Email: April 16th

Oh man am I having feelings of anxiety right now! Hah.
 My greenie will be flying in this wednesday and Ill be meeting her that night! I am prettttty nervous. I hope she has a fun time with me and adjusts well to Bulgaria and the mission. Elder Babbit, my district leader in Ruse, called me last night and asked me when I would be arriving into Ruse. I told him I wouldnt get there until Thursday night. He told me that he already has four women that he wants me to work with and that there is A LOT of work to be done! He told me he has everything ready for me and cant wait for me to get there and dive into the work. To be honest, this makes me very stressed lol. I will basically being doing all of the missionary work myself and having my little greenie just testify. I will have to KNOW what these peoples needs are and it will be up to me to teach them the doctrine. AHHH. Lol. Im being stretched but... The Lord calls us in our weaknesses right? Funny how I have been studying that lately and know I feel like Im being pushed to apply it lol. Oh the gospel. Pray for me!! Sister Meyers says Ill be a good mommy. I hope shes right lol.

The other day Sister Meyers and I were talking about the pre-mortal life and what we were "Studying" to develop ourselves in our first estate to take to this earth. Sister Meyers looked at me and said, "Sister Kinkead - you were talking" LOL. Shes right, I think. I just talked to anyone and everyone and built strong friendships, Im sure. It was a cool conversation. I've been very intrigued by the pre-mortal life as of recent. Its fascinating to learn about.

Sister Meyers and I were streetboarding 2 weeks ago. (We have a board with pictures and then a table with Boms in all different languages for people to see.) This man comes up with his dog and lays a 20 lev bill under one of the book of mormons and walks away saying in ENGLISH, "Ive always wanted to take you sisters out to lunch but I have no time... treat yourself." Im like what the... heck?! Lol. A week later, the same man comes up and Sister Meyers stops him, trying to talk to him this time. She asks him if he knows anything about the church and he says, "Yes, I know a LOT about the church" and then she responds by saying, "What do you know??" and he looks at her and says, "I graduated with an MBA from BYU... and I served a mission in Idaho." LOL. What the heck?! Were just chilling on the street of a small city called Blagoevgrad in BULGARIA and we meet a MBA major from BYU? lol. He told us that he WAS bulgarian but lived in Salt Lake now working for Progressive. He told us that both of his parents are gone and he only has his little dog. He really talked up BYU though and told me that I should look into if I'll be in the valley. I was pretty shocked. It was SUCH a cool conversation and then he handed us another 20 lev bill and said. "I really want to go to lunch but I dont have time so.. here!" Such a cool guy. Im hoping Ill find him in salt lake one of these days.

As for investigators - we met with Daniella this past week. It was another good lesson and the spirit was really strong but I just dont think shes fully ready to commit yet. Its so annoying. However, she told us that she read what we asked her to in the Bom and that shes been seeing her life being blessed since shes been meeting with us. Her son, Borislav, has read 7 chapters out of the kids Bom. He even said prayer over dinner. He was really proud to tell Meyers and I. It was sooo cute.

Peter hasnt been meeting with us. He has stood us up twice. I think hes heard things and has been scared away. Thats annoying. Bah.

We have a NEW investigator which I met during contacting on the street named Cindy. She is an 19 yr old girl from Albania who is studying at the american university here. She told me that she knew the missionaries in Albania and that she learned english from them. She agreed to meet and told me that it was so good to see mormons in Bulgaria. We met with her a few days later and went through the whole 1st lesson. She was SO excited to know that we have a living prophet NOW! She was also thrilled to hold an english Bom in her hand. She wanted the original... not the albanian copy. However, we will be getting her an albanian copy soon hah. Shes such an open girl and she had such good questions! "What about the people who dont accept God in this life?" or "What does God think about our technological advance and how we use our bodies??" Meyers and I were so excited to teach during that lesson and it was in ENGLISH. Ahhhhh. Cant ask for any better. Were hoping to meet with her one more time before we tap out of this place.

