Yo.
The title of my email would be quoting a Miley Cyrus song, Yes. I like that song..and maybe even Miley Cyrus, dont judge me. All in all, the mission IS a climb.
I had a spiritual experience this past week. Us sisters have been meeting with a guy named Mario. Hes 27, can speak english and was baptized this past December. Hes a cool kid but he struggles with life at times, I think. We met with him this past week to talk about patriarchal blessings and the importance of them. He had never heard about them at all and I could tell he was very intrigued by the whole thing. At the end of our lesson, I could tell that he was getting quieter and quieter and not saying much. For some reason, I had this feeling to bear testimony about repentance and how hard it can be sometimes. I then began to share about my personal experience with repentance and how at times, we have to make a trip to the bishop about mistakes weve made. My mouth was saying all of this and my head was like, "wow, wait a second..why am I saying this?" but it felt right and I knew it was the spirit. I felt that he was struggling with some things and I needed to be "real" with him. Ya know? I know he appreciated it. Afterwards, Sister Loss said she was feeling the same thing but wasnt sure if she shouldve said something or not. I was grateful that I made that dive to tell him what I really felt and how we can be worthy to get our patriarchal blessing or to go to the temple. None of us our perfect. We've all been there from time to time. It was a really cool experience.
This past week Ive been trying to ask myself what lessons is Heavenly Father trying to teach me? I believe hes really drilling long-suffering and patience into me. The mission is no easy thing. The mission I envisioned is nothing like what it actually is. Sure youre helping people but its so much more than that. You learn so much about yourself and who you really are and what you want to become. Because the mission has become hard for me, Ive started to talk with a psychologist located in Germany to help me relieve stress and organize my thoughts and tell me whats really going on with me since shes outside of the situation. We talked this past week and she went over some breathing techniques for me to use when I start to feel overwhelmed. Im not sure if it will really help me but Im giving it a try. Shes sincere and a wonderful lady. I like talking to her.
At times I feel like Im a teenager again who is mad at their parents for making them do something. At times I wonder why Im doing what Im doing and if Im really making a difference here in Bulgaria. I then remember its where Im supposed to be and its where my father in heaven wants me to be. Of course, the natural man inside of me says, 'I dont want to do it!'. I feel like Im the teen who is saying no to their dad. *Sigh* Im learning. I take it day by day.
I learned a really good lesson this week. Never touch something thats not yours lol. I am all out of contact solution and I dont have enough money for new contact solution because its 23 lev here. Ridiculous. Anyway, Ive been wearing my glasses for a few days now and out of one of those days, I decided I wanted to wear my contacts again. I knew that Sister Speth had contact solution and I thought it would be ok to just use some of hers this ONE TIME. She wouldnt notice and I would be able to wear my contacts. Well let me tell you something before I go on with the story - Sister Speth has this little machine she puts her contacts in along with her contact solution. The machine runs it all night and I thought, that it was to clean her contacts. Just keep that in mind. So anyway, I get my contact out, put it in my hand, pour some of her contact solution on my contact and then I put it in my eye. I began to SCREAM. My eye was BURNING. The pain was so great that my eye began to shut. I quickly took the contact out and washed my eye out thoroughly. After the burning calmed down I realized my eye was RED. Sister Loss was in the bathroom during this whole time and she says to me, "Whats wrong???" I look at her and say, "I used some of Sister Speths contact solution!" Loss looks at me and says, "I dont think thats contact solution..." I go to Sister Speth and tell her I did something wrong. She immediately looks at me eye, squints her eyes and says, "Did you use my contact solution?" I respond with a yes. She then says, "Kinkead! Thats NOT eye contact solution! Thats Hydrogen Peroxide!" Oh. Crap. Lol. Little did I know, she puts it in her little machine to make it into sterile saline for her because regular contact solution irritates her eyes. She brought the bottle to me and showed me how many times it said in bold letters, DO NOT PUT IN EYE. Lol. My eye is fine, Im not blind and Im pretty sure I have no scarring. Funny story eh? Ya..it hurt lol. I learned..dont touch anything thats not yours unless you ask Lol....
I had a list of things I wanted to write about but I left that list at home. Im pretty sure I hit all the things I wanted to though. Im sorry my emails can be downer at times but I cant sugar coat my experience. It is what it is.
Have a good week all. I love you and miss you!
-Sister Kinkead
Monday, June 27, 2011
Email: June 20th
Hey all,
Whats kickin in the U.S. of A? Sofia, Bulgaria is still commy as ever. Lol. Im just joshin. Im in a really good mood this week. Things are looking up over here.
