Email: February 20th

Dear Family and friends,

I am in Blago!! This past week was full of moving, getting adjusted and figuring out what the elders left us here in Blagoevgrad to work with. It was quite the adventure getting here. Sister Tate and I met up in Sofia and caught a bus to Blagoevgrad. We arrived in this small bus station with little to nothing. We were handed our luggage from the bus and then were left to figure out how to get to our apartment when we've never even been there. We tried getting a taxi that would take all 4-5 suitcases in his little car. It didnt take too long, thank goodness. We found a man who, could somehow, shove all of our stuff in his car lol. We told him our address and he was unsure of where it was at. I looked at him and said, "Ya, same here" Lol. After 45 minutes of driving around, calling the elders and making stops to ask random bulgarians, we FINALLY got to our apt. Its soooo nice. Its a pretty new block and we have a 2-story apt!!! Its so sick. We have 2 bathrooms, a niiiice kitchen and all the space we could ask for. Sister Tate and I were giggling like little girls as we ventured around seeing what our apt was like haha.

The work we were left by the elders is...nothing. They had lots of 1st lessons but it never went anywhere. So...we have been doing a lot of finding this past week. I think I burnt Sister Tate out on tracting already lol. Ah well...its what we have to do as missionaries, you know? We "superman" contact in the mornings in center. We just walk and talk to people. Its been kind of successful. Theres an american university here so thats really cool. There a lot of people who can speak english.

Blagoevgrad is a very small city. It has like...2 buses. The number 2 and 3. Lol. But I like it. Tate and I were blessed to find everything mostly on our own since the elders arrived a few days later than us. The president of the branch found US on the street and showed us where the church was. It was weird how he approached us. He looked at us and then asked if we were missionaries. Ive only had this happen a small amount of times on my mission because no one wants to talk us. We said yes and then he laughed and said, "Well I am President Cvonko from the branch here!" Hahaha. It was a nice little surprise.

Sister Tate is a really cool girl. Shes 21 and from South Jordan, Utah. She is very girly girl and is always looking very cute as a sister missionary lol. Ive gotten to the point where I want to look good but at the same time..I dont care if Im not looking girly girly or anything...Im just a sister hahaha. I will soon be cute again! Lol.

Im hoping that as Sister Tate and I work hard we will be able to find the people who want to hear our message. President wrote me telling me that he has felt so inspired to send sisters here and that it will be such a good experience for sisters to be here. Im so grateful to be here and I feel very blessed from the Lord.

Well all, thats about it. Have a good week. I love you all!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: January 13th

Hey everyone!!!

So transfer calls were this past week!!! I was NOT expecting the call that I got. President Roth calls me and says, "Sister Kinkead! You will be serving with Sister Tate.......*a pause* and you will both be serving in...*another pause* Blagovgrad!!" I started freaking out!! I was jumping up and down and saying, "yes!! yes!!! Thanks President!" I was so excited because 1) I really wanted to go with Sister Tate 2) Its finally my time to shine and Im going senior companion and 3) I AM OPENING A NEW CITY FOR SISTERS!!!!!! There has NEVER been sisters in Blagovgrad. President has always talked about it but has never had the chance...now he does! And Tate and I will be doing it together! I am quite nervous but excited at the same time. The elders that are in that area with us wont be there the first couple of days so Tate and I will have to find our way around lol. It'll be an adventure but a good one at that. Im looking forward to a new change. I feel like Im finally hitting that point of my mission where Ive climbed the mountain and Im finally getting to the top. The beautiful top that everyone has been talking about. The view is great and you can just stand, take it all in and enjoy. The end of this next transfer will be in mid April and in May I will be coming home so...this next transfer will almost finish my mission and it will be a good one. Were going to work really hard but enjoy ourselves at the same time and not run around like chickens with no heads. Ive had companions like that....hehe. I love Varna but Im sick of the wind here. Brrr!!! It gets SO cold here. I hear Blagovgrad is a lot warmer. I also heard it has some ski resorts! That would be so cool if President would let us go skiing but Im 99.9% sure he wouldnt let us go lol. 

Fabio left this past week for Spain. We had a huge surprise goodbye party for him. We blind folded him, put him in a taxi and went to a nice restaurant where all the missionaries and some members were waiting for him. We unfolded his blindfold and he began to shed some tears. He really enjoyed his party and I know that he really felt the love that we have for him. Fabio has told us in the past that he cant cry anymore. hes gone through too many things that he has become numb to showing emotion but that night I saw him wipe away his tears and it really touched my heart. He sat beside me all night and was laughing and joking. Hes one of my favorites and I will never forget him. He signed in my memory book and told me that he hopes to see me again in this life...he says he has a good feeling we will cross paths again :) Love him. 