Our last investigators were meeting with are Tenka and Kircho. They are a couple who we tracted into. We went back to start the 1st lesson and they had prepared a whole easter dinner for us. I thought it was really nice but it was very overwhelming at the same time because I wasnt sure how we were going to transition into a lesson. We sat for a few minutes and ate and then Meyers brought up the fact that we had prepared something. As we began to teach, Kircho, went on about how much he hates the pravaslav *Orthodox* church and how corrupt men are in the church these days. He talked AT us. Not with us. Ugggh. Their dog was at our feet whining for food and when it came time for me to take my turn teaching a principal - bulgarian was not there. And you want to know why? Because the spirit was not there so I just stuttered and struggled. Ugh. We tried watching the vision with them and they talked during the whole thing and at the end said, "See? You arent supposed to join any of the sects, only believe in Christ and be a christian!"........... Ya. Meyers testified after but I didnt.. I couldnt. It just was NOT happening. We said a closing prayer and got out of there. I was very grateful for Meyers... she really pulled us through in that rocky lesson. Im not sure were going to go back. They dont seem to interested anymore. They just want someone to talk to.

We celebrated easter by having a branch party and painting eggs. The dye for eggs is REALLY good here. Im going to buy a ton of packets so I can use them for future easters! We played some games afterwards and ate snacks. It was good branch bonding. Meyers and I didnt give each other anything for easter... its just another day to me here. Plus, I dont like focusing on holidays on the mission too much - I just get trunky and miss home. Its not good.

Well! I love you all. Keep keepin on!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: April 9th

Dear family and friends,

Happy easter?! We havent celebrated it yet here in Bulgaria. We celebrate it a week after everyone else in the world celebrates it. Weird eh? So ya.. havent done easter yet but I dont think we'll be doing much. Sister Meyers and I will be packing sunday night to leave for Sofia monday morning to get our greenies next week! Its been fun to chill with Sister Meyers. She killed my best friend Sister Loss in the mission and its been fun to exchange stories of our beloved friend Sister Loss. I miss that girl a lot.

General conference has begun here in Bulgaria. I watched the first saturday session yesterday in church and got tired of trying to really focus on what was being said so I decided to have a little personal study with my scriptures. Ive been learning a lot about weaknesses that prophets have. For example, Moses, Enoch and Moroni all had weaknesses that they talk about. Moses struggled with his speech and would stutter a lot - therefore he was given Aaron to help him. Enoch, too, struggled with his speech but was called of God to prophesy and teach people. Moroni writes in Ether 12 about how he is strong in speech but struggles writing what the Lord wants him to write in the scriptures. He talks about how the gentiles, us, will mock his writing but he writes anyway. I LOVE THAT. People are called in their weakness - they really are. God doesnt expect us to be PERFECT over night. Perfection is a journey and as Henry B. Eyring has said, "Men are that they might have joy... not guilt trips." I think sometimes we beat ourselves up so much and think we need to be better than "The Jones" or whoever... and we forget that.. the church isnt a place for perfect people...its a hospital for people who struggle in life. And guess what? WE ALL STRUGGLE. But its ok...so do the prophets. I love it.

Sister Meyers and I met with our investigators Peter and Daniella this week. Peter has a baptismal date!!! We started the plan of salvation and as I was testifying about the atonement, Sister Meyers felt it was a good time to commit him to baptism and low and behold - he agreed! Its exciting!

We taught the whole restoration lesson to Daniella and her son Boris. We watched the 20 minute video of the restoration and the spirit was really there. Daniella was crying a lot but I dont think it was good crying. After thinking about it, Sister Meyers and I both agreed that Daniella knows that the gospel is what she needs but she doesnt want to act upon it and change. She felt the spirit but we think it scared her and she didnt know how to handle it. We tried comforting her and setting up another appointment but shes busy this week so I will have to hand her over to the next sisters that come in.

Sister Meyers tracted into a lady named Tanka. She said she wanted us to come back and we did! We met her husband, Kircho and found out that they had 2 little kids. We taught some principals out of the 1st lesson and introduced the book of mormon. They were very friendly and open to us. It was very refreshing to have people not bash us and actually listen and agree with what we were saying. Were going back tomorrow and hopefully again later on this week!! :D

The work is slow at first but it picks up, you know? You work hard and the Lord provides.

