Hey everybody,
This week was a good week, I felt the love from the Lord, from loved ones and
from friends a lot this week. I received some mail this week from Sofia. I
received a letter from my Aunt Jody, Thank you Aunt Jody!! I received a letter
from my ward back home, with everyones signatures and little messages. It made
me feel good that I was still remembered back home by people I havent heard
from in 14 months. I received a letter from the Stake Presidency which was nice
and then I received a letter that was written, " S. Kinkeit" It was
from a bulgarian. I opened the letter and to my surprise it was from Nikolai
and his son Efgeni in Veliko Turnovo! They wrote me a little letter wishing me
a happy birthday. It filled my heart!!! I dont know if any of you remember who
Nikolai and Efgeni are but they are members in Veliko that I worked with back
in April-May of last year!!! Ive called Efgeni a couple of times since then. I
really worry about him because him and his dad, Nikolai are the only members in
that city and Efgeni is this 18 yr old boy. I dont want him to lose the path.
Ive been trying and trying to call them but I cant seem to get ahold of him.
Its annoying haha. Anyway, it just really touched my heart. When I think of
Nikolai and his son Efgeni I am filled with love for them and it makes me get
teary-eyed. They are precious precious spirits to me and I am so glad that I
met them and that I made some kind of impact on them for them to write me a
christmas card after 8 months of not seeing or really hearing from them. I
loved it. A tender mercy for sure.
This week Sister Pantigoso and I had an opportunity to go out with a few people
for lunch and talk about the gospel. One of them being a man named Giro. Hes
32, single and from Armania. Hes in my english class and hes a very very cool
guy. He says he envies the missionaries for their happiness and their
knowledge. I told him he could be happy to if he would just let his guard down.
He told me that he couldnt. I looked at him and told him, "Giro, you can.
Im your friend, I know you and I see something in you. Please let me and Sister
Pantigoso teach you a little bit about how we CAN be happy in this life."
He agreed to so we now have a NEW investigator. We went out to lunch with him
after english and really discussed the gospel. He had really good questions and
I know he wants what we have. Im excited to teach him. He told us that he might
be moving to Denmark for work and he wanted the missionaries information so I
already hooked him up with the info. Hes so sick! Love him. Another tender
mercy.
Speaking of people traveling to different counties, DIANA, our investigator who
got baptized last transfer and who moved to spain is BACK in Bulgaria!!!! Shes
back on break for 2 months or so and Im excited to teach her again! I saw her
come into church late and after sacrament I ran up to her and just hugged her.
She began to cry and it was just epic. Im so glad shes back! She looks really
good :D Tender mercy number 3?
Sister Pantigoso and I were streetboarding the other day when a man by the name
of "Asin" came up to me. He began speaking to me in bulgarian and
then switched to english and says to me, "im from the evangelical
church... my preacher tells me this book *Book of Mormon* is another
lie..." I look at him and say, "And what do you think?" He
looked at me and didnt really know what to say. I bore testimony to Moronis
dream and how we can know for OURSELVES if the Book of mormon is true or not.
He was a very nice fellow. We talked for another 20 minutes in english and I
was really able to express myself and let my spirit shine. He wouldnt give me
his number but I gave him my information and a little pamphlet on the Book of
Mormon. Afterwards I was very pumped....and I realized how merciful the Lord is
towards me. Somehow I always find people who can speak english and I can
testify to them freely. Tender mercy number FOUR.
I had an interesting experience this week. I was left alone for 4 hours by
myself lol. Pantigoso had to do an english exam for BYU since english isnt her
native language. We took her over to the testing center but they had no room
for me so I had to travel back to the church alone and sit alone for 4
hours...it was so weird. I felt so paranoid lol. I havent been alone for
awhile....I think I may be weird when I get home...lol.
Anyways...thats it for me for now. Thank you all for your letters. love and
emails! I love you!!
-Sister Kinkead
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Email: January 9th
Hey everybody,
This week went by slow...yet again due to not being able to find legit investigators. Its soo annoying sometimes. Pantigoso and I have been making sure that we are finding each day and weve been tryinnnngg to get peoples numbers but no one is giving us a chance. As of right now we only have 2 legit and progressing investigators. That would be Christo and Fabio. Christo is progressing fast. Weve been meeting with him since last transfer but he hasnt come to church at all. Panti and I decided to give a lesson about faith and how we build our own and develope testimonies of our own. We stressed that reading the scriptures was important as well as going to CHURCH. He loved the lesson and guess what? He came to church! Hes SO open and I just love it. FINALLY. Someone who wants to LEARN. Haha. He is progressing pretty fast this transfer and I feel good about him. I think by next week we'll be able to sit down and talk about baptism with him. Hes really funny though, everytime he comes to the church for a lesson he gives me and panti a big hug lol. Fabio is doing really well. Can I just tell you that Fabio is so talented? He is a choreographer in Spain, hes a cosmetoligist, an artist and a singer. Hes soooo funny. Weve been meeting with him a lot and everytime we get together its hard to start a lesson because were laughing so much and chatting it up. Fabio has a really good heart, he struggles with multiple things such as the law of chastity and the word of wisdom but he really wants to change his life and give it over to the Lord. We covered the word of wisdom this past week and the next big thing to hit is the law of chastity...Panti is quite scared of teaching him about that because he may get up and leave due to his lifestyle but Im not afraid. Im ready to do this. The gospel is the gospel, right? Fabio and I were sitting in church yesterday and he just sat there zoning out while we all sang in bulgarian. I noticed that there was a english hymnbook on the piano so I grabbed it, flipped to the english song and we began to sing the same song together in english. I havent sung in english in church in over a YEAR. It was sooo cool and I know Fabio really liked being included in the singing. I believe music is where you feel the spirit most strongly. After church Fabio asked me. "You have such a beautiful voice, why do you sing softly??? You need to sing loud! You have the voice!" Lol. Fabio would know, I suppose. He is the singing teacher. I love the kid. Im going to miss him when he heads back to Spain and continues on with his work there. Ill definitely have to skype with him after the mission.
So last night I had a wonderful conversation with this little boy named ценко - Sinko. Panti and I decided to go streetboarding for an hour last night and she found this old grandma with her grandson Sinko. Panti was talking it up with this lady and I decided to make small talk with this little boy. The funny thing and surprising thing is that he continuted to talk to me and ask questions even after we did the whole, "Hi, how are you? whats your name?" I asked him how old he was - 12 and then he asked me how old I was. He asked me if I had a boyfriend and I told him no. I asked him if he had a girlfriend - he does. LOL. Hes 12! But kids start young here. He asked me. "Why dont you have a boyfriend?" I told him that I didnt want one..I had one but things were just complicated. He looks away in thought and then turns back to me and asks "What kind of problems?" I sort of talked to him about it and then he says to me. "Dont worry, youll find someone better, more handsome and really rich. You just need to find one!! You should find now.." By this point Im just like..wow this is a cool kid. Hes actually holding a decent conversation with me and sincerely interested in what Im saying instead of his little 12 yr old toys. He told me his thoughts on God and how hes been to a lot of churches but how "none of them really speak of God" I thought to myself. holy crap! This is the next joseph smith! Lol. Panti got his grandmas number and we'll be meeting with them soon. Im really excited. They have a lot of potential, I think.
This is random but one of the elders investigators told me that when I smile my eyes are laughing. I liked that lol....thats good, ya?
We continue to have no snow in Varna. Im loving it. I want to get by snow as best as I can as a missionary here in Bulgaria. Its no fun when you are trudging in the snow trying to find less actives. Bah. Some days I really wonder what its like to have a car as a missionary. Those missionaries are spoiled!! Thats all I have to say on that note lol.
Well, have a good week all. I love you
-Sister Kinkead
This week went by slow...yet again due to not being able to find legit investigators. Its soo annoying sometimes. Pantigoso and I have been making sure that we are finding each day and weve been tryinnnngg to get peoples numbers but no one is giving us a chance. As of right now we only have 2 legit and progressing investigators. That would be Christo and Fabio. Christo is progressing fast. Weve been meeting with him since last transfer but he hasnt come to church at all. Panti and I decided to give a lesson about faith and how we build our own and develope testimonies of our own. We stressed that reading the scriptures was important as well as going to CHURCH. He loved the lesson and guess what? He came to church! Hes SO open and I just love it. FINALLY. Someone who wants to LEARN. Haha. He is progressing pretty fast this transfer and I feel good about him. I think by next week we'll be able to sit down and talk about baptism with him. Hes really funny though, everytime he comes to the church for a lesson he gives me and panti a big hug lol. Fabio is doing really well. Can I just tell you that Fabio is so talented? He is a choreographer in Spain, hes a cosmetoligist, an artist and a singer. Hes soooo funny. Weve been meeting with him a lot and everytime we get together its hard to start a lesson because were laughing so much and chatting it up. Fabio has a really good heart, he struggles with multiple things such as the law of chastity and the word of wisdom but he really wants to change his life and give it over to the Lord. We covered the word of wisdom this past week and the next big thing to hit is the law of chastity...Panti is quite scared of teaching him about that because he may get up and leave due to his lifestyle but Im not afraid. Im ready to do this. The gospel is the gospel, right? Fabio and I were sitting in church yesterday and he just sat there zoning out while we all sang in bulgarian. I noticed that there was a english hymnbook on the piano so I grabbed it, flipped to the english song and we began to sing the same song together in english. I havent sung in english in church in over a YEAR. It was sooo cool and I know Fabio really liked being included in the singing. I believe music is where you feel the spirit most strongly. After church Fabio asked me. "You have such a beautiful voice, why do you sing softly??? You need to sing loud! You have the voice!" Lol. Fabio would know, I suppose. He is the singing teacher. I love the kid. Im going to miss him when he heads back to Spain and continues on with his work there. Ill definitely have to skype with him after the mission.
So last night I had a wonderful conversation with this little boy named ценко - Sinko. Panti and I decided to go streetboarding for an hour last night and she found this old grandma with her grandson Sinko. Panti was talking it up with this lady and I decided to make small talk with this little boy. The funny thing and surprising thing is that he continuted to talk to me and ask questions even after we did the whole, "Hi, how are you? whats your name?" I asked him how old he was - 12 and then he asked me how old I was. He asked me if I had a boyfriend and I told him no. I asked him if he had a girlfriend - he does. LOL. Hes 12! But kids start young here. He asked me. "Why dont you have a boyfriend?" I told him that I didnt want one..I had one but things were just complicated. He looks away in thought and then turns back to me and asks "What kind of problems?" I sort of talked to him about it and then he says to me. "Dont worry, youll find someone better, more handsome and really rich. You just need to find one!! You should find now.." By this point Im just like..wow this is a cool kid. Hes actually holding a decent conversation with me and sincerely interested in what Im saying instead of his little 12 yr old toys. He told me his thoughts on God and how hes been to a lot of churches but how "none of them really speak of God" I thought to myself. holy crap! This is the next joseph smith! Lol. Panti got his grandmas number and we'll be meeting with them soon. Im really excited. They have a lot of potential, I think.
This is random but one of the elders investigators told me that when I smile my eyes are laughing. I liked that lol....thats good, ya?
We continue to have no snow in Varna. Im loving it. I want to get by snow as best as I can as a missionary here in Bulgaria. Its no fun when you are trudging in the snow trying to find less actives. Bah. Some days I really wonder what its like to have a car as a missionary. Those missionaries are spoiled!! Thats all I have to say on that note lol.
Well, have a good week all. I love you
-Sister Kinkead
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Email: January 3rd
Dear all,
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! 2012 BABBBBBYY! Holla. How was your guys new years? Anyone do anything fun? We had a SPECTACULAR new years eve party this year. There are 3 pairs of elders serving in Varna along with the sisters and they had this great idea to invite all the missionaries over to their apt, set up the projector to play movies, have games and make lots of food! This idea came up because we were all supposed to be in our apts by 4 pm due to crazies running around outside. So why not just gather at one of the elders apt?! Lol. You all are probably freaking out right now, I love it. You want to know the best part about it? WE GOT PERMISSSION. President Roth approved and it was GLORY. We headed over to their place around 4. Sister Pantigoso, Elder Patterson and I started in the kitchen making a huge meal while Elder Brown was out on the balcony grilling away. The other elders got the movies set up and were visiting. It was like being at home for new years with all your friends. Real chill and real fun. We had dinner, watched "Tangled" made some hot cocoa thanks to Sister Pantigoso and then we sat down and played the game "Magic" for 2 hours. I decided Ive been asked too many times in my life to play this game and now was the time to give in and just learn. I got real into it. I was building up my little creatures. equiping them and becoming a complete nerd by yelling out, "I OWNED YOU!" to the elders which I killed Lol. After the 2 hour session of Magic. it was countdown time. We went ontop of the roof and watched all of Bulgaria go nuts with their fireworks. There was a huge firework show over the Cathedral here and it was so pretty. Dont worry kids, I got lots of footage. I screamed and ran around. It was such an experience and probably one of the best new years eves yet. Who gets to chill with all the elders at home, party and then see the new year in a foreign country with crazies running around? It was epic, for sure.
You all are probably wondering about Christmas. Christmas was pretty good. Zone Conference was here and the Roths bought us presents and lots of candy. We got to watch a real movie which was nice considering it had make out scenes in it and President is in the back just eatting his dessert and loving life. Lol. I love that man. We stayed in for most of Christmas due to Panti being sick and we just chilled. The elders gave us a portable dvd player so we did a lot of watching movies, baking and takin naps. It was really nice. Definitely hard to jump back into work though hehe.
Hmm what else? We had a lot of lessons this week but we only have one progressing investigator and that would be Fabio. He told Sister Pantigoso that he wanted to get baptized. We'll see what happens. We still need to explain the law of chastity because he struggles with that annnnd he will be returning to Spain in a few weeks so the missionaries in Spain will probably baptize him. I wish the work would pick up here. We get a lot of potentials but no one takes the bait lol. Sorry...No one wants to investigate! Gah. When there is no work the weeks become very SLOOOOWWWW. Bah. I hate when you have to find work.
Well all.. the weather is still nice here and I think I may be able to slip away from getting hit too hard with the winter weather....*crosses fingers*
I love you all...thats it for now. Choose the right and remember who you are.
-Sister Kinkead
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! 2012 BABBBBBYY! Holla. How was your guys new years? Anyone do anything fun? We had a SPECTACULAR new years eve party this year. There are 3 pairs of elders serving in Varna along with the sisters and they had this great idea to invite all the missionaries over to their apt, set up the projector to play movies, have games and make lots of food! This idea came up because we were all supposed to be in our apts by 4 pm due to crazies running around outside. So why not just gather at one of the elders apt?! Lol. You all are probably freaking out right now, I love it. You want to know the best part about it? WE GOT PERMISSSION. President Roth approved and it was GLORY. We headed over to their place around 4. Sister Pantigoso, Elder Patterson and I started in the kitchen making a huge meal while Elder Brown was out on the balcony grilling away. The other elders got the movies set up and were visiting. It was like being at home for new years with all your friends. Real chill and real fun. We had dinner, watched "Tangled" made some hot cocoa thanks to Sister Pantigoso and then we sat down and played the game "Magic" for 2 hours. I decided Ive been asked too many times in my life to play this game and now was the time to give in and just learn. I got real into it. I was building up my little creatures. equiping them and becoming a complete nerd by yelling out, "I OWNED YOU!" to the elders which I killed Lol. After the 2 hour session of Magic. it was countdown time. We went ontop of the roof and watched all of Bulgaria go nuts with their fireworks. There was a huge firework show over the Cathedral here and it was so pretty. Dont worry kids, I got lots of footage. I screamed and ran around. It was such an experience and probably one of the best new years eves yet. Who gets to chill with all the elders at home, party and then see the new year in a foreign country with crazies running around? It was epic, for sure.
You all are probably wondering about Christmas. Christmas was pretty good. Zone Conference was here and the Roths bought us presents and lots of candy. We got to watch a real movie which was nice considering it had make out scenes in it and President is in the back just eatting his dessert and loving life. Lol. I love that man. We stayed in for most of Christmas due to Panti being sick and we just chilled. The elders gave us a portable dvd player so we did a lot of watching movies, baking and takin naps. It was really nice. Definitely hard to jump back into work though hehe.
Hmm what else? We had a lot of lessons this week but we only have one progressing investigator and that would be Fabio. He told Sister Pantigoso that he wanted to get baptized. We'll see what happens. We still need to explain the law of chastity because he struggles with that annnnd he will be returning to Spain in a few weeks so the missionaries in Spain will probably baptize him. I wish the work would pick up here. We get a lot of potentials but no one takes the bait lol. Sorry...No one wants to investigate! Gah. When there is no work the weeks become very SLOOOOWWWW. Bah. I hate when you have to find work.
Well all.. the weather is still nice here and I think I may be able to slip away from getting hit too hard with the winter weather....*crosses fingers*
I love you all...thats it for now. Choose the right and remember who you are.
-Sister Kinkead
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