Hey hey heeeey!!
This week went by WAY too fast. It feels like I just emailed yesterday haha. I guess thats a good thing though! Ya? Ive got some good news! Sister Loss is back with us! She is feeling a lot better, so thats good. Apparently theres this nasty flu bug going around Bulgaria. Its already got Elder Rothlisberger and Raker. Hopefully I dont catch it. Eeeek. I dont want to be sick right now. However, whenever I walk outside in the heat, I get a headache, a sick stomach and my body just feels DRAINED. I need more water in my system. Dont worry mom. Im drinking! Haha.
Anyways, this whole past week Sister Speth and I have been on our own. It was a weiiiird week. We met so many interesting people while streetboarding it up on the park. Sister Speth set up our board near this bench where this man was sitting. He didnt look over at us or anything so I decided to not bother him. Some people really dont want to be bothered here and sometimes I dont have the guts to get right infront of them and be like, "Hi!!! Im a missionary! Heres the gospel!" I like it when they stop, look at the pictures of christ and ask me whats going on. BUT ANYWAY, the man remained sitting there even though we were right next to him. A little while goes by, maybe 30 minutes or so and while Sister Speth is busy talking to someone, the man from the bench decides to come over and talk with me. He says hello in english and has an american accent written all over him! I got really excited! Someone who speaks english and is from America! We begin talking about the gospel and of course I love to ask questions so I ask him where hes from. He responds with, "Cleveland." I freak out and say, "Im from ZANESVILLE!" He chuckles and says, "Im from Akron actually. I know where Zanesville is at'. I got so freakin excited! He began telling me that he studied slavic languages at OSU and what not. I was so giddy! I never thought about talking about OSU to a random person living in Bulgaria who is from OHIO! He was a legit guy. He didnt really want to hear about the gospel but he was very nice and told me that he liked mormons because they always tried to be very personal people. It was a cool experience.
Funny story, true story. I have some love stories from this past week. One of our investigators, rosen, who have a baptismal date has fallen in love with me. Hes been acting really weird this past week and I believe hes been calling us drunk. He called yesterday just to talk to me. He told me that he loved me a lot and was just thinking about me. He asked if he could bring me flowers when we meet next. Ugh. I had him on speaker phone so Loss could help me understand all of what he was saying. I kept asking Loss what I should say to all of this. She was just laughing and I kept whispering, "Well?!" Apparently Rosen overheard and got mad that Loss was hearing a 'personal' conversation. Oh my. Im not sure what were going to do with him.
Another love story that happened this week was when Sister Speth and I were waiting at the bus station. I was busy looking at all the concert posters hung up on the streetwall. A man who looks like hes in his mid 40s and who is russian comes up to me and in perfect english says, "Who are those people?" I begin to explain to him that they are artists who are coming to Bulgaria to perform. He then asks me what kind of music I like so I begin to name off some genres I like. He smiles and asks about our "name plates". I tell him were missionaries and that were here to preach the gospel. He smiles and then goes on to say, ''So..Im going to a restaurant, would you like to come with me?'' I told him no thanks. He asked me if I ever went to clubs or had any fun as a missionary. I explained to him that we had rules to abide by. He then tried telling me that his friends at the restaurant would like to hear my message. I gave him a brochure and told him they could give me a call if they really were lol. He got mad, thanked me for my time and left me alone. Can you say human traffiking? lol.
So ya, it was a crazy week to say the least. I'll leave it at that. I miss you all and I love you all! The work in Bulgaria continues to move forward.
-Sister Kinkead
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Email: July 18th
I want to first say that I do not have the Influenza...but Im pretty sure my dear companion, Sister Loss, does. This past thursday we headed over to Grandpa Velichkos to visit him. Right after Sister Loss and I left, she began to get really sick. She was nauseous, light headed, dizzy, really hot and very miserable. We took the bus back home to our apt, *took us a good hour, Sister Loss' head was between her legs, bless her heart* and realized, we had no keys. AH. She wanted to die right there. Sister Speth had the keys and she was at english class in Mladost. An hour or so away. AHH. Lol. So ya...we had to travel for another hour to get to the mission home so she could lie down. It was a really miserable day for her. Shes still sick and now will be staying with the Roths in the mission home. Shes been running a constant fever of a 103. Shes starting to lose her hearing when her fever climbs. NOT a good sign. Sooooo ya.
