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