Two weeks ago, I was laying on my bed during dinner hour because I was just too tired to eat. Sister Tate laid on hers and we talked about the mission, the people, the experiences and everything in between. I began to cry because the end is coming and even though its welcoming, its scary and Bulgaria holds a very sacred place in my heart. Its very bittersweet. The people here will always be my eternal friends.

I love you all and I will see you soon. You are in my prayers and you are in my heart.

-Sister Kinkead

Email: April 2nd

Hey hey hey!

I am officially having a little baby in 2 weeks! Hahaha. I will be training a new missionary coming in! Yaay. And guess what? The best part is that I will be opening ANOTHER city for sisters. Bwhahahaha. So I will be training and opening a new city called Ruse. Its near the coast of the black sea and up near the Romanian boarder so..I will be heading over to THAT side of the country again and...dying there. Weird. Its exciting but at the same time its kind of stressful because this sister will know nothing about Bulgaria or Bulgarian! I will be literally doing everything. Cuuuh-razzzy. I have to wait 2 weeks because, technically, this transfer isnt over yet but were switching companions for the next 2 weeks. Sister Tate will be leaving me tomorrow to serve in Sliven and clean up a sister. Sister Myers will come with me and stay here in Blagoevgrad as we both wait for our greenies. We have 11 trainers this time around. Its going to be a party with 22 missionaries in the orientation meeting. Bigger than a zone conference! That is... if all the missionaries get their visas haha. I feel like Im really just sliding down a slope for the last part of my mission. I havent had to deal with too many problems and Sister Tate and I had a lot of fun so the transfer just flew. I think my greenie will be a cool girl and the work will keep me so busy that before I know it...Ill be on the flight home. Its so nuts.

Im really going to miss Sister Tate. Shes near and dear in my heart. She reminds me so much of me in some ways and I think I might cry when I have to see her leave me tomorrow.

In other news...we have found an investigator here named Peter. We met with him twice this past week. Hes a 28 yr old guy who is interested in learning from us. He always shows up on time and called me on saturday to know when we could meet again. You never have that here in Bulgaria unless someone is really serious about the gospel. We'll see where it goes.

We're working with another woman named Daniella. She is in her 40s and has a son named Borislav. We've met with Daniella twice and the second time around was pretty interesting. We taught about how the gospel blesses families and how the family can be a strong unit if its based on gospel principles. She then began to lecture her son infront of us about how he needs the gospel. I looked at her and told her before she can teach others, she needs to learn herself. Lol. Seriously. I think shes just interested because she wants her son to be a good kid with good values but she doesnt want to change herself. She used to be an english student and she was thoroughly impressed with Mary, this 13 yr old member here. She saw how mature and smart Mary was and wanted that for her son. She even started comparing her son to Mary in the lesson. Awwwkward.

Anyway...thats about it for the work. We went to the Zoo this past week with some members and had a little spiritual message afterwards. It was a fun time. Sister Tate and I also had a girls party with the Young Women here this past saturday. Mary and Irina were the only girls there because...they are the only young women here hehe. We watched a movie as we made hair accessories and chomped on some snacks. They had such a good time! Irina made me a hair accesory. She told me she wanted me to have it and then told me how much she was going to miss me. It touched my heart. I think it really meant a lot to these two girls.

I feel like Tate and I are leaving here on a really good note. Even though we didnt baptize the city... I feel like we really strengthened the branch here and were good examples to girls who really needed it. Mary got up in testimony meeting yesterday and bore her testimony. She said, "I remember something Sister Kinkead said when she bore her testimony here the first time. She said... 'The gospel is happiness' and it is! The gospel IS happiness." She went on about it and it really meant something to me that she remembered that little part out of my testimony 7 weeks ago. Irina then got up and began to cry as she said, "I am so grateful for the 2 sisters here." That was really touching too. I had kind of felt like a failure here but I didnt realize how much I had done until that moment in testimony meeting. I feel like the chapter of Blagoevgrad is coming to a close. A good close.