Our investigator Julian has been progressing very well! I dont know if Ive mentioned him or not but the elders were working with him before but they dropped him because he wasnt reading or praying. Julian came up to me on the street wanting to know more about the plan of salvation. I got his number, checked with the elders about teaching him and set up an appointment to meet with him. Since then, we've met with him 5 times and hes progressing SO FAST. He really thinks about everything we say and has so many good questions. Hes been reading his scriptures and praying!! I am so proud! He even came to church the other week. I have good feelings about him. 

We had mission tour this past week. It was......interesting. 

Anyway, thats all for now! I travel into Sofia tomorrow to grab my new companion and head down to the borders of Macedonia and Greece. Hahaha. Blagovgrad baby! Have a good week everyone!!

I love you!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: Monday February 6th

Dear family,

Another transfer is coming to a close. Time is flying and I am not complaining. We've had a lot of work this past week and will finish this next week up with a lot of work. I love it! Time goes so much faster when the there is work! Im looking forward to a new transfer. This transfer with Sister Pantigoso has been quite an interesting one. She is someone who is very blunt and isnt afraid to voice her opinion about you even if its not nice. I feel like Ive had to count to 100 sometimes instead of 10 with her. I love the girl but...its been trying. Im thinking next transfer I will be transferred back to Ctara Zagora ( I was there last year from April-May ) and maybe will serve with Sister Tate. I hope so...I hear Sister Tate is really fun. We shall see! 

This past week we met a lot of people who are interested in learning. Ive been making Sister Pantigoso tract even though she hasnt wanted to. She told me it was very ineffective and we would find a lot more people if we just walked up to people randomly on the street and just start a gospel conversation. Ehh. Anyway, we went tracting and found 2 people who were interested. One of them was a girl named Melena. She acted very enthusiastic about our message and told us to come back. She said she would be expecting us. I was floored. Ive never had that happen my whole entire mission!! Lol. She seems like shes 26 and she speaks perfect english. Its so awesome. We tracted into a younger man around 22-23 and listened to our message. He didnt seem too interested but he told us that we could come back and share more. We'll see. We tracted into another man who was from Louisiana. I asked him what he was doing here in Bulgaria and he told me it was none of my business. Rawr. Lol. He then told us he escaped from the states...He looked pretty sketch. We may have just tracted into a man who had killed someone and was hiding in some poor post-communism country Lol. It made for a good eye opener and laugh afterwards. 

Pantigoso and I were outside Mcdonalds last week waiting for a lesson. The church is kind of hidden so sometimes we meet at locations where people will know...aka Mcdonalds lol. Pantigoso thought she saw the man coming and she goes up to him and its not him... it was some other man...but this man starts talking to us in english. He tells us that hes from Germany and is a computer software engineer. We went into Mcdonalds and talked for a bit because our original lesson came late. The guy from Germany is named Wolfgang lol. We gave him our information and were hoping to meet with him this week for real. He doesnt have kids and I dont think hes married so I hope he doesnt have other intentions but we'll see. 

Fabio is leaving this week!!! I AM SO SAD. Hes my favorite here in Varna. Hes leaving for Spain and will be working there for some entertainment company. We set a baptismal date and will be giving all of his information over to the spain missionaries. Were not sure if he will go through with his baptism but we need some kind of motivation for him to drop his cigs and he has limited time to do so. Hes very excited about baptism and we've talked about it so many times that we know that HE knows its no game. Its serious business. Hes already finished the Book of Mormon and Pearl fo Great Price. Hes halfway through the Doctrine Covenants. He started and finished True to the Faith and has been reading all the general conference issues. Hes so freakin sick. He loves getting his hands on church material to read. 

Radka, a member here, invited all of us missionaries over to dinner at her house with Fabio and Vesko, another member here. It was SOOOOO fun. Fabio made lasagna for dinner for all of us. A real italian making me real italian food (Hes originally from Italy ) He was so proud. He told me that I need to tell everyone back home that he made me dinner haha. After dinner he was making fun of all of us missionaries with our little kinks and quirks. He got up and impersonated students from our english class and we were all just LAUGHING. I was laughing so hard that my stomach was hurting and I was getting sick hahaha. Its so good to have those times where you are just having lots of fun and you can relax for a moment. Fabio is great. He asked me when I was going home. I told him may. He was like, "Ok..Ill go with you and then we can get married." Lol! He calls me his wife sometimes. Hes so funny. 

We met with another one of our investigators this week, Giro. He came back telling us that he read some of the Book of Mormon but he just cant believe it. We sat down and tried to explain the book of mormon but he would keep coming up with questions and not letting us answer. I hate that. I finally looked at him and said, "If you ask a question, you need to let me answer it before you ask another one, ooook?" Ugh. We had all of the answers for him but he wouldnt seem to listen. He  says he wants to be happy and believe but he has no desire and he doesnt want to give the effort it takes to have happiness. We ended up telling him that were always here if he has interest and that was that. We tried. 