Among all that craziness, we have had the ukrainian sisters with us. They came in last tuesday night for passport work. Low and behold, they STILL havent received their passports and have been staying with us in our stuffy, hot apt. We have no AC and its 100 here. Hooottt. They've been good champs and have been watching Sister Loss while Sister Speth and I have been going out and working. Its been kind of stressul for me. Ive been having to make the calls to all the bulgarians. Sometimes they dont understand my bulgarian and sometimes I cant understand what the heck they are saying to me. I feel like Im having to take the reigns as a senior companion or something. Sister Loss says its preping me for next transfer because Ill be the trainer over the new sister. I DO NOT WANT TO BE A TRAINER. Im still trying to figure out the language....its quite stressful.
The Ukrainian sisters love to tell us how great Ukraine is and compare big time. Im so annoyed. Thanks for taking care of my companion but please stop talking about my mission. Thanks. They have stricter rules over in Ukraine so theyve been pretty blown away this past week about how we do things here in Bulgaria. Im sure they whisper to each other that were apostate missionaries with no focus. Lol. Ah well.
Come to find out, Sister Speth has been writing in her moleskin about everything Sister Loss and I do or say. Its not nice things either. Loss found out and was uber mad. We had a huge companion inventory. 2 hours long. I dont feel anything has been resolved. But if things continue, we may have to have a companion inventory with President there. Threesomes can be hard. Theres always someone who feels left out one time or another. Its hard to keep a balance.
Anyways, Im still taking the mission, one day at a time. Its crazy to think that Im about to hit my 8 month mark. By the end of my transfer, I will have completed half of my mission! And right now, I still feel like a newbie with certain things...like...the language hehe. I also feel like theres still so much more I need to learn before I head home. Its so nuts. Some days it goes slow, other days its really fast.
Have a good week all and pray for me! Haha. I love you and miss you!
-Sister Kinkead
Among all that craziness, we have had the ukrainian sisters with us. They came in last tuesday night for passport work. Low and behold, they STILL havent received their passports and have been staying with us in our stuffy, hot apt. We have no AC and its 100 here. Hooottt. They've been good champs and have been watching Sister Loss while Sister Speth and I have been going out and working. Its been kind of stressul for me. Ive been having to make the calls to all the bulgarians. Sometimes they dont understand my bulgarian and sometimes I cant understand what the heck they are saying to me. I feel like Im having to take the reigns as a senior companion or something. Sister Loss says its preping me for next transfer because Ill be the trainer over the new sister. I DO NOT WANT TO BE A TRAINER. Im still trying to figure out the language....its quite stressful.
The Ukrainian sisters love to tell us how great Ukraine is and compare big time. Im so annoyed. Thanks for taking care of my companion but please stop talking about my mission. Thanks. They have stricter rules over in Ukraine so theyve been pretty blown away this past week about how we do things here in Bulgaria. Im sure they whisper to each other that were apostate missionaries with no focus. Lol. Ah well.
Come to find out, Sister Speth has been writing in her moleskin about everything Sister Loss and I do or say. Its not nice things either. Loss found out and was uber mad. We had a huge companion inventory. 2 hours long. I dont feel anything has been resolved. But if things continue, we may have to have a companion inventory with President there. Threesomes can be hard. Theres always someone who feels left out one time or another. Its hard to keep a balance.
Anyways, Im still taking the mission, one day at a time. Its crazy to think that Im about to hit my 8 month mark. By the end of my transfer, I will have completed half of my mission! And right now, I still feel like a newbie with certain things...like...the language hehe. I also feel like theres still so much more I need to learn before I head home. Its so nuts. Some days it goes slow, other days its really fast.