First off - Grandpa Velichko's house. We go over to this elderly mans house to visit with him for 2 hours each week. Hes really lonely and never got married. He was definitely a good looking man in his younger years - I dont get it. I think he just got caught up with taking care of his parents and never made time for himself. Oh selfless grandpa. Anyways, we went over this past week. Hes such a kidder. Him and I will point at each other and go, "Oooooo!" He will call me "Joyous Kinkead" and I will call him Dyado. Which means, grandpa in bulgarian lol. He loves it. Hes such a funny old man. He feeds us this nasty food everytime we go over there. Usually its crackers with butter slabbed on with sugar on top. Poor man is trying to make sugar cookies for us but Im afraid to say its nothing like sugar cookies. I never eat it. Actually, none of us sisters eat it lol. We all take little bags and slowly but discreetly shove the cookies in the bag Hahaha. Its horrible but true. I usually turn on his tango music as we talk. He loves it. This past week he wanted us to sing so we sang...Christmas hymns?! I didnt want to but Sister Speth and Sister Loss had a hankering too. Uhh..I dont know lol. He always hugs us when we leave and tells us how much he loves us hahaha. I love him. Hes my bulgarian grandpa. Good times at grandpas house.
Second - The Kyiv, Ukraine temple presidency came down to Bulgaria for a fireside this past week. I just want to say one thing - I MISS THE TEMPLE. If you live near a temple - GO! Go for me! I want to go so freaking bad.
Third - I have been working in primary lately. Its so much fun! The little kids here in Sofia love me and I love them. I really want to have my owns kids. Its made me kid hungry. Yesterday I made 4 new friends. Joseph, this little black boy (Its rare to see black people here) loves to hang around me and giggle. Hes so cute. Then theres David. Hes this little ukrainian 3 yr old who can only speak russian. Hes very shy but he warmed up to me after watching me for awhile. He then came over and gibbered russian to me. What a cutie. I want to take him home lol. Theres Ian who is from Utah but his mom is bulgarian so they are on vacation here. Hes 3 and he can speak english and bulgarian fluently. He followed me around all of primary and even after church. He told me that we were buddies and that he didnt want to be buddies with the other sisters. Just me! Hahaha! CUTE! I had a meeting with the President over the ward and during the meeting Ian would open the door, look at me and wave. I came out of the meeting and he was right there waiting for me. How cute is that?! Love him. Then theres precious Mya. Mya is 3 and for some reason she got really upset during primary yesterday. I wasnt sure what happened but the next thing I know is that the primary teacher is sitting infront of the door yelling at Mya and calling her a BAD GIRL in bulgarian. She was crying so hard that her little hands were in her mouth, her nose was going crazy with snot and she was gasping for breath. The teacher kept telling her she was BAD. This really bothered me. What the heck? I grabbed her, sat her down and rocked her while humming primary songs to her. Her cries began to cease and she eventually calmed down. Here and there you would hear a gasp of breath because she was still upset but she was definitely calming down. Her mother came to get her after primary but she didnt want to leave my arms. It amazed me how well I handled that situation and how easy the kids here just cling to me. I love them so much.
One of our investigators here, Toss, really likes me. He continues to call asking for me so he can tell me how beautiful my face is. Uhhhh....lol.
Anyways, thats about it. Have a good week all!
-Sister Kinkead
Whats kickin in the U.S. of A? Sofia, Bulgaria is still commy as ever. Lol. Im just joshin. Im in a really good mood this week. Things are looking up over here.
First off - Grandpa Velichko's house. We go over to this elderly mans house to visit with him for 2 hours each week. Hes really lonely and never got married. He was definitely a good looking man in his younger years - I dont get it. I think he just got caught up with taking care of his parents and never made time for himself. Oh selfless grandpa. Anyways, we went over this past week. Hes such a kidder. Him and I will point at each other and go, "Oooooo!" He will call me "Joyous Kinkead" and I will call him Dyado. Which means, grandpa in bulgarian lol. He loves it. Hes such a funny old man. He feeds us this nasty food everytime we go over there. Usually its crackers with butter slabbed on with sugar on top. Poor man is trying to make sugar cookies for us but Im afraid to say its nothing like sugar cookies. I never eat it. Actually, none of us sisters eat it lol. We all take little bags and slowly but discreetly shove the cookies in the bag Hahaha. Its horrible but true. I usually turn on his tango music as we talk. He loves it. This past week he wanted us to sing so we sang...Christmas hymns?! I didnt want to but Sister Speth and Sister Loss had a hankering too. Uhh..I dont know lol. He always hugs us when we leave and tells us how much he loves us hahaha. I love him. Hes my bulgarian grandpa. Good times at grandpas house.
