Hey all,
This week has been a ride to say the least. I go from being to sick to getting all teary eyed with my investigators. Which by the way, Im all better now, thank goodness. Im a healthy Sister Kinkead. Thank goodness.
Alex and Rosen, two of our investigators, had their baptismal interviews this past week. It was a good experience for both. They were so happy. Rosen came out of his interview and hugged me so tight. He walked out of the church saying in english, with his hands in the air, "YES!! YESSSS!!"Awwww man. I almost cried. Im finally seeing the fruit of my labors hehe. Hes so excited to get baptized and hes so excited to share it with others. He told Loss and I that he wanted to give a book of mormon to his cousin. Hes gonna be an awesome member. It made me realize how much I love my investigators and how much they really do mean to me. Alex was excited after his interview but didnt give me a hug. He walked out of church with a little jump in his walk. It almost made me cry again because Alex really has nothing and hes living every commandment we've asked him to live. He has no home, no wife, he doesnt know where his daughter is, hes got zero money but yet his heart is so ready for the gospel. I love them both so much. Please pray for them both that they will get baptized on time. They both have struggled with word of wisdom problems and I dont want Satan ruining their chances of their baptismal dates. It would crush me. Rosen has already walked into two lessons drunk. *Sigh* Pray for em!
I walked into church yesterday and little Anni, shes 3, walks up to me and holds out her arms to hug me. CUTE. I really love kids, especially all the little ones Ive met here in Bulgaria. Precious little souls. I cant wait for my little nephew to come into the picture!
Loss and I got into it one night this past week. Loss is someone who likes to go 150 mph in EVERYTHING. Shes a perfectionist. You all know me, Im Briana Kinkead, I go about 45 mph...lol. Im not a perfectionist at all and I go at my own pace. Well it was 8 pm and thats our dinner time. We were our tracting and 8 pm hit. I told her that I wanted to head back home and have dinner. She then said that she really wanted to stay out for a bit longer. I was like...this is my dinner hour...we've worked all day...lets go home. Well we went home and she was silent and I was silent because we just work differently. We sat down and said sorry and talked it through. A companionship is just like marriage. Its not about what you want, its about what you both want as a whole. You have to make sacrifices and compromises. Its not always easy but...ya. I love that girl. Shes my best friend here in the mission.
I want to let you all know that I miss each and every one of you. Seriously. Ive been reflecting a lot lately on my family back home, my friends and people Ive come across in my life. I miss and love you all and I hope you are all doing well.
I know that the gospel is true and its the only thing that brings us happiness. If I didnt know it was true, I would not be here trying to struggle with the bulgarian language and trying to work through some of the hard hearts Ive passed by BUT I know the gospel is true and its what we need to get us through hard times and rough patches we have in life. I know that Christ suffered for us and died on the cross so that we could overcome physical death and be able to repent of our everyday mistakes and sins. He loves us and so does our Heavenly Father. They continue to watch over us constantly and only want whats best for us. Sometimes it doesnt feel like they are there or that they dont even care but they do and I know this to be true.
I love you all. Keep it real.
-Sister Kinkead
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Email: August 17th
Hey all!!
Sorry I didnt write on monday. Mom - Im sure you got the email from Elder Walker. Ive been sick for a whole entire week. Yes. A whole entire week and it hasnt been paradise either haha. To say the least. Last week on wednesday I was overcome with some emotions with my bulgarian, next transfer and a nasty joke the elders decided to play on me. During one of our lessons, bulgarian was JUST not coming. I felt so overwhelmed by the fact I couldnt say anything and the fact that 100 other things were going through my head at that moment that I got up in mid sentence and went to the bathroom and cried. It probably wasnt cool of me to do that right in the middle of a lesson but I was an emotional wreck. Sister Loss and Speth had it under control. President Kolarov, 1st councilor to President Roth, saw me all upset and comforted me. He really likes me and is always telling me what a good job Im doing. He asked me how long it took me to learn the gospel. I told him that its taken my whole life. He then told me that its the same with bulgarian - its going to take awhile. Step by step. He told me that it would come and that Im doing great already. I appreciated that. I cleaned up my face, went back into the lesson and finished up. Afterwards, I got really sick to my stomach. Somewhat nauseous. I told my companions about it but Loss decided that it would be better to go tracting to get rid of some of the thoughts that were running around my head. As we tracted, I got even more sick to my stomach. They took me back to the church to lay down and rest while they finished tracting. By the time they came back they had a lesson to teach and my conditions were not looking up. I got myself to the bathroom in time to realize that I was having diarrhea and my stomach pains were not letting up. I tried laying back down but enough was enough. I needed to go home. I walked into the lesson Loss and Speth were having (Great, I interrupted again lol) and told Loss that someone needed to take me home. Speth volunteered to take me home in a taxi and Sister Loss would finish the lesson with Sister Orr since she was in Sofia at the time (Thank goodness). Were walking down the street trying to flag down a taxi and every so often my body jerks because Im about to throw up. We get in the taxi, drive home and right after I get out of the taxi I throw up three times in the grass. Some lady was watching me but I didnt care. I was freakin sick. The rest of the night I kept throwing up, having diarrhea and having an aching body. I was throwing up so hard that once I had nothing to throw up, my body would dry heave. NOT COOL. IT HURT. Loss made me drink tons and tons and tons of water so whatever was in my stomach could get out and so I wouldnt dry heave as much and as hard. I cried. Honestly, I wanted my mom hehe. When youre sick like a dog...you dont want to be in a foreign country away from your mom who can take care of you. Sorry if that sounds kidd-ish of me but its true.
