Email: October 31st

Name that artist. Can you? Dont google. Thats cheating.

Hows it going all? Bulgaria is coooold and Ive been drinking lots of hot cocoa. Mmmm lol. Its my new morning drink. Get my mug, warm up some milk, stir some cocoa in it and bam! Got me some hot chocolate.

Ive been doing well. This week we got 47 work hours in! It was so intense! We did a lot of work for our halloween party. Sister Child and I made a pinata for it and got decorations and what not around for it. It was this past saturday. A good amount of people showed up, maybe, 50-60, it was good. All the kids and adults loved the pinata and it survived some good beatings. I got tons of video and pictures. Ill have to send some later. Ive been spoiling you guys with a ton of pictures lately haha. Afterwards Radi and Eva, two kids around my age in the branch, were putting a ton of anti-bacterial gel on their hands and then lighting them on fire. Of course Sister Child is over there doing it with them because she is so freakin nuts lol. Radi calls me over and says, "Sister Kinkead, do you want to try?" Im like, "Erm...noooo..." He looks at me and says, "Why not? Are you a....chicken?" I look at him and say, "Nooo!" He then says, "Then why not?" I finally think to myself, what the heck? Im in Bulgaria, why not? Lol! So I tried it and they got a video of it. Its pretty cool actually. I didnt even get burnt! Lol..I probably sound so bunk right now. (Bunk - not a good missionary) I am though! I just have fun too!

Sister Child and I went out to dinner with Eva this week. Shes a 22 yr old girl and soooooo cute. Shes real fun and knows perfect english so its good to be around someone who you can really connect. Sister Child and I also went and hung out with Radka, another girl in the branch. We went over to her house for a lesson and we got in this huge discussion about communism, bulgaria in WWII and all this other historical stuff. Did you know that Bulgaria has a concentration camp? I want to go... Anyways, its really fascinating to learn about the history here. After the war, communism began and they changed history around in their history books here and taught false teachings to the kids in school. So crazy! Communism her was soooo crazy. Communism - Satans church. Literally. You are NOT allowed to think for yourself or anything. Totally corrupt, yo.

Child and I met with a named George this past week. He took us out for dinner. He bought us anything we wanted and kept asking me if I wanted anything. Ive never seen that before in Bulgaria...if youre offering your money for complete strangers, you have to be in "the family" You know? He really rubbed me the wrong way. I dont like him at all and he kissed Childs hand. She says hes just friendly but I think shes blind. Hes eyeing her for sure. He thought I couldnt understand or speak bulgarian so he would tell Child what he wanted to say to me. I could understand him just fine..I just stopped talking to him...Im not sure if that was right for me but I know his intentions and Im not going to play his game and get tangled in that web. Hes not good news. I dont like him. Child wants to keep teaching him..I want to hand him over to the elders. We'll see. Im not going to anymore places with him though.

I made a friend already in the branch here. His name is Borislav. Hes a 40 yr old man with no wife or kids but he speaks perfect english and real cool. Him and I talked a lot at the halloween party and he asked me if I liked to play chess. Of course I do! lol. Were gonna play sometime..I know he just wants company, you know? He told me that he has been waiting for me for awhile now. He had asked about the 4 new sisters that came in in february (When I got into country) and someone had said, "Maybe Sister Kinkead will serve here in Varna, Borislav!" Since then hes remembered the name lol. He told me that hes glad he finally got to meet me and that Im pretty "famous" LOL. I have no idea why. Maybe Im famous for being the one missionary who doesnt know bulgarian? Lolol.

Anyways, thats about it. Today we may go go-carting and then were going over to a members house for YSA FHE and for dinner! MMM! I love you all!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: October 24th

Dear family, friends, loved ones and random people who like to see what Briana Kinkead is up to,

Varna is a sweeeeeeeeet place to serve! I LOVE THE SEA! I forgot how nice the sand, the ocean and the breeze in my face FELT! Sister Child and I had a pretty slow week this week and last week when we were contacting on the street, Child had a bad encounter with a woman trying to tell her that she was completely stupid for trying to preach to a country that doesnt believe in God or anything holy. I went over and saved Child and she looked at me and said, "We are leaving. NOW." We packed up our stuff and headed out to go find some less-actives. During that time we happened to end up at the beach. Child looked at me and said, "Can I just have one moment?" I looked and her and said, "Go for it" We both walked out on the sand and just felt the peace and calmness of the sea. I let the breeze hit me and I felt the anxiety, stress and pain of the mission leave me. The ocean is a great place to go to when you are feeling weighed down. I think it might be one of my favorite places in Bulgaria. Were going today there actually to go see the huge lighthouse. Yaaay!

