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