Sucky thing is...is..I missed the BIG celebration in Plovdiv. I traveled down on friday because I was feeling better but I made the wrong mistake and actually made myself worse. I stayed in the hotel room while everyone partied for hours. Freak. I wanted to kill myself. What could I do though, you know? I was sick like a dog and had no choice :(. I did, however, watch some tv (I was allowed too) Apparently Romney is running again? Some american is kidnapped in Pakistan? Annnd the US is basically crumbling? lol. I watched a human traffiking show..I probably shouldnt have but I did lol. TV makes your head go to mush...ew. I realized how much I HATED it.
Transfer calls came though! Im a bit surprised but its a good decision I think. Im staying here in Sofia and my companion is....SISTER LOSS! IM SO EXCITED! Im cool that Im not training actually. At least I know I could do it if I needed to. I know President put us together because he knows she still needs help and Ive been the only one who has really helped her. Meaning, Ive really cared about her but I havent "protected" her from President. If something is up, he knows Ill tell him. Her and I FLIPPED out because we wanted to be together again if I wasnt training. A blessing for sure! This time its just her and I! No Speth! HOLLA! We are tremendously excited :) I know Loss will continue to help me with my bulgarian and my missionary skills. We really do complement each other. :) Blessings! Since Ive been sick and Im with Loss, shes been cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for me - shes an angel...and a blessing. She keeps tabs on me if Im up and about for too long. Love that girl.
True story, funny story - I was in the mission home the other day printing some things off in the office. President Roth comes out of his office yelling, "KIIINKYYY!!!!" Hahahahaha! I was like, wait what? LOL. Roth found out that the sisters and elders call me Kinky and he loves it lol. He loves it so much that he has taken the name on himself and has started to call me that Hahahaha. I love my president, hes like a dad. Daddy Roth. Hes a good egg, that one. Hahaha. Kinky. Hahaha.
I just want to say one thing about the Bulgarian people if I havent already about them - They are the lost israelites. Seriously. They arent lost physically but mentally. So many bulgarians would prefer to be back under communism than to be out of it where they have to find work and money themselves. Its ridiculous. Just like the bible where the tribes all want to go back under the reign of the pharaohs because being out on their own is too hard. Wow. History repeats itself lol. Its a sad story. Just wanted to add that little bit in.
In other news, we had a scary situation this past week before I got sick. Loss, Speth and I were all streetboarding in our usual park. I noticed this man came up to us with a black ear piece in. He was interested in our message but really I think he was interested in us girls. He kept eyeing me and he told us he "loved meeting different people". Speth gave him our info and I didnt feel good about it at all. I told Speth I wasnt feeling him and that he was bad news but she thinks everyone is innocent so she shrugged my comment off. I watched the guy closely as he walked away and hid behind a tree. He continued to watch us. I was like, what the heck? I then noticed there were 3 other guys all in different spots watching us and talking on their phones. 2 minutes later one of those guys walks past our display, eyes up and then turns around and walks right back to where he was. He too had a black ear piece in. I watched him walk back and talk to the guy that Sister Speth had just talked to. I knew we needed to get out of there so we packed up our stuff and jetted out. I was a bit creeped but I knew we were safe. Now heres where it gets a little more scary...11 pm rolls around. Our phone rings and its a bulgar. We miss the call just by a few seconds because we were still trying to get up and figure out who the heck could be calling us at 11 at night. Loss doesnt want to call them back but I do. I call them back and speak to them in bulgarian. I keep asking them "Who is this??" in bulgarian but they cant seem to respond back. I finally say in english, "Who is this?!" A very WEIRD almost new york accent responds over the phone. A man. Hes asking us if were the "mormon girls" and that his "friends from the hotel" talked to us today. He said he was interested in learning more but the thing was is that he said, "I live 100 km from Center, where are you guys?" I was speechless. The whole convo was bizzzare. Loss responds with, "Were at home...sleeping....its 11" The man is like, Oh right right, its probably too late to be calling but uh, where might home be? I respond by saying, "That is NONE of your business" He kind of backed off a bit but asked again where we were living in a round about way. He told us that if we wanted to meet up to call him at this number. I told him to have a good night and hung up. Im 99% sure we were talking to a human traffiker himself. Just because were young american girls in a foreign country doesnt mean were flat out stupid. My goodness. He hasnt called back but if he does, I will give him a piece of my mind. I was too shocked to give it my all the first time he called. Ugh.