Second - The Kyiv, Ukraine temple presidency came down to Bulgaria for a fireside this past week. I just want to say one thing - I MISS THE TEMPLE. If you live near a temple - GO! Go for me! I want to go so freaking bad.
Third - I have been working in primary lately. Its so much fun! The little kids here in Sofia love me and I love them. I really want to have my owns kids. Its made me kid hungry. Yesterday I made 4 new friends. Joseph, this little black boy (Its rare to see black people here) loves to hang around me and giggle. Hes so cute. Then theres David. Hes this little ukrainian 3 yr old who can only speak russian. Hes very shy but he warmed up to me after watching me for awhile. He then came over and gibbered russian to me. What a cutie. I want to take him home lol. Theres Ian who is from Utah but his mom is bulgarian so they are on vacation here. Hes 3 and he can speak english and bulgarian fluently. He followed me around all of primary and even after church. He told me that we were buddies and that he didnt want to be buddies with the other sisters. Just me! Hahaha! CUTE! I had a meeting with the President over the ward and during the meeting Ian would open the door, look at me and wave. I came out of the meeting and he was right there waiting for me. How cute is that?! Love him. Then theres precious Mya. Mya is 3 and for some reason she got really upset during primary yesterday. I wasnt sure what happened but the next thing I know is that the primary teacher is sitting infront of the door yelling at Mya and calling her a BAD GIRL in bulgarian. She was crying so hard that her little hands were in her mouth, her nose was going crazy with snot and she was gasping for breath. The teacher kept telling her she was BAD. This really bothered me. What the heck? I grabbed her, sat her down and rocked her while humming primary songs to her. Her cries began to cease and she eventually calmed down. Here and there you would hear a gasp of breath because she was still upset but she was definitely calming down. Her mother came to get her after primary but she didnt want to leave my arms. It amazed me how well I handled that situation and how easy the kids here just cling to me. I love them so much.
One of our investigators here, Toss, really likes me. He continues to call asking for me so he can tell me how beautiful my face is. Uhhhh....lol.
Anyways, thats about it. Have a good week all!
-Sister Kinkead
Monday, June 13, 2011
1 Year to Go!
Briana has been on her mission since December 1st, 2010, a little over 6 months.
She has one year left, her arrival is due back early to mid June of 2012. 1/3 of the way complete!
Way to go Briana!! We're so proud of you!!
She has one year left, her arrival is due back early to mid June of 2012. 1/3 of the way complete!
Way to go Briana!! We're so proud of you!!
Email: June 13th
Yo.
Soooooo...
Varna didnt work out. Its a long story that I dont really want to get into but I met with the President and I am staying here in Sofia. I am in a threesome here with Sister Loss and Sister Speth. I like it. We get along well even though at times I feel Sister Speth is being left out but I try to include her. Its hard when Sister Loss and I have so much in common - especially when it comes to music. We can talk about that forever. Seriously.
We dropped 3 investigators this past week due to them being a little too crazy. They are golden people but I dont think they are all there in their head. Its good that people want the gospel but you cant baptize someone who doesnt really understand what covenants they are making and that the gospel law will be over there head, ya know? Its a tricky process but we decided to drop 3 of them. Were working with Toss, a 25 yr old nigerian guy here. Hes really golden. He knows the bible well so he asks us a lot of questions about where all of our information is coming from and where its at in the bible. Good egg, that one. He called me up yesterday asking me how I was doing and when him and I could get together. I responded that all 3 of us sister could meet with him today. He laughs and says, "No no, I mean..you and I." Uhhh oh. Toss is attracted to me and thats noooo good. We're gonna have one more lesson with him and he keeps making moves then we'll give him to the elders. It kind of sucks being an american girl in bulgaria lol.
I FINALLY got my hands on the General Conference Liahona!! HOLLLLLLAAAA! I AM SO excited to read conference and to know whats going on in the church these days!!
Bulgarian is still a struggle these days. Some days Im whipping it out of no where and other days Im lost in what to say or how to even form a sentence. I totally blanked while teaching the second lesson to one of our old investigators. I felt horrible. Then, the next lesson, we had our investigator tell us that her husband was beating her and she cried to us for a bit. An idea came into my head to grab a picture of christ in gethsamene and put it infront of her. So I did. I then began to say, " Vanya, you arent alone. He knows. He knows your pain. Hes been there and he wants you to be happy." I was pretty surprised. It just comes at the right times, ya know? It was a pretty cool experience. I felt the spirit strongly and she even began to cry even more and then hugged me. Im doing what I can. Its all I can do.
