Hey Mom and Dad!
Oh man...so many questions....too many questions! haha. I feel as though so much has happened! I will try my best to fill you in on everything but there is seriously just too much!
So last monday we hiked the mountain and it was really fun! We thought it would be a pretty easy hike up a hill. Nope, it turns out it is a very steep mountain! It was pretty hard but fun. There wasnt really a trail at all so we were just making our own way up. It was nice and muddy and we would just plow through the small trees and bushes. We needed a machete! Once we got to the top we had the Boza. Oh man.... it was awful! So bad I dont know how to describe it so that you can fully understand how bad it really is. I just don't understand how the people here drink it?! (Oh yeah, I had my first duner and it was good!)
It was pretty cool being up there and seeing the entire city of Sliven, its not too big of a city so we were able to point out where we lived. We decided to not go down the same way we went up so we went a different way. The Elders said they thought they had seen a road so we went down on the either side of this mountain and it was all snow. We got a little lost but it was fun hiking down in the snow and finally walking back into the city. I am not sure how much we walked that day but I want to say we easily walked over 10 miles (trying to find our way back to the city.)I am guessing we walked more but I dont want to exaggerate too much.
By the time we got back home we were so smelly from everything we just took a shower and went to bed! It was so much fun!
Let's see this week I have been doing a lot of street boarding with my companion. Street boarding is when we get this pretty big poster with pictures of Jesus and other church things and put it on a stand in the middle of the Glav. The glav is the place in the city where there are lots of little shops and no cars are allowed to drive through it. It is usually in the middle of the city.
Anyway, so I get a lot of funny looks while doing street boarding. Also when people walk by we are supposed to try and stop them for a moment so we can give them information about the church. So one phrase that works a lot is "may I have a moment?" So I say that a lot. The only problem is when they stop and my companion is already talking to someone else so I am trying to talk to them and well...let's just say I need a lot more work because the conversations I have usually sound like this..."May I have a moment?" They say, "Yeah, what?" Well they say that so fast that my natural instinct is to say "what" after that. So basically we have this really awkward 15 seconds of saying what to each other and then finally I just bear my testimony on how I know the church is true. hahaha oh man its pretty funny. I am constantly laughing to myself just thinking about how all my conversations would be like in English...oh well.
The other day it was super windy and my companion was talking to someone for awhile so I was trying to hold the street board on the stand so it wouldnt fall over. Oh, and my skirt at the same time because my skirt kept flying up! Anyway this lady walked by and I said Hello and smiled and she gave a pretty mean glare, well right at that moment I had an itch on my face so I let go of the hand that was holding the board to itch my face, and then the street board went crashing down and smacked the lady who had just given me the mean glare!!! Hahaha it was great! Except for the fact that I think she thought I did it on purpose and gave me a look like she was gonna kill me!! I just smiled and laughed on the inside.
We met this one guy while street boarding who came up to us and asked if we were the church with the Book of Mormon. We said yes of course and found out this guy found a Book of Mormon on the table of a restaurant 1 year ago and took it as a sign from God that it was true. He has read it 3 times all the way through since then and he even quoted it when we talked to him! Crazy huh? We have had a lesson with him and he came to church on Sunday!
OK so... The Elders met this lady who wanted to have them and the sisters over for dinner. Apparently she had met with Sister missionaries a few years ago and wanted to hear more. So we went with the Elders to meet here and have dinner. She was very nice and the food wasnt too bad...until she pulled out chicken LIVER! Yes, I ATE LIVER! eww gross gross! It was so bad. The lady asked who wanted some and the Elders were being funny and said something how I wanted to eat some! Since I dont know how to say anything I had to eat it or it would be rude! Oh it was so sad. My whole body was crying on the inside! So that was fun...haha
Nothing could have prepared me for what happened on friday. We went to go visit a old man who had hurt his leg from falling in his house and had been in the hospital for 2 weeks. He is a member of the church but now cannot get there because of his condition. He has a wife that has alzheimers or something and my companion had told me that when I get there dont be surprised if she randomly screams.
So we get to the apartment and he calls for us to just come in because he cant really come open the door. He is in the kitchen and as we pass by the kitchen we see his wife laying on the bed in the room next to the kitchen with something all over her face.