In other news, were not really working with anyone except this lady named Diana. Shes a sweet lady. She always puts her hand on my knee when my leg begins to bop up and down, up and down lol. It annoys the heck out of her hehehe. The members here in Varna are really legit and very nice. I love it. I can actually feel the spirit in church, its amazing. I havent felt that in a long time...probably, a year? Ive missed it. I can really understand a lot more than I used to. I get about 80% of what is said in church now, its glory. I can actually sit and listen and not just zone out for 3 hours. I love it.

So get this, for language study, I read, "здрач" which means, "Twilight" Hahahah! Yep! Im reading Twilight in bulgarian, its so funny. Its easy to read because I get the gist of it and its interesting to see how they translate certain things and pick up some slang that I hear out on the street. Its so fun.

Hmm, nothing really else going down here. The work is slow at the moment. We are having a huge halloween party this week and we are making a pinante! Holla! Its gonna be fun! Im looking forward to it. Child and I are rocking it up. Shes so chill and doesnt freak out about things like Loss would do. I mean, worrying is fine but when it gets to the extreme? I cant handle it. However, Loss and I hear from each other everyday and I miss her a ton. Shes definitely a best friend for life.

Anyways, thats my email for this week. I love you all and you are in my thoughts.

-Sister Kinkead

P.S. - Thanks for the card madre! Im sure Ill receive it soon

Email: October 17th

Hey everyone!

I was pretty psyched to check my email today! 17 birthday emails! Holla! Lots of pictures, videos and news!! So much is going on! Thank you SOOO MUCH everyone. Really. I appreciate it. I dont get anything as a missionary and its good to just hear from family and friends as to whats going on in the life back in America. Thank you, thank you and as the bulgarians would say, "Мерси" aka Merci in french. I dont know why they say merci here but..they do.

So Im with Sister Child here in sunny beach! Aka Varna. Its a pretty sick city and I can tell thats its rockin during the summer time. Tourist central yo. I went to the black sea and it was really cool! I havent been to a beach since I was like...14. Its been awhile. Child is a good companion. Shes been showing me all around and we've been trying to find people because we have no investigators at the moment. At times Im homesick for Sofia and the awesome investigators that we have there, especially Way. I called him this week to see how he was doing. He answered the phone and was so excited to hear from me. We talked for a good 15 minutes or so. He told me he learned how to pray in chinese and hes been reading the BOM. Hes so legit!! He told me that he was so glad to hear from me and that it "filled" his heart. AWWWWWWWW. Way is so precious and tender to me. At the end of the convo he told me how he tried to study in America but they declined him because he was older than 26 (hes 32). I think that was a hint of some sort...lol...but I still love him and I know he will get baptized soon!

The language...its still getting me down at times. Being with a groupie and seeing how much theyve improved from the MTC really makes me think where I should be in the language. Child and I are abooout the same page when it comes to the language but she can understand better at times and sometimes Im just stuttering to get out sentences. I get so flustered and scatterbrained when someone stops on the street and DOES want to talk to me. What do I say now?! What do I say that will make them want to meet with us?! How do I say this word in bulgarian?!?! AHHHHH. Its FRUSTRATING lol. Since Im new in the ward I got up and talked about myself and bore testimony. It comes when Im calm and I want to bear testimony but anything other than that? You can just forget bulgarian lol because it wont come. Ugggggggggh. The ward is really cool, I like them. This girl named Deedee has really taken to me. She looks 17 but is 27 lol. Apparently shes hard to get to know but she was by my side ready to talk. Its interesting. Hopefully I can get to know her more. Hmm what else? Creepers all around here in Varna. Child has been hit on a lot lol...I love it, they dont ever really mess with me. Good thing too. I remember when a guy in Sofia tried kissing my hand. I yanked it away and told him, No, no no no! That is not the way! lol.

Its winter here, thats for sure. Its like a hurricane outside right now. The winds are BLOWING, the rain is pouring, its freezing and I hope the black sea gets wild and overtakes Varna so I have an epic story to tell hehehehe. I just need something to happen!

Oh! this lady gave me her scarf the other day while I was talking to her about the book of mormon. Im actually wearing it right now..its real nice and comfy...even smells good too. Bulgarians, sometimes they can show some hospitality lol..

Well, I love you all, have a good week! Ima keep keepin' on here! Love YOU!

