked within an hour right infront of Killian and I. I got to the point where I could barely breathe. I began to cough. I wanted to gasp for breath but...I would be inhaling a ton more smoke so I tried my best to breathe as best I could lol. The little boys they had were the cutest little boys. One of them, Sander, really took to me. He held out his arms, wanting a hug and then climbed up on my lap and stayed there. At times he would play with my hair and smile at me. He was SOOOOOO cute. I couldve taken him home with me. I got a picture with him. Ill have to send it sometime. Precious little boy. Right before we left the apartment, the random male gave Killian a kiss on the neck :| :| ;|. Uhhh....lol. Im just glad he wasnt near me lol. We went back the next day to try and give them a Book of Mormon but they werent having it. They just wanted to talk more. They offered us some herbal tea. I said no even though Im sure they didnt like that answer but you cant blame me ok? They would tap their cig buts into the sink and then throw their cigs INTO the sink, take out mugs FROM the sink, rinse them off and serve us tea FROM THEM :| Killian sipped her tea from the nasty mugs. I sat there thinking how grateful I was for saying no. Lol.... We dropped the family though. They arent progressing at all and the mother would drill us with overbearing questions and then get up in our faces and say, "How come its that way?! huh?! Why?!" She says that the church changes all the time and hasnt been the same. Killian and I think shes nuts but uh...ya...lol..

Moving right along...I discovered that Strawberry Milkshakes EXIST in Bulgaria! Killian and I went to Mcdonalds the other night and asked them if they had them and THEY DID! I got one and it satisfied every thing I needed in life at that moment...ahh..strawberry milkshakes. Nothing is better. By the way, Mcdonalds is SO good here in Bulgaria. Its legit. I love it. GOOD food. Believe it or not.

We went streetboarding this week and got bashed 3 times. I just smiled. Some guy got up in our faces, pointed his finger at us and told us that we were stupid. Lol. I love it. However! We did meet 3 muslim guys who were really nice to us. I have to say something about muslims - they are THEE nicest people here in Bulgaria. Muslims will talk to yuo even if they dont believe in the church. They respect what youre doing and they are SO hospitable. I love them. I think muslims are the ONLY nice people Ive met here lol. When I go home, I will definitely be sticking up for muslims. Of course Americans have their own views on them for many reasons BUT seriously. come to Bulgaria and meet some legit muslims ok? They are a worlds different from the ones we imagine. TRUE STORY. My love goes out to the muslims.

Ok so anyways, one of the muslim guys we met invited us to meet him at a cafe and talk. We hesitantly said ok and met up with him the following day at this place on the Glav. It was like an awkward date all over again. He knew know english and Killian and I can barely speak bulgarian sooooo...we sipped our herbal tea in awkwardness lol. We invited him to church and HE CAME. I was very surprised. Everyone we invite to church never comes. Killian and I are thinking that this guy wants a green card. I mean, hes a nice guy but he doesnt really want to talk about the church even though he came to sacrament. He asked me if I liked muslims or christians better. Uuuuuh......yaaaaa. He left right after sacrament before we could even say anything...We'll see what happens. Lol.

I got really sick this past week which really threw me off my schedule. Ugh. Achy bones and a headache. It was horrible. I got a blessing from Myrick and now Im all better. Yay!

George, a 70 yr old from my english class gave me a Martinizi bracelet! Martinizi is this holiday here and you wear red and white bracelets until you see a bloom on a tree and then you put your bracelet on the tree. Im keeping all of mine lol. Anyways, George and I are TIGHT. He is so awesome. He came up to me after english and said to me, "Briana....Briana is on my mind all the time..." Lol. Oh george. I got a picture with him and my english class. I love them all to death! Theyre awesome people.

Killian and I continue to read from the dictionary to our blind bulgarian teacher. 90% of the english words I dont even know how to pronounce or know how to define...lol....its interesting lol.

Well all, the work goes on here in Plovdiv! Have a good week. I love and miss you all! Ciao!

-Sister Kinkead