Have a good week all and pray for me! Haha. I love you and miss you!
-Sister Kinkead
Monday, July 11, 2011
Email: July 11th
Здрасти!
We are officially the Bulgaria, Sofia, Turkey mission!! Check that out! Missionaries will be heading into Turkey in about 3-6 months! Its nuts! I never thought I would see this day. Holla! The unfortunate thing is that they will be calling new missionaries to head into Turkey. I think all of us bulgs will be staying here. Especially the sisters. I dont think Turkey is safe for us...yet. Ive heard quite a few stories about human traffiking on Cypress Island. Eeeeek. Crazy. Anyways, pretty cool huh? Turkey is now open for us.
Funny story. The other night I jumped into bed because I was soooo tired. I laid there and said my prayers because my body could no longer move lol. I laid there and began to say them in my head in english...a few minutes later, I realize that Ive switched over to bulgarian. Lol, it was pretty funny and pretty cool. Funny how the mind works.
So last week on P-day we had a 4th of July party. During the day, all the elders and Sister Speth went to go play Volleyball. Sister Loss and I got into some shopping and what not. We werent trying to avoid the elders, we just didnt want to play volleyball for 3 hours, you know? So anyways, we have a big BBQ in the evening and some of the elders are talking about how Sister Loss and I werent there to play volleyball. Elder Hays jumps in and says, "Well at least Speth was there...someone had to represent the...." I look at him with my glaring eyes and he says nothing. 2 seconds later Elder Spencer jumps into some story about how sisters dont count for anything. They are just there. All of the elders are snickering and laughing and all eyes are on us 3 sisters. I finally snapped. For months Ive been dealing with immature 19 yr old boys who cant seem to learn how to respect women. I called Spencer and the rest of the 24 elders who were there, out and said, "Thats not FUNNY! I know you elders dont like being with us sisters but you dont have to make us the joke EVERY TIME! You wonder why we dont want to be around you, its because were the minority and were always targeted. Its not funny and Im NOT laughing." I stood there and just glared at all of them. They had disgusted looks on their faces and some were completely silent but I dont care. I wanted to leave then and there but Sister Speth, for whatever reason, wanted to say. She likes the elders...I dont get it. Anyway, after that whole ordeal, some of the elders came up to me and apologized. Some who are usually sister haters talked to me for the rest of the night. It was interesting. I just dont get it, you know? I can for sure say that the Bulgaria Sofia Mission has some REAL jerks. A returned missionary status means NOTHING. The way Ive been treated here has been horrible. The elders are always out to tease, mock, target and laugh at us. I dont like it one bit.
Moving on. This week has been really busy. Lots of traveling and walking around the city of Sofia. Its been freakin hot and of course A/C really doesnt exist in this country so you just have to wait for a breeze to hit you in the right spot so you can feel relieved for a few seconds. We've been doing lots of less-active finding and trying to meet people who are in the area book. No success. Lots of dropped meetings and lessons. Това е. Thats it. Somehow we've been getting on the wrong busses and having all kinds of adventures trying to get places here. Last week we got on the right bus but going the wrong way. Took us 2 hours to get home. Traffic here sucks and busses have way too many stops hehe.
So Ive been taking Sister Loss out to run every morning for an hour. I hate running so I find a bench to read my scriptures at. 2 days ago I was reading and noticed a member from the branch taking her dogs for a walk. She came up, sat down on the bench and asked me what I was reading. This was our conversation...all in bulgarian of course..
Member: What are you reading?
Me: Im reading in Ether 12.
Member: This is american! You need to be reading in bulgarian! not american!!!
Me: (Feels intimidated and flustered as to how to respond) ...uh..
Member: Youre not going to learn the language by reading this!! You need bulgarian! Tomorrow you better be reading in bulgarian!
Me: Uhh...ya...
I wanted to tell her that I first have to obtain the word before I can preach it in a foreign language but my mind was hitting a wall. When I get nervous or uncomfortable, bulgarian doesnt come.