-Sister Kinkead

Email: October 10th

Hi family and friends!!!

How am I doing? Im doing freakin awesome. The week ended on a really good note!! We have a NEW investigator named Way. Way is a chinese man who is 32 yrs old and is studying here in Sofia. Way and I connected pretty fast when we first met. He came into my english class all excited to practice his english. I made him write and speak some chinese for me and I giggled because hearing and seeing other languages makes me get giddy and think, "Woooow! Thats so cool!" Haha. I dont think he minded too much. Anyway I gave a spiritual thought at the end of english class about the Book of Mormon. After class Way ran up to me asking me about this book. "Can I get this book??" Of course I said YES!!! He then looks at me and says, "...in chinese?" I shake my head yes all excited!! (We shake our heads for yes for those who didnt know that about bulgaria). He wasreally excited. I got his number and then asked for a time when he could meet. He gave me his number and we decided to meet at 5 on sunday. I was SO excited for this lesson because I found a chinese book of mormon in the mission home and I found "The Restoration" movie in CHINESE!! :D Isnt it wonderful how many resources we have for missionary work these days? Even though Im in Bulgaria, I can still teach a chinese man in his language! He came to the lesson on time and I told him that we had something for him. He got real excited. I handed him the Book of Mormon in chinese and he looks at it as if Im giving him a million dollars and then he says, "Wooow....wow...thanks..thank you so much" I look at him and say, "Is that your language???" (There are 2 different chinese languages) He responds with a "Yes..." as his eyes are glued to the front cover. He reads the cover in chinese. Im thinking, Oh my goodness!! This is so cool!!! He loves it! We never get that reaction here in Bulgaria lol. We watched the movie and then afterwards we talked about everything and explained the Book of Mormon and its purpose. He says, "I really was touched by the movie...but I noticed that God told Joseph to not enter in any other church...I entered into a church and was washed in China....(Way looks worried) So..what do I do now?" I looked at him and said, "Thats a VERY good question!!" I explained the Book of Mormon and its promise and if he finds out its truth he can get baptized. He seemed to really like that answer. Hes such an open man and he was proud to tell Loss and I that he was a christian because in China they arent allowed to believe in anything. Im 99% sure he will get baptized soon :D

In other investigator news, Emille never called us back!!! I had been waiting and waiting and waiting for him to call us! I knew that Emille was legit and he seemed like he was really taking to the lessons but he never called! Well, Loss and I were walking through the park the other day and someone calls out for us. Loss and I turn around and its Emille sitting on the bench. I was a bit confused because he hadnt called us at all and we had tried calling him earlier that day but he didnt answer our phone call and now here he was willing to talk. We sat down and began to talk to him. He didnt show like he wanted to talk about the gospel and gave us some books on chess and the depression in Bulgaria back in the day. I was sitting there wondering why he ignored our call and why he hadnt called us. I felt really hurt and betrayed. I almost felt like I was sitting on a bench as my boyfriend was telling me he wanted to break up with me and be done with our relationship. Thats how much I loved and respected Emille. He left saying he had to go do something but that he would call us later if he had time to see us. He called us an hour later and met us in the park again to talk. Emille says he doesnt understand why the Book of Mormon is all about wars, blood and innocent people dying. He struggles with the thought of "Opposition in all things". "If God loved us, why wouldnt he stop the rape? the murder? robbery? 9/11?" He doesnt like how God sits back and lets things happen sometimes but we have our free agency! We talked for 3 hours and it did no good. He just kept going at it with us and Loss was getting really annoyed. I just sat hurting inside and thinking, What do I do? Finally he asked if he could be taught the other 2 lessons. I looked at him and said, "If you cant understand the basic things how will you understand things that build off that? But...if you want to learn, I cant deny you." I said that purposely because I wanted to see his reaction. He was taken aback. He jumped back in his chair, laughed a bit because he was hurt and said to me, "Oh...so you dont want to see me anymore?" I looked at him and told him how much he meant to me and how much I loved him. He looked to me and said, "You remind me of my son.." Thats a good thing, I think. We ended the conversation on a good note and he said he would call us to learn more because he really loves being with us. He asked for a hug from both of us. We said yes because were not sure if we'll ever see him again. He gave Loss a hug and then he hugged me. I pulled back and he wouldnt let me go and finally did. I felt like we were breaking up with Emille. A lot of emotions in the air. We left and we havent heard or seen him since. *Sighs* Guess hes not ready...well I continue on.

Genun, a 30 yr old turkish man from my english class almost proposed to me the other night as we were on the subway lol. He asked me how young mormon girls get married. I told him 18-19. He asked me how old I was and I said 22. He laughs and says, "Youre late!" Im like heh....lol. He then asked me if I would ever marry a bulgarian man. I told him no and then gave him my opinion on bulgarian men (Its not a very nice opinion) He understood where I was coming from and then said, "So you'll just go back home after your mission then.." Im like, "Yep and Ill get married so!" Hahaha. It was perfect because then Loss and I had to get off the metro so the conversation didnt go any further lol. Oh genun. Hes had his eyes set on me forawhile now. Hes a Johnny Depp look alike but...Im not marrying that foreign of a man lol.

I was blessed to hear the Saturday Session of General Conference yesterday in church. We had it in english and I really liked it. The second half was bit of a doozy though. I kept going in and out of sleep. Missionary life is tiring mmk? I did like how L. Tom Perry said that using the internet to share the gospel is a wonderful resource! Hes dang right too! I also liked the talk on geneology. I forget who spoke about that. Im excited to get home and do some family history work! Holla! Haha.

We went to go see a less active this week. Shes an elderly woman who has a lot of health problems. Shes real sweet. She gave us some cookies when we got in and then she got some "Barclays Whiskey" out. Loss and I were like...uhhhh we dont drink alcohol. She told us that it had no alcohol in it and that it was "something" she had "prepared homemade" which in other words means, I made homebrewed whiskey. She poured us some whiskey and then watered it down with a lot of water. I refused to drink mine and so did Loss. Right as the woman walked out to get something, we both ran to the kitchen sink and poured it down the drain. She came back and poured us SOME MORE! Ahhhh!!! This time we told her that we were fine and full. She put it in a bottle for us and sent us home with whiskey. Oh my goodness. *Rolls eyes* The adventures never end here lol.

WELL! Pray that Way will get baptized, Emille will come around and I wont be given anymore alcohol when I go over to that less-actives house to clean.

I love you all! Heres a video I want everyone to check out. I love this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nczw6xHJ0I

Have a good week!! MUCH LOVE

-Sister Kinkead

Email: October 3rd

Hi family and friends!!!

How am I doing? Im doing freakin awesome.
The week ended on a really good note!! We have a NEW investigator named Way.
Way is a chinese man who is 32 yrs old and is studying here in Sofia. Way and I
connected pretty fast when we first met. He came into my english class all
excited to practice his english. I made him write and speak some chinese for me
and I giggled because hearing and seeing other languages makes me get giddy and
think, "Woooow! Thats so cool!" Haha. I dont think he minded too
much. Anyway I gave a spiritual thought at the end of english class about the
Book of Mormon. After class Way ran up to me asking me about this book.
"Can I get this book??" Of course I said YES!!! He then looks at me
and says, "...in chinese?" I shake my head yes all excited!! (We
shake our heads for yes for those who didnt know that about bulgaria). He
wasreally excited. I got his number and then asked for a time when he could
meet. He gave me his number and we decided to meet at 5 on sunday. I was SO
excited for this lesson because I found a chinese book of mormon in the mission
home and I found "The Restoration" movie in CHINESE!! :D Isnt it
wonderful how many resources we have for missionary work these days? Even
though Im in Bulgaria, I can still teach a chinese man in his language! He came
to the lesson on time and I told him that we had something for him. He got real
excited. I handed him the Book of Mormon in chinese and he looks at it as if Im
giving him a million dollars and then he says,
"Wooow....wow...thanks..thank you so much" I look at him and say,
"Is that your language???" (There are 2 different chinese languages)
He responds with a "Yes..." as his eyes are glued to the front cover.
He reads the cover in chinese. Im thinking, Oh my goodness!! This is so cool!!!
He loves it! We never get that reaction here in Bulgaria lol. We watched the
movie and then afterwards we talked about everything and explained the Book of
Mormon and its purpose. He says, "I really was touched by the movie...but
I noticed that God told Joseph to not enter in any other church...I entered
into a church and was washed in China....(Way looks worried) So..what do I do
now?" I looked at him and said, "Thats a VERY good question!!" I
explained the Book of Mormon and its promise and if he finds out its truth he
can get baptized. He seemed to really like that answer. Hes such an open man
and he was proud to tell Loss and I that he was a christian because in China
they arent allowed to believe in anything. Im 99% sure he will get baptized
soon :D