Anyways, I could write more but of course Im always running low on time. Have a good week all. I love you so much. Thank you all for the emails, love and support.
-Sister Kinkead
Soooooo...
Varna didnt work out. Its a long story that I dont really want to get into but I met with the President and I am staying here in Sofia. I am in a threesome here with Sister Loss and Sister Speth. I like it. We get along well even though at times I feel Sister Speth is being left out but I try to include her. Its hard when Sister Loss and I have so much in common - especially when it comes to music. We can talk about that forever. Seriously.
We dropped 3 investigators this past week due to them being a little too crazy. They are golden people but I dont think they are all there in their head. Its good that people want the gospel but you cant baptize someone who doesnt really understand what covenants they are making and that the gospel law will be over there head, ya know? Its a tricky process but we decided to drop 3 of them. Were working with Toss, a 25 yr old nigerian guy here. Hes really golden. He knows the bible well so he asks us a lot of questions about where all of our information is coming from and where its at in the bible. Good egg, that one. He called me up yesterday asking me how I was doing and when him and I could get together. I responded that all 3 of us sister could meet with him today. He laughs and says, "No no, I mean..you and I." Uhhh oh. Toss is attracted to me and thats noooo good. We're gonna have one more lesson with him and he keeps making moves then we'll give him to the elders. It kind of sucks being an american girl in bulgaria lol.
I FINALLY got my hands on the General Conference Liahona!! HOLLLLLLAAAA! I AM SO excited to read conference and to know whats going on in the church these days!!
Bulgarian is still a struggle these days. Some days Im whipping it out of no where and other days Im lost in what to say or how to even form a sentence. I totally blanked while teaching the second lesson to one of our old investigators. I felt horrible. Then, the next lesson, we had our investigator tell us that her husband was beating her and she cried to us for a bit. An idea came into my head to grab a picture of christ in gethsamene and put it infront of her. So I did. I then began to say, " Vanya, you arent alone. He knows. He knows your pain. Hes been there and he wants you to be happy." I was pretty surprised. It just comes at the right times, ya know? It was a pretty cool experience. I felt the spirit strongly and she even began to cry even more and then hugged me. Im doing what I can. Its all I can do.
Anyways, I could write more but of course Im always running low on time. Have a good week all. I love you so much. Thank you all for the emails, love and support.
-Sister Kinkead
Monday, June 6, 2011
Email: June 6th
Oh my goodness!!
This week has been the bomb.com! I LOVE Sofia and I LOVE being with the Sofia Sisters! (Sisters Pantigoso and Loss). We've had so many laughs, giggles, stories and we've been working really hard. I freakin love it. Sofia is so busy and theres always something going. People to teach, people to find and it seems like there are more people to try and approach to about the gospel. I love it!
We met with a lot of people this week and it seemed like bulgarian came out of no where from me. I realized that once I really try to speak and testify - I can. Bulgarian is just there. Pantigoso says I need to set aside my fear of not being able to speak and just speak! Ive been working on it. :)
I met some really tight people here in Sofia. A kid named Dimiter but goes by Jimmy, lol, I dont know. And this guy named Hola who is black and from Nigeria. They both can speak perfect english and they are really good kids. Jimmy took me aside one night after english and told me that I should "Start my own program" Hahahah! He says Im really funny and very welcoming. He also told me that I had a very unique personality and that its a personality that just lures people in. Im fun! That was a big compliment and I felt like, "Ok...ok..so I do have something to offer here in Bulgaria" lol.
Transfer calls came and I am being sent to THE OCEAN CITY! Varna. Yep, this summer I will be serving by the beach. Oh my. I will be serving in a threesome. Sister Orr, shes dying, not sure how I feel about killing another person off and my mother, who I was just with, Sister Killian. Not sure how this threesome will go. I really wanted to stay in Sofia and work with Sister Loss. Shes an amazing girl and I love her to death but..thats how the cookie crumbles. Want to know something funny about Sister Loss? Her and I lived across from each other at College Terrace in Utah! We had never seen each other but I lived in apt 23 and she lived in 24!!! Its so crazy how we lived near each other and we didnt meet until we both came to Bulgaria lol. Life..its funny.
Heres a funny story for the week. Us sisters went over to this investigators house for dinner the other night. We sat down and they asked us what kind of juice we wanted to drink. Apparently they make their own juice and they have all kinds! Tomato, strawberry, peach, etc etc. We settled with Strawberry and sat down to eat. My nose was stuffed up so I couldnt really taste much. However, I could really taste this strawberry drink and it was really good. I drank a whole glass and went for another. Peter, our investigator jokingly said it had beer in it. We sort of laughed and told him that we dont drink. He said nothing, looked at our glasses and then us and sort of grinned. I stopped and was like, wait a second....I think were drinking wine. I took another swig cause I was thirsty but then stopped Hahahahaha. Im sorry! Its horrible of me but it was so good and I was so thirsty........dont judge. Im not 100% sure that it WAS wine. Hahahaha! Oh Bulgaria.
One more story for kicks. Us sisters were walking down center, the main street here in Sofia and a loud siren went off. Like one of those tornado sirens you hear in Ohio for tornado warnings. Well all 3 of us are just walking along and then I notice that EVERYONE has stopped in their tracks. Even the trams! The cars! The people working the stores! I stopped and Im like, "Uhh whats going on?" After 3 minutes of feeling like I was in a movie where everyone freezes, everyone picks right back off to where they left off. Come to find out, it was a moment of silence for a man named Christo Botev. He was a revolutionalist during turkish reign. Epic guy, I suppose. It was such a weird experience though. Of course the stupid americans are walking around, talking, laughing, while everyone is frozen in a moment of silence. Ah well. Lol.
Anyways, Im short on time. Sorry peeps! Have a good week. Ill kick it here in Communist Country!
-Sister Kinkead
This week has been the bomb.com! I LOVE Sofia and I LOVE being with the Sofia Sisters! (Sisters Pantigoso and Loss). We've had so many laughs, giggles, stories and we've been working really hard. I freakin love it. Sofia is so busy and theres always something going. People to teach, people to find and it seems like there are more people to try and approach to about the gospel. I love it!
We met with a lot of people this week and it seemed like bulgarian came out of no where from me. I realized that once I really try to speak and testify - I can. Bulgarian is just there. Pantigoso says I need to set aside my fear of not being able to speak and just speak! Ive been working on it. :)
I met some really tight people here in Sofia. A kid named Dimiter but goes by Jimmy, lol, I dont know. And this guy named Hola who is black and from Nigeria. They both can speak perfect english and they are really good kids. Jimmy took me aside one night after english and told me that I should "Start my own program" Hahahah! He says Im really funny and very welcoming. He also told me that I had a very unique personality and that its a personality that just lures people in. Im fun! That was a big compliment and I felt like, "Ok...ok..so I do have something to offer here in Bulgaria" lol.
Transfer calls came and I am being sent to THE OCEAN CITY! Varna. Yep, this summer I will be serving by the beach. Oh my. I will be serving in a threesome. Sister Orr, shes dying, not sure how I feel about killing another person off and my mother, who I was just with, Sister Killian. Not sure how this threesome will go. I really wanted to stay in Sofia and work with Sister Loss. Shes an amazing girl and I love her to death but..thats how the cookie crumbles. Want to know something funny about Sister Loss? Her and I lived across from each other at College Terrace in Utah! We had never seen each other but I lived in apt 23 and she lived in 24!!! Its so crazy how we lived near each other and we didnt meet until we both came to Bulgaria lol. Life..its funny.
Heres a funny story for the week. Us sisters went over to this investigators house for dinner the other night. We sat down and they asked us what kind of juice we wanted to drink. Apparently they make their own juice and they have all kinds! Tomato, strawberry, peach, etc etc. We settled with Strawberry and sat down to eat. My nose was stuffed up so I couldnt really taste much. However, I could really taste this strawberry drink and it was really good. I drank a whole glass and went for another. Peter, our investigator jokingly said it had beer in it. We sort of laughed and told him that we dont drink. He said nothing, looked at our glasses and then us and sort of grinned. I stopped and was like, wait a second....I think were drinking wine. I took another swig cause I was thirsty but then stopped Hahahahaha. Im sorry! Its horrible of me but it was so good and I was so thirsty........dont judge. Im not 100% sure that it WAS wine. Hahahaha! Oh Bulgaria.
One more story for kicks. Us sisters were walking down center, the main street here in Sofia and a loud siren went off. Like one of those tornado sirens you hear in Ohio for tornado warnings. Well all 3 of us are just walking along and then I notice that EVERYONE has stopped in their tracks. Even the trams! The cars! The people working the stores! I stopped and Im like, "Uhh whats going on?" After 3 minutes of feeling like I was in a movie where everyone freezes, everyone picks right back off to where they left off. Come to find out, it was a moment of silence for a man named Christo Botev. He was a revolutionalist during turkish reign. Epic guy, I suppose. It was such a weird experience though. Of course the stupid americans are walking around, talking, laughing, while everyone is frozen in a moment of silence. Ah well. Lol.
Anyways, Im short on time. Sorry peeps! Have a good week. Ill kick it here in Communist Country!
-Sister Kinkead
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