Member: *Mocks* "Ya, ya" You need to! You wont learn the language!
Me: *Silent*
I was taken aback that she was mocking me and just being down right RUDE. I wanted to say to her, "You try going to America and learning english in 6 months, NOT POSSIBLE! Its HARD!" But ya...I just didnt appreciate it, you know? Im already sensitive about my language and I didnt really like a MEMBER telling me how much I sucked as a missionary. Loss and I walked home and I just cried. So discouraging.
Anyways, those are my stories for this week! Keep me in your prayers and have a good week all. I miss you and love you a lot.
-Sister Kinkead
We are officially the Bulgaria, Sofia, Turkey mission!! Check that out! Missionaries will be heading into Turkey in about 3-6 months! Its nuts! I never thought I would see this day. Holla! The unfortunate thing is that they will be calling new missionaries to head into Turkey. I think all of us bulgs will be staying here. Especially the sisters. I dont think Turkey is safe for us...yet. Ive heard quite a few stories about human traffiking on Cypress Island. Eeeeek. Crazy. Anyways, pretty cool huh? Turkey is now open for us.
Funny story. The other night I jumped into bed because I was soooo tired. I laid there and said my prayers because my body could no longer move lol. I laid there and began to say them in my head in english...a few minutes later, I realize that Ive switched over to bulgarian. Lol, it was pretty funny and pretty cool. Funny how the mind works.
So last week on P-day we had a 4th of July party. During the day, all the elders and Sister Speth went to go play Volleyball. Sister Loss and I got into some shopping and what not. We werent trying to avoid the elders, we just didnt want to play volleyball for 3 hours, you know? So anyways, we have a big BBQ in the evening and some of the elders are talking about how Sister Loss and I werent there to play volleyball. Elder Hays jumps in and says, "Well at least Speth was there...someone had to represent the...." I look at him with my glaring eyes and he says nothing. 2 seconds later Elder Spencer jumps into some story about how sisters dont count for anything. They are just there. All of the elders are snickering and laughing and all eyes are on us 3 sisters. I finally snapped. For months Ive been dealing with immature 19 yr old boys who cant seem to learn how to respect women. I called Spencer and the rest of the 24 elders who were there, out and said, "Thats not FUNNY! I know you elders dont like being with us sisters but you dont have to make us the joke EVERY TIME! You wonder why we dont want to be around you, its because were the minority and were always targeted. Its not funny and Im NOT laughing." I stood there and just glared at all of them. They had disgusted looks on their faces and some were completely silent but I dont care. I wanted to leave then and there but Sister Speth, for whatever reason, wanted to say. She likes the elders...I dont get it. Anyway, after that whole ordeal, some of the elders came up to me and apologized. Some who are usually sister haters talked to me for the rest of the night. It was interesting. I just dont get it, you know? I can for sure say that the Bulgaria Sofia Mission has some REAL jerks. A returned missionary status means NOTHING. The way Ive been treated here has been horrible. The elders are always out to tease, mock, target and laugh at us. I dont like it one bit.
Moving on. This week has been really busy. Lots of traveling and walking around the city of Sofia. Its been freakin hot and of course A/C really doesnt exist in this country so you just have to wait for a breeze to hit you in the right spot so you can feel relieved for a few seconds. We've been doing lots of less-active finding and trying to meet people who are in the area book. No success. Lots of dropped meetings and lessons. Това е. Thats it. Somehow we've been getting on the wrong busses and having all kinds of adventures trying to get places here. Last week we got on the right bus but going the wrong way. Took us 2 hours to get home. Traffic here sucks and busses have way too many stops hehe.
So Ive been taking Sister Loss out to run every morning for an hour. I hate running so I find a bench to read my scriptures at. 2 days ago I was reading and noticed a member from the branch taking her dogs for a walk. She came up, sat down on the bench and asked me what I was reading. This was our conversation...all in bulgarian of course..
Member: What are you reading?
Me: Im reading in Ether 12.