Well everyone. I love you so much and I really cant wait to see you all again! It will be a joyous reunion! I need to find out about my scheduled date for my homecoming talk so you can all come! Details to come.

-Sister Kinkead

P.S. I love this. Watch it!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zk2tyEM9i8

Email: March 20th

Hey everyone,

Once again, this week just flew on by. The transfer is already coming to an end! CRAZY! Its a shorter transfer though than all the other transfers due to transfer mess-ups and what not soooo ya!. Ive already been told I will be training for my dying transfer and Im quite glad about that. It will be fun to have some greenie juice as Im slowly going down into my grave here in Bulgaria. Im not sure if I will stay here in Blagoevgrad or not but I really want to! This place is small but its so cozy and I really like it here... its home.

This past saturday we had our big relief society party. It was quuuuuuite stressful for me. Krasi, the relief society president was not willing to help at all. She kept shoving all responsibility onto Sister Tate and I. Sister Tate decided to call Sister Roth about it and see what we could do to have Krasi help us. One thing led to another annnnd Krasi was called by one of the bulgarian church leaders here and was told exactly what she needed to do. I was told that Krasi was willing to be there and lead the entire meeting and what not so that put a lot of stress off my back. Saturday rolls around and Sister Tate and I decorate the church, have chili on the stove heating up that we made the previous night and have our dessert, brownies, all ready to go for after lunch. We got the tv out and set it up so we could watch the leaders of the church speak SPECIFICALLY to the eastern european women. I was really excited! We also put on mormon tabernable choir music on in the background as people were walking into the church. I definitely felt like a relief society woman lol. 10 o' clock rolls around and women are piling into the church and sitting down for the party. 10 was when we had plan to start but there was no Krasi in sight! 10:10 rolls around and still no sign and the members are looking at me like, "Come ooon..." So I decide to give Krasi a call. She answers the phone and in a almost happy voice tells me she cant make it because she has work. HAH. She couldve CALLED me to tell me that. Yaaaaa..... Sooooooo I led the entire meeting. LOL. I got up there, put a smile on and in bulgarian greeted them to the meeting, explained a little about what we would be doing and then started the DVD. Hahaha. I dont know....some people man...some people. Ah well...Im learning how to be a good little member for when I get back home. Ya?

The party actually went very well and the women really enjoyed it. They were excited that we had actually made them a meal and dessert. They couldnt get over it. I think it was definitely a spiritual experience for all of them and it really built their faith.

As service, even though it really wasnt service, we took some toys up to the orphanage kids and played with them for a little bit. They LOVED IT. They also kind of went crazy haha. One kid ran up to me, Tony, hugged me and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. Hehehe. It was a cool experience.

After the party, the elders, Tate and I and 3 members from the ward went to the park for another ward activity. Its a tradition to go to the big park and play games there as a ward. Its a time for bonding. I had so much fun. I was running around playing soccer with them all and feeling like a normal kid. Elder Gardner was trying to go against me in soccer but I cant compete because he played in germany as a soccer player and was asked to sign a professional contract for some soccer team in europe. CRAZY. Hes crazy good.

We had zone conference this week. The mission is becoming more white-handbook and were being given a lot more instruction than what it was like when I first got into country. Its weird but..whatever. I guess its good. I have my own opinions but I submit and do what Im asked to do. One thing that were doing now is receiving certificates with our name on it and with the persons name on that we baptized this year. Eeee-yaaa... awkward. I dont think its a good idea. We should just feel the joy from baptizing someone and knowing that the spirit worked through us to baptize that person....not be called up during zone conference to shake hands and receive a certificate. Ah well...whatever. Zone conference was still good though. Its so fun to come together as a zone and see all the missionaries. Ive made some pretty good friends and some eternal friendships. Its amazing.

Well everyone, I love you! I come home in 10 weeks. CRAZY. Ill see you soon!

-Sister Kinkead