In other investigator news, Emille
never called us back!!! I had been waiting and waiting and waiting for him to
call us! I knew that Emille was legit and he seemed like he was really taking
to the lessons but he never called! Well, Loss and I were walking through the
park the other day and someone calls out for us. Loss and I turn around and its
Emille sitting on the bench. I was a bit confused because he hadnt called us at
all and we had tried calling him earlier that day but he didnt answer our phone
call and now here he was willing to talk. We sat down and began to talk to him.
He didnt show like he wanted to talk about the gospel and gave us some books on
chess and the depression in Bulgaria back in the day. I was sitting there
wondering why he ignored our call and why he hadnt called us. I felt really
hurt and betrayed. I almost felt like I was sitting on a bench as my boyfriend
was telling me he wanted to break up with me and be done with our relationship.
Thats how much I loved and respected Emille. He left saying he had to go do
something but that he would call us later if he had time to see us. He called
us an hour later and met us in the park again to talk. Emille says he doesnt
understand why the Book of Mormon is all about wars, blood and innocent people
dying. He struggles with the thought of "Opposition in all things".
"If God loved us, why wouldnt he stop the rape? the murder? robbery?
9/11?" He doesnt like how God sits back and lets things happen sometimes
but we have our free agency! We talked for 3 hours and it did no good. He just
kept going at it with us and Loss was getting really annoyed. I just sat
hurting inside and thinking, What do I do? Finally he asked if he could be
taught the other 2 lessons. I looked at him and said, "If you cant
understand the basic things how will you understand things that build off that?
But...if you want to learn, I cant deny you." I said that purposely
because I wanted to see his reaction. He was taken aback. He jumped back in his
chair, laughed a bit because he was hurt and said to me, "Oh...so you dont
want to see me anymore?" I looked at him and told him how much he meant to
me and how much I loved him. He looked to me and said, "You remind me of
my son.." Thats a good thing, I think. We ended the conversation on a good
note and he said he would call us to learn more because he really loves being
with us. He asked for a hug from both of us. We said yes because were not sure
if we'll ever see him again. He gave Loss a hug and then he hugged me. I pulled
back and he wouldnt let me go and finally did. I felt like we were breaking up
with Emille. A lot of emotions in the air. We left and we havent heard or seen
him since. *Sighs* Guess hes not ready...well I continue on.

Genun, a 30 yr old turkish man from
my english class almost proposed to me the other night as we were on the subway
lol. He asked me how young mormon girls get married. I told him 18-19. He asked
me how old I was and I said 22. He laughs and says, "Youre late!" Im
like heh....lol. He then asked me if I would ever marry a bulgarian man. I told
him no and then gave him my opinion on bulgarian men (Its not a very nice
opinion) He understood where I was coming from and then said, "So you'll
just go back home after your mission then.." Im like, "Yep and Ill
get married so!" Hahaha. It was perfect because then Loss and I had to get
off the metro so the conversation didnt go any further lol. Oh genun. Hes had
his eyes set on me forawhile now. Hes a Johnny Depp look alike but...Im not
marrying that foreign of a man lol.

I was blessed to hear the Saturday
Session of General Conference yesterday in church. We had it in english and I
really liked it. The second half was bit of a doozy though. I kept going in and
out of sleep. Missionary life is tiring mmk? I did like how L. Tom Perry said
that using the internet to share the gospel is a wonderful resource! Hes dang
right too! I also liked the talk on geneology. I forget who spoke about that.
Im excited to get home and do some family history work! Holla! Haha.

We went to go see a less active this
week. Shes an elderly woman who has a lot of health problems. Shes real sweet.
She gave us some cookies when we got in and then she got some "Barclays
Whiskey" out. Loss and I were like...uhhhh we dont drink alcohol. She told
us that it had no alcohol in it and that it was "something" she had
"prepared homemade" which in other words means, I made homebrewed
whiskey. She poured us some whiskey and then watered it down with a lot of
water. I refused to drink mine and so did Loss. Right as the woman walked out
to get something, we both ran to the kitchen sink and poured it down the drain.
She came back and poured us SOME MORE! Ahhhh!!! This time we told her that we
were fine and full. She put it in a bottle for us and sent us home with
whiskey. Oh my goodness. *Rolls eyes* The adventures never end here lol.

WELL! Pray that Way will get
baptized, Emille will come around and I wont be given anymore alcohol when I go
over to that less-actives house to clean.

I love you all! Heres a video I want
everyone to check out. I love this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nczw6xHJ0I

Have a good week!! MUCH LOVE

-Sister Kinkead