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

Email: January 16th

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

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

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