"Not really anything incredibly exciting......except......that I'm having a baptism!!!! Well hopefully. I met this guy on the street named Nikola, and we immediately hit it off."

Hey! I'm here :) I'll start off with your questions.

How has your week been? Anything exciting?

 - Not really anything incredibly exciting......except......that I'm having a baptism!!!! Well hopefully. I met this guy on the street named Nikola, and we immediately hit it off. He really kind of taught himself the Gospel, we only watched it happen. He invited himself to church the first week, and wants to be baptised the 6th of October. He isn't going to be able to attend church again until then, so we might push it back a week. But he's way awesome! He is unfortunately moving about 80 km away from Haskovo, which is the nearest branch to him. He said that he will keep going to church, and I believe him, but it is hard to baptise someone and send them away. But yay! Other than that, I have been having really bad migraines every 3 weeks or so, and I had one yesterday. We went home to take a break so that I wouldn't die...
Have you been writing in your journal every day? Have you finished a whole book yet?

 - Yes I have, and no I haven't finished one. Those books are surprisingly big. About halfway done with one.
How has the weather been?

 - Nice and cool. Loving the weather right now.
Grampa Tom wants to know: when do you expect the first snowfall? 

 -Hmmm, probably end of october, early november... But I really have no idea. The rain here is CRAZY though.
Do the mountains change color there as much as here? 

 - Hmmmm....what mountains... :) Haha no we just have "mountains" here (hills). And there's not a ton of vegetation.
Did you get a jacket? How did the ATM card work? How much was it? What does it look like? Where did you get it?

 - Didn't get a jacket yet, I might wait to go into Sofia to get that one. They are apparently cheaper. I will look at the mall today, and if I see one I like, I will get it.
Have you been sick at all?

 - See "Migraines" above. . . I have had two so far. They really really knock me out, and I get feverish with them as well.
Can you drink the water? Anything unsafe to eat?

 - Yeah the water's not a big deal in cities, it's just in the villages that It's a problem. Everything here is "unsafe" to eat. The duners that I love so much are literally a pile of rotating raw chicken that is cooked by a flame on one side. They just cut it off super thin. USA wouldn't ever allow some of the stuff here for health regulations.
What do you do in the city square all day? We think you hand out pamphlets and BofMs. Maybe sing hymns? Who plays the guitar? Did she bring it with her? Do the people like your singing or do they yell at you?

 - We aren't allowed to hand out Books of Mormon, because most people won't read them, and there are only hardcovers. We only get about 20 at a time. We give people a book if they agree to have a lesson with us. Pamphlets, yes. We have sung a couple times with Sister Campbell's guitar. Honestly, people don't notice us singing....
Have you ha enough money to buy what you need? How much do you spend on groceries? Where is the store? Do you have peanut butter?

 - Yeah we are pretty good on money here. We usually spend about 70 lev a week on groceries between the two of us. One difference between America and Bulgaria, is NOTHING IS FREE. Not plastic bags, not water at restaraunts, nothing. So we buy some bags and haul our groceries to our apartment about 2/3 km away.
Have you taken the bus yet? 

 - Yeah we have taken the bus a couple times. If we go to a different city, we only take the bus. But a TON of walking, and some taxis too.
When is your zone conference? Where?

 - October like 12th?? In Plovdiv.
How long has elder barber been there?

 - He has been in country for 5 months.
How many areas are there that you could get set to eventually? 

 - There are 11 open cities that are available for missionaries.
What is your Sunday schedule? 

 - Church from 10 to 1, then lunch at 2, from 3 - 5:30 weekly planning session, then at 6 we go Diado Juan, who is this crazy old guy that we take the sacrament to every week. Then home to make dinner, plan for the next day, study the language, and bed.
Did you get to see the temple broadcast? 

 - No, we don't have access to anything at all. Was it cool?

Write back quick!! I love and miss you all!!

Ally: Your hair looks very pretty. :)

Jesse: Keep kicking butt on the soccer field!!

Kayla: You should try to play an instrument! That would be so cool!

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Старейшина Форши

Where did you meet your baptism guy? Who has been teaching him? Where will you baptism him if it happens?
Yeah I just take Advil and Tylenol. I don't feel like a doctor is quite necessary yet, because they only come every couple weeks. Yeah there is a mall in the city. Very small, but it has some american food which is cool! And we will baptise Nikola (who I met street contacting, and who I have been teaching) on the roof of our building in the portable font.

How are you getting along with everyone?

Everybody is incredible. I love them all. There are never any arguments or disputations. Everyone loves everyone, and the work. :)

That's awesome!!! Dies Nikola have a family? How old is he?Hmmmm. He's probably 40 or 45. He has a wife, but I don't think any kids.

Is the wife learning the gospel as well?

No unfortunately. We don't know where she is. He is only in Stara Zagora because of a new job training and will be moving back on October 22. He doesn't talk about her much.

So you sound pretty happy? What is your favorite thing about being there?
Yes. Probably just the being here part. There is no other time where I don't really have any worries about anything but bringing people to the Gospel. 

What are your plans today?
The Slevin Elders are coming in today for some reason..cause there is literally nothing to do in Stara. But We will hang out with them a little bit. Watch a movie. We can watch one disney animated movie once a week. And yes I have pictures, give me just a sec to upload them.

Remind me who they are again.
I don't remember all of the Slevin elders names. They were the ones on top of the mountain.

Taylor is doing good. No worries. He has to wear his glasses instead of contacts, because there literally is no where to get them clean. The water is very bad. He loves the people and is learning how to get dirty I guess. :) Grama sent another letter for you. I hope it gets there. She wants to know what you want for christmas from her... so do I...

That's good. I'm glad he is doing well. I miss him.  I haven't gotten another letter from Grama yet, but I apparantly have a package from grandma candy?? The mission office called me and said candy cuellar. ?? But I don't know. When I go in to sofia again, I'll get to check my mail. I don't really know if I want anything for christmas?? And no i haven't really bought anything. Or dry cleaned anything. The washer in my apartment is sufficient.

Do you have a phone in your apartment?
Okay. I will. And yeah I do. Umm, are you getting these pictures? They keep getting rejected for some reason on my end.

How is the language coming? Can you say what you want to say and understand people ok? How are people treating you? Any better? Are the people blond, dark? What primarily do they look like?
 Haha if only the language was coming okay. It's hard. I can pick things out, but I'm nowhere near sufficient. The people are darker, but only just. Kind of like from california. Blond, dark, and dyed hair of all varieties..

Where were you in these pics? Love the animals!

We wen't to Brother Major's farm. He is from america but had some tax stuff to work out so he just left and moved out here with his wife. He has a small farm about an hour away and we went to do some service. I totally forgot to take a picture for missionary mall. I'll remember next week. Also, what is my blog site?

Hey, I gotta run. Make sure that you put all this up on the blog and tell people like Amy and Lexi that I miss them and that They should look at my blog. Mom, I love you so much, hope you have a good week, and see you soon! ;)

last of them. We designated a day as Sister day, and I made them a texas sheet cake (from memory I might add) and made their days. And another mafia car...my collection is growing nicely!! I have 1111 2222 6666 7777 9999. I need 0000 3333 4444 5555 8888