Mission Tour is this week on thursday. I hope its good...Im sure it will be. 

Well all, have a good week! I love you. 

-Sister Kinkead

P.S. - People have asked me. When is my release date? Its May 29th. Holla!

Email: January 30th

Hey everyone,

Well I wasnt so lucky this year. Snow finally hit Bulgaria this past week and its been prrreeeeetty cold. Sister Pantigoso and I have been feeling pretty powerful walking through all the snow to get to less-active houses or simply just getting around the city on foot (I really wonder what its like for missionaries who have a car. Spoiled.) Anyways, lol, there have been a couple times where we've almost slipped due to black ice being on the sidewalks. I dont know how old people do it here...its definitely dangerous. It finally feels like its really winter and I cant wait till Spring. Snow and Ice as a missionary are no bueno. You have no motivation to go out in a blizzard and find people. Sister Pantigoso and I have been having to switch to tracting to find people. Tracting is all right but it can be a really weird/awkward situation since you try getting into an apartment complex and knocking on everyones door. People wonder how you got into their complex and why you are trespassing. Its annoying. I havent done tracting in awhile but its "my element" meaning..Im comfortable doing it. However...Pantigoso has anxiety attacks every door we knock on. She is very uncomfortable with it and for most of her mission she has gotten away without tracting. She makes for a good laugh though lol. She makes me go first every time we get into a new block and when its her turn she grabs me and pulls me close while she talks. Lol..... Oh the mission.

In other news we are handing over our investigator, Christo, to the elders. Hes a really nice man and has come to all of our lessons but we think he may just like our company and not so much the gospel. Hes probably close to his 70s, hes been divorced for 15 years and lives alone. He likes to hug us when he sees us and he gave me a kiss on my hand the other day. Awkward. We sat down with him yesterday at his place and had some tea (Dont worry, herbal tea) We talked about the standards of the church but he brought up some interesting topics and I wasnt feeling too good about meeting with him anymore. We left and Pantigoso and I both decided that we would hand him over to the elders. If he really wants to learn, he wont mind learning from the elders. Right?

Fabio is just shining. He makes my day. Every time I see him I just laugh and smile. He is such a unique person. We're continuing to work with him but his weaknesses are something we're not sure how to deal with. Hes an amazing man. Hes gone through so much in his life that, honestly, I dont know how hes NOT in prison for certain things. Hes overcome so much and I love him to death. We sing in english together during church because he doesnt know bulgarian and were always laughing and joking. I LOVE HIM. I told him that he needs to come to my homecoming talk. He said he wants to. It probably wont happen but...I can wish, ya? Such a cool kid.

Pantigoso and I were working with a family this past week! I found this man on the street last transfer. He asked Child and I if we could teach english to his son personally and we were unsure so we said no but I saw him again 2 weeks ago and he asked about it again. I decided that we could teach his son english if we could have a spiritual lesson afterwards. He agreed and we went over last wednesday. It went over really well and the family was really receptive. Low and behold...we tell the elders about it and they are already teaching THE SAME FAMILY TOO. Ya...in the end...we handed them over to the elders even though I found them first. The elders just want them for themselves. I was kind of mad over the whole thing but I decided that its better to just let them have it and have no contention or get into a big argument over it all and have hard feelings. Were all on the same team............right? Lol. *Sarcasm*

We had a Cowboy Night for a ward activity. Us missionaries all made Chili, Baked Potatoes and Brownies. We had cowboy dances and barrel racing Lol! It was SOOOO fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the line dances and having fun with people I love. Im so crazy...I love it. One guy who was there lingered around me and then later asked for my number as a joke. I was like...Im a missionary....Sorry. Awwwwkward lol. But it was still really fun.

For a Young Single Adult activity we all went laser tagging. THAT WAS SO FUN. It was a really legit place with a whole obstacle course, fog machines and loud music. It really set the mood for some laser tag! I ran around screaming and running from people. Hahhaa. I loved it...it really helps relieve stress. Im hoping we can do it today for Pday with all the missionaries.

We are now sending missionaries to TURKEY!!!! My little Elder Redpath is heading over to Turkey next transfer, along with 3 other elders from Bulgaria. I feel sorry for them..they finally get bulgarian down and now have to learn turkish. Shudder. Im glad thats not me lol. I hear they will be attending university in the morning to learn turkish and then contacting in the afternoon lol. Im so excited to be here at a time where we are having missionaries go into Turkey!!! Its something big for the BSM. Thats for sure.

Well everyone, have a good week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYhDhiojBPA Check that clip out :) I love you all. Thanks for being wonderful!

-Sister Kinkead