We ask if there is anything we can do to help as we her his wife crying and screaming from the other room. He asked us to give his wife water. we went in there and found her covered in throw up and blood. It was everywhere. The smell was so bad and we felt so bad for this old woman who had been covered in this for a while and couldnt help herself and her husband couldnt do anything to help either. They were completely helpless. We tried to clean up the room as best as we could and helped change her shirt. We also found out that they had a womman who came to take care of them everyday for a few hours and would be there in 45 mins or so. So we tried our best to clean things up and help her feel better. We sat her up and I was sitting behind her to make sure she didnt fall while my companion was cleaning some of the floor. I was holding everything together until she started to throw up again while I was holding her. It was the saddest thing ever and it looked like blood. She was screaming in Bulgarian and I cant even understand what is going on. I was trying not to throw up myself.
The worker lady finally got there and took care of the rest of it. I was talking with the husband while my companion finished telling the worker what all had happened since we got there. The lady told us, "Well, now you both can see what it is like for us here." It was kinda harsh...but its true. Things are so bad here. They dont have nursing homes where people get cared for all the time. The only have ladies that come in a few hours everyday for there job. And that is not enough.
Anyway, sorry that was a bit much but it is really only a small portion of everything going on. Being here and seeing people go through there everyday reality is really intense. There is no middle class here. You either have money or you dont. Most people don't. You see Mercedes Benz and BMW's next to gypsy carts (a gypsy cart is a hand made wooden cart that is pulled by a malnourished horse) This is what the gypsies drive around. Almost every morning we see Gypsies picking out of the trash and filling there carts up with anything valuable and riding off.
Basically, being here has made me realize how grateful I am for everything that I have and for family and friends that care. I want so badly to teach everyone about the gospel because I know how it can change peoples lives and give them hope or even some guidance for their life.
Well to answer a few of your questions.... I dont know my exact address I will try and get it to you next week. The cockroaches aren't that big so thats good and No I DO NOT feed them are you crazy?! We kill them. Yes, President and sis roth speak english. Yes, we have a refrigerator. Nope, I dont know what Antuineta cooked me and I dont think I want to know. Yes, those pics are with her family. There will be lots of fresh fruits and veggies in the summer so I am excited for that!
Oh thats really sad about Mr. Wargo. He was a good man and a great teacher. He is in peace now and that is good.
I love you all bunches and bunches!!! My mailing address is the one for the mission home so if you want to send something(which would be cool) send it there.
I hope you all have a great week! You are all in my prayers :)
Love, Jodi
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
February 20th 2012
Dear Mom and Dad,
Yeah I was pretty happy to call and let you know I arrived. I didnt know i would be able to do that until I got here! Wow, so so much has happened since I have been here, I don't even know where to start!
So the trip over here was long and tiring and I got a bit of jet lag..but that is normal and boring so I am not gouing to talk about that. My mission President and his wife are so awesome! Sister Roth is such a good cook! They are from Austria so I got a lot of yummy Austrian food when I got there mmmm so good! I got to start of my mission by saying a prayer in a big park in Sofia. It is the same park where Russell M. Nelson dedicated the mission. It was amazing but it was pretty cold. There was about 3 feet of snow and I didnt relly have much warm clothes so I just knelt in the snow with my knee length skirt and regular church shoes haha. After I got to go contacting for the first time! We got so incredibly lucky because everyone we asked to listen to us did and I stopped someone and in my sad broken bulgarian testified of the Book of Mormon and he wanted to take it! So I was the only one who gave away a book of mormom :)
Later, we went back and had dinner. Then they let us go to sleep. After an hour of sleeping I thought it was time wakr up but then the other sister missionaries saw me and informed me that I had only been asleep for 1 hour...haha it was a rough night to say the least.
We had a good orientation in the morning and I founf out I would be serving with Sister Child in the city of Sliven. Sister Child is amazing. She is from Layton, UT and goes to BYU-Hawaii she played on the soccer team for Byu-hawaii and is slowly convincing me to want to go there! She loves sports and being outside! We are a rocking team haha.
So, we jumped on this little bus (like a big mini van..) that was pretty crammed with bags under our seats and rode for 5 hours and arrived in the cute town of Sliven :). The apartment is pretty nice. We have all the essentials...good bathroom, a washing machine, no dryer...they dont have dryers in Bulgaria so we hang up our clothes, and a decent bed, we have a few extra friends as well... yup we have cockroaches those are fun to find thorughout the day haha.
Since I have been here in Sliven I have met some pretty amazing people. I have met people who have nothing but seem as though they have absolutley everything.
We have met with quite a few people and teach them various lessons about the gospel and they are so sweet and listen. They always apologize to me for not talking to me because I dont understand. I smile and tell them I I actually do understand somethings that they say, I just dont know how to respond haha.