Whew, what a long email. Lots has happened and Ive been in bed this entire time it feels like lol. I love you. Have a good week!
-Sister Kinkead
Sorry I didnt write on monday. Mom - Im sure you got the email from Elder Walker. Ive been sick for a whole entire week. Yes. A whole entire week and it hasnt been paradise either haha. To say the least. Last week on wednesday I was overcome with some emotions with my bulgarian, next transfer and a nasty joke the elders decided to play on me. During one of our lessons, bulgarian was JUST not coming. I felt so overwhelmed by the fact I couldnt say anything and the fact that 100 other things were going through my head at that moment that I got up in mid sentence and went to the bathroom and cried. It probably wasnt cool of me to do that right in the middle of a lesson but I was an emotional wreck. Sister Loss and Speth had it under control. President Kolarov, 1st councilor to President Roth, saw me all upset and comforted me. He really likes me and is always telling me what a good job Im doing. He asked me how long it took me to learn the gospel. I told him that its taken my whole life. He then told me that its the same with bulgarian - its going to take awhile. Step by step. He told me that it would come and that Im doing great already. I appreciated that. I cleaned up my face, went back into the lesson and finished up. Afterwards, I got really sick to my stomach. Somewhat nauseous. I told my companions about it but Loss decided that it would be better to go tracting to get rid of some of the thoughts that were running around my head. As we tracted, I got even more sick to my stomach. They took me back to the church to lay down and rest while they finished tracting. By the time they came back they had a lesson to teach and my conditions were not looking up. I got myself to the bathroom in time to realize that I was having diarrhea and my stomach pains were not letting up. I tried laying back down but enough was enough. I needed to go home. I walked into the lesson Loss and Speth were having (Great, I interrupted again lol) and told Loss that someone needed to take me home. Speth volunteered to take me home in a taxi and Sister Loss would finish the lesson with Sister Orr since she was in Sofia at the time (Thank goodness). Were walking down the street trying to flag down a taxi and every so often my body jerks because Im about to throw up. We get in the taxi, drive home and right after I get out of the taxi I throw up three times in the grass. Some lady was watching me but I didnt care. I was freakin sick. The rest of the night I kept throwing up, having diarrhea and having an aching body. I was throwing up so hard that once I had nothing to throw up, my body would dry heave. NOT COOL. IT HURT. Loss made me drink tons and tons and tons of water so whatever was in my stomach could get out and so I wouldnt dry heave as much and as hard. I cried. Honestly, I wanted my mom hehe. When youre sick like a dog...you dont want to be in a foreign country away from your mom who can take care of you. Sorry if that sounds kidd-ish of me but its true.
Sucky thing is...is..I missed the BIG celebration in Plovdiv. I traveled down on friday because I was feeling better but I made the wrong mistake and actually made myself worse. I stayed in the hotel room while everyone partied for hours. Freak. I wanted to kill myself. What could I do though, you know? I was sick like a dog and had no choice :(. I did, however, watch some tv (I was allowed too) Apparently Romney is running again? Some american is kidnapped in Pakistan? Annnd the US is basically crumbling? lol. I watched a human traffiking show..I probably shouldnt have but I did lol. TV makes your head go to mush...ew. I realized how much I HATED it.
Transfer calls came though! Im a bit surprised but its a good decision I think. Im staying here in Sofia and my companion is....SISTER LOSS! IM SO EXCITED! Im cool that Im not training actually. At least I know I could do it if I needed to. I know President put us together because he knows she still needs help and Ive been the only one who has really helped her. Meaning, Ive really cared about her but I havent "protected" her from President. If something is up, he knows Ill tell him. Her and I FLIPPED out because we wanted to be together again if I wasnt training. A blessing for sure! This time its just her and I! No Speth! HOLLA! We are tremendously excited :) I know Loss will continue to help me with my bulgarian and my missionary skills. We really do complement each other. :) Blessings! Since Ive been sick and Im with Loss, shes been cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for me - shes an angel...and a blessing. She keeps tabs on me if Im up and about for too long. Love that girl.
True story, funny story - I was in the mission home the other day printing some things off in the office. President Roth comes out of his office yelling, "KIIINKYYY!!!!" Hahahahaha! I was like, wait what? LOL. Roth found out that the sisters and elders call me Kinky and he loves it lol. He loves it so much that he has taken the name on himself and has started to call me that Hahahaha. I love my president, hes like a dad. Daddy Roth. Hes a good egg, that one. Hahaha. Kinky. Hahaha.
I just want to say one thing about the Bulgarian people if I havent already about them - They are the lost israelites. Seriously. They arent lost physically but mentally. So many bulgarians would prefer to be back under communism than to be out of it where they have to find work and money themselves. Its ridiculous. Just like the bible where the tribes all want to go back under the reign of the pharaohs because being out on their own is too hard. Wow. History repeats itself lol. Its a sad story. Just wanted to add that little bit in.
In other news, we had a scary situation this past week before I got sick. Loss, Speth and I were all streetboarding in our usual park. I noticed this man came up to us with a black ear piece in. He was interested in our message but really I think he was interested in us girls. He kept eyeing me and he told us he "loved meeting different people". Speth gave him our info and I didnt feel good about it at all. I told Speth I wasnt feeling him and that he was bad news but she thinks everyone is innocent so she shrugged my comment off. I watched the guy closely as he walked away and hid behind a tree. He continued to watch us. I was like, what the heck? I then noticed there were 3 other guys all in different spots watching us and talking on their phones. 2 minutes later one of those guys walks past our display, eyes up and then turns around and walks right back to where he was. He too had a black ear piece in. I watched him walk back and talk to the guy that Sister Speth had just talked to. I knew we needed to get out of there so we packed up our stuff and jetted out. I was a bit creeped but I knew we were safe. Now heres where it gets a little more scary...11 pm rolls around. Our phone rings and its a bulgar. We miss the call just by a few seconds because we were still trying to get up and figure out who the heck could be calling us at 11 at night. Loss doesnt want to call them back but I do. I call them back and speak to them in bulgarian. I keep asking them "Who is this??" in bulgarian but they cant seem to respond back. I finally say in english, "Who is this?!" A very WEIRD almost new york accent responds over the phone. A man. Hes asking us if were the "mormon girls" and that his "friends from the hotel" talked to us today. He said he was interested in learning more but the thing was is that he said, "I live 100 km from Center, where are you guys?" I was speechless. The whole convo was bizzzare. Loss responds with, "Were at home...sleeping....its 11" The man is like, Oh right right, its probably too late to be calling but uh, where might home be? I respond by saying, "That is NONE of your business" He kind of backed off a bit but asked again where we were living in a round about way. He told us that if we wanted to meet up to call him at this number. I told him to have a good night and hung up. Im 99% sure we were talking to a human traffiker himself. Just because were young american girls in a foreign country doesnt mean were flat out stupid. My goodness. He hasnt called back but if he does, I will give him a piece of my mind. I was too shocked to give it my all the first time he called. Ugh.
Whew, what a long email. Lots has happened and Ive been in bed this entire time it feels like lol. I love you. Have a good week!
-Sister Kinkead
Email: August 8th
Hey everyone!
Sorry I didnt write last week. It seems like some of you wrote my mom because you were so concerned lol. Sorry. I just didnt have time to type up a massive email. I had some things to attend to but Im doing just fine! I havent been kidnapped or anything lol. Im safe.
This week was pretty random. We found a less active this week named Anetta. She is definitely eccentric. Her hair is 3 different colors. She was wearing skull/skeleton jewlery and her eyes had no light in them. She started to cry when we asked her about how she felt when she was baptized and how she feels now. I know she wants to come back to church but shes been offended and according to the president in the ward she has gotten into some sketch stuff like....prostitution. Eeek. It would explain why she has no light in her eyes. I personally also think that shes been playing with some dark magic. Sister Loss agrees. She has a good heart though and I know she wants to come back. She agreed to keep seeing us and re-taking the lessons.
I havent been told that Im training yet because no one is sure if the greenies have their visas yet. BUT It seems like everyday the AP's are asking me how Im feeling and preparing for next transfer. As Im writing this Elder Myrick just asked me if President Roth called me. He also just asked me what city I want...oh boy. Im nervous but to be honest I think it would be pretty fun. Sister Speth keeps saying that she thinks my mom, Killian, will train again because "shes more experienced, she knows the language and training is for the trainee to learn, not the trainer". Oh my gosh. Can you talk about a slap in the face? Whatever. I will be the one laughing when Im called to be the new trainer. Sister Speth just doesnt want to think Id be picked over her since she is good with the language and what not. Ahem. Sorry...I just hate how people in the mission and even our investigators think Im inadequate. Ive had 2 of my investigators tell me that I cant speak bulgarian at all. Its very discouraging to hear that but I know who I am and I know what Im capable of. I can do this. They know nothing.
This weekend we are having a HUGE anniversary celebration in Plovdiv, my birth city, for the church being here for 20 years. Im way excited. A seventy will be there, all members in bulgaria will be there, people from the states have flown in and all kinds of missionaries who have served here have flown in to be at this. Im way psyched! We get to party it up in a hotel all weekend. Holla!
Im getting pretty burn out from streetboarding. I decided that the 3 of us needed to do something different. Sooooo! I came up with the idea to chalk the plan of salvation in the park on the concrete! That drew in a LOT of people and of course little kids. It was good to talk with people and let them know we are normal people and not just robots who stand by a board who want to talk about the gospel. We can have fun. I chalked it up, talked to some people and even got myself some corn on the cob at the park. It was a great evening in the park. I thoroughly enjoyed myself lol.
Soo ya....missionary work. Its crazy. NEXT WEEK I SHOULD KNOW IF IM TRAINING AND WHERE IM GOING. I think I might stay here in Sofia. Or I may go to the seaside and train there. It'll be an adventure. I love you all! Take care!
-Sister Kinkead
Sorry I didnt write last week. It seems like some of you wrote my mom because you were so concerned lol. Sorry. I just didnt have time to type up a massive email. I had some things to attend to but Im doing just fine! I havent been kidnapped or anything lol. Im safe.
This week was pretty random. We found a less active this week named Anetta. She is definitely eccentric. Her hair is 3 different colors. She was wearing skull/skeleton jewlery and her eyes had no light in them. She started to cry when we asked her about how she felt when she was baptized and how she feels now. I know she wants to come back to church but shes been offended and according to the president in the ward she has gotten into some sketch stuff like....prostitution. Eeek. It would explain why she has no light in her eyes. I personally also think that shes been playing with some dark magic. Sister Loss agrees. She has a good heart though and I know she wants to come back. She agreed to keep seeing us and re-taking the lessons.
I havent been told that Im training yet because no one is sure if the greenies have their visas yet. BUT It seems like everyday the AP's are asking me how Im feeling and preparing for next transfer. As Im writing this Elder Myrick just asked me if President Roth called me. He also just asked me what city I want...oh boy. Im nervous but to be honest I think it would be pretty fun. Sister Speth keeps saying that she thinks my mom, Killian, will train again because "shes more experienced, she knows the language and training is for the trainee to learn, not the trainer". Oh my gosh. Can you talk about a slap in the face? Whatever. I will be the one laughing when Im called to be the new trainer. Sister Speth just doesnt want to think Id be picked over her since she is good with the language and what not. Ahem. Sorry...I just hate how people in the mission and even our investigators think Im inadequate. Ive had 2 of my investigators tell me that I cant speak bulgarian at all. Its very discouraging to hear that but I know who I am and I know what Im capable of. I can do this. They know nothing.
This weekend we are having a HUGE anniversary celebration in Plovdiv, my birth city, for the church being here for 20 years. Im way excited. A seventy will be there, all members in bulgaria will be there, people from the states have flown in and all kinds of missionaries who have served here have flown in to be at this. Im way psyched! We get to party it up in a hotel all weekend. Holla!
Im getting pretty burn out from streetboarding. I decided that the 3 of us needed to do something different. Sooooo! I came up with the idea to chalk the plan of salvation in the park on the concrete! That drew in a LOT of people and of course little kids. It was good to talk with people and let them know we are normal people and not just robots who stand by a board who want to talk about the gospel. We can have fun. I chalked it up, talked to some people and even got myself some corn on the cob at the park. It was a great evening in the park. I thoroughly enjoyed myself lol.
Soo ya....missionary work. Its crazy. NEXT WEEK I SHOULD KNOW IF IM TRAINING AND WHERE IM GOING. I think I might stay here in Sofia. Or I may go to the seaside and train there. It'll be an adventure. I love you all! Take care!
-Sister Kinkead
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