Member: This is american! You need to be reading in bulgarian! not american!!!
Me: (Feels intimidated and flustered as to how to respond) ...uh..
Member: Youre not going to learn the language by reading this!! You need bulgarian! Tomorrow you better be reading in bulgarian!
Me: Uhh...ya...
I wanted to tell her that I first have to obtain the word before I can preach it in a foreign language but my mind was hitting a wall. When I get nervous or uncomfortable, bulgarian doesnt come.
Member: *Mocks* "Ya, ya" You need to! You wont learn the language!
Me: *Silent*
I was taken aback that she was mocking me and just being down right RUDE. I wanted to say to her, "You try going to America and learning english in 6 months, NOT POSSIBLE! Its HARD!" But ya...I just didnt appreciate it, you know? Im already sensitive about my language and I didnt really like a MEMBER telling me how much I sucked as a missionary. Loss and I walked home and I just cried. So discouraging.
Anyways, those are my stories for this week! Keep me in your prayers and have a good week all. I miss you and love you a lot.
-Sister Kinkead
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Email: July 4th
Hey everyone!
My last email was pretty much a downer but I can tell you that this past week has really picked up! We have TWO baptismal dates!!!! One with our investigator Rosen and the other with Alex!! Rosen is a man who is in his 30s and has really felt the spirit in our lessons. He loves the gospel so much. I committed him to baptism! I was a little scared but I just went with it and he said yes! HOLLA! hahaha. Hes a good man and I can really feel his spirit. Alex is the other one. Hes in his 50s. Hes a bit slow, hes homeless and he brings all of his things in a bag to our lessons but he is a special spirit. I really like Alex. Hes very patient when I have to look down at my bulgarian notes so I know how to say certain things. Im horrible at memorizing! Eeeeek. Its great though! We havent taught the commandments yet. Im a bit hesitant about that. Both Rosen and Alex have problems with the word of wisom and maybe even some other things...we'll see though. I know this is the time where Satan works his hardest but I have faith that they will be ok. :) Pray for them! 2 baptismal dates in one week! Check us out!!!
We had another lesson with a man named Ivan. We taught him about the restoration and he said that he thinks anyone who has faith is in "the right church". Him and Sister Speth then got in a heated arguement about it. I stopped it by posing a question to Ivan. "Ivan, why did you want to meet with us?" He responds with, "Because I want to know what you believe." I then look at him and say, in my horrible bulgarian, "You met with us because you have a great desire to find truth. You want to find something your heart is searching for." I felt the spirit was so strong. I wasnt going to let his little excuses get past me. I know hes searching for truth. I bore testimony about his spirit, his heart and the great desire that he has. He really calmed down and just listened even though I was struggling to find words and talking choppy bulgarian that probably made no sense lol. BUT He listened and I could tell it through his eyes. The spirit testifies to peoples hearts...even if you cant speak their native tongue. It was a very cool experience for me. He will be meeting with us again :)
In other news. I didnt go to primary yesterday during church. Ian, one of primary friends DID NOT like that. He came searching for me and told me that he wanted me in primary. I told him that I had to stay with my investigators. He said ok and then slowly made his way to primary with his little hand on his eyes. I think he was starting to cry. It broke my heart but I have my responsibilities you know? I know he was ok in primary. After church he came rushing up to me and told me all about primary. The primary teacher told me that he has a major crush on me. His parents told me that they use me to get him to do things at home. "If you put your socks on, Sister Kinkead will play with you." LOL. I love it! I love little Ian. Im gonna have to get his last name so I can look him up when I get back into the states. Hes the one who is here for vacation and lives in Utah. Cuuute kid. The elders try talking to him and even the sisters but he solely talks to me and only wants to be MY friend. Hahaha! His mom was like, "I dont know what you did but...hes in love with you" Lol. Love him!!
Bulgarian is coming right along! Ive been working on a gospel principle each day and writing it down in my little notebook. I will use my notebook in my lessons if I have to *Shrugs* If I want to learn this language I gotta start somewhere. I had this really cool experience yesterday as we were visiting this gypsy family. I was talking about baptism and the importance of it. I felt really calm and collected and the words just came! All these thoughts came to my head as to what I should tell them and it just flowed!! I was SO excited! I walked out of the lesson thinking, I CAN DO THIS! Its a good feeling! Im finally taking the Berlin Wall down one brick at a time! Im BREAKING THROUGH TO FREEDOM! Glory!!!
Anyways, thats about it! Thanks for all the supportive emails everyone! I love you!!!!!
-Sister Kinkead
My last email was pretty much a downer but I can tell you that this past week has really picked up! We have TWO baptismal dates!!!! One with our investigator Rosen and the other with Alex!! Rosen is a man who is in his 30s and has really felt the spirit in our lessons. He loves the gospel so much. I committed him to baptism! I was a little scared but I just went with it and he said yes! HOLLA! hahaha. Hes a good man and I can really feel his spirit. Alex is the other one. Hes in his 50s. Hes a bit slow, hes homeless and he brings all of his things in a bag to our lessons but he is a special spirit. I really like Alex. Hes very patient when I have to look down at my bulgarian notes so I know how to say certain things. Im horrible at memorizing! Eeeeek. Its great though! We havent taught the commandments yet. Im a bit hesitant about that. Both Rosen and Alex have problems with the word of wisom and maybe even some other things...we'll see though. I know this is the time where Satan works his hardest but I have faith that they will be ok. :) Pray for them! 2 baptismal dates in one week! Check us out!!!
We had another lesson with a man named Ivan. We taught him about the restoration and he said that he thinks anyone who has faith is in "the right church". Him and Sister Speth then got in a heated arguement about it. I stopped it by posing a question to Ivan. "Ivan, why did you want to meet with us?" He responds with, "Because I want to know what you believe." I then look at him and say, in my horrible bulgarian, "You met with us because you have a great desire to find truth. You want to find something your heart is searching for." I felt the spirit was so strong. I wasnt going to let his little excuses get past me. I know hes searching for truth. I bore testimony about his spirit, his heart and the great desire that he has. He really calmed down and just listened even though I was struggling to find words and talking choppy bulgarian that probably made no sense lol. BUT He listened and I could tell it through his eyes. The spirit testifies to peoples hearts...even if you cant speak their native tongue. It was a very cool experience for me. He will be meeting with us again :)
In other news. I didnt go to primary yesterday during church. Ian, one of primary friends DID NOT like that. He came searching for me and told me that he wanted me in primary. I told him that I had to stay with my investigators. He said ok and then slowly made his way to primary with his little hand on his eyes. I think he was starting to cry. It broke my heart but I have my responsibilities you know? I know he was ok in primary. After church he came rushing up to me and told me all about primary. The primary teacher told me that he has a major crush on me. His parents told me that they use me to get him to do things at home. "If you put your socks on, Sister Kinkead will play with you." LOL. I love it! I love little Ian. Im gonna have to get his last name so I can look him up when I get back into the states. Hes the one who is here for vacation and lives in Utah. Cuuute kid. The elders try talking to him and even the sisters but he solely talks to me and only wants to be MY friend. Hahaha! His mom was like, "I dont know what you did but...hes in love with you" Lol. Love him!!
Bulgarian is coming right along! Ive been working on a gospel principle each day and writing it down in my little notebook. I will use my notebook in my lessons if I have to *Shrugs* If I want to learn this language I gotta start somewhere. I had this really cool experience yesterday as we were visiting this gypsy family. I was talking about baptism and the importance of it. I felt really calm and collected and the words just came! All these thoughts came to my head as to what I should tell them and it just flowed!! I was SO excited! I walked out of the lesson thinking, I CAN DO THIS! Its a good feeling! Im finally taking the Berlin Wall down one brick at a time! Im BREAKING THROUGH TO FREEDOM! Glory!!!
Anyways, thats about it! Thanks for all the supportive emails everyone! I love you!!!!!
-Sister Kinkead
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