I just smile at everyone and say the small things that I do know... I feel like most of the time they are kinda shocked I am speaking Bulgarian because I kinda stand out...A LOT. Pretty much no one here in Bulgaria has blonde hair... so i get constant looks/stares daily haha.
Yesterday at church I introduced myself and bore my testimony, I was pretty nervous but did it anyway! The sister missionaries are in charge of teaching the primary for now. It is crazy but pretty fun there are about 5 kids from the ages of 4-11... so it is hard to meet all of there needs. There was this one girl who was infatuated with my hair and played with it the whole time. She would always ask me questions and I had no idea what she was saying so I just said yes and she would get a big smile on her face and give me a big hug....It makes me wonder what I said yes to...uh oh haha!
After church in Sliven we took a bus to Yambull...(dont really know how to spell it in englich...) which is about 30 mins away to have a sacrament meeting for 4 members there. I bore my testimony and introduced myself there as well and it was funny because all of them knew I had only been there for about 4 days so as I was talking all of them were smiling at me like I was this little cute baby and that they wanted to squeeze my cheeks haha.
later that night we went over to visit a family in the branch in Sliven. They are so cute. They were baptized a few noths ago and the husband is the 1st counselor in the branch presidency. they have a little daughter named Annie (well in english) She is 11 and is awesome. Before we went over my companion warned me about Antuinetas(mom) cooking and how she makes you eat a lot of food... I was way nervous! Well we went to there house...they rent a room from a house and it is smaller or maybe around the size of our fromt room and that is there WHOLE house. they have a little kithchen thing and a small table and a couch that folds out to a bed that they all sleep on. They dont have much but they are so happy! They re in our english class and so they were practicing some english with me it is pretty funny. Anywho...she made us a lot of food. I dont really know how to describe it... ok, I dont want to sound like a snob but it was awful. I held my breath the whole time and would just swallow. I didnt even want to know what was in anything I ate. (My comp says most the food she has had is bearable, but nothing antuineta makes is!) The worst part is that they have nothing and make all this food for you so you have to eat it. I would stop for a second and she would motion her hand from my mouth to the plate saying in her broken engllish, "eat, eat!" There I am doing what she says but crying on the inside. I had to try so hard not laugh because My companion and I would make contact and smile knowing exactly what the other was thinking haha.
After dinner we shared a spiritual thought and they wanted us to teach us some fun activites from America. So we taught them a couple girls camp songs and they absolutely LOVED it. They are so cute.
Anyway today is my first pday here in Bulgaria and I am so excited!! We are going to go hiking up this mountain with a huge cross on it. Plus I am going to try my first "duner" and drink called "boza" apparently a duner is this flat bread thing with meat, cheese, cucmbers, and french fries or something... i have no idea but its happeneing. Oh and the Boz drink is something that a lot of Bulgarians drink but it is awful...it just has everything disgusting imagineble in it and they blend it all together to make a ddrink. So I have to drink it to become a "real" missionary in Bulgaria. I am pretty nervous...but it is happening haha. Oh yeah and in the city of sliven there is just my comp nd I and two other Elders. Elder Dropla is from South Carolina and is really funny, Elder Olmstead is from Chandler, AZ and is really funny too. They are coming hiking with us today!
To answer you questions- I am having the hardet time with the yes and no of nodding your head. I get confused by people all the time and they get confused by me. I have to change my ways fast before I cause too much damage haha!
Oh and about the smiling thing...not to many people smile, but I do all the time. I also laugh a lot just because of how serious people look all the time. They probably think I am so weird....blonde girl, speaking like a baby, and laughing and smiling all the time! Oh well :)
Sliven is about 2 hrs away from the Black sea. For the most part everything is a little cheaper than America... Its hard to tell exactly because they use the Lev here. I got some bright pink wool gloves that are nice and warm but they shed on everything! My boots are really nice and are lined with fur :)
Oh and I got this hand made knitted socks/slippers for my feet in the apt because they dont really have carpet here and the floors are pretty cold. So they are nice.
Anyway, I hope everything is going well with you all! I show everyone my pictures of you all and they always say how beautiful my family is and I agree!
I love you bunches and bunches!!
Love, Jodi :)
Yeah I was pretty happy to call and let you know I arrived. I didnt know i would be able to do that until I got here! Wow, so so much has happened since I have been here, I don't even know where to start!
So the trip over here was long and tiring and I got a bit of jet lag..but that is normal and boring so I am not gouing to talk about that. My mission President and his wife are so awesome! Sister Roth is such a good cook! They are from Austria so I got a lot of yummy Austrian food when I got there mmmm so good! I got to start of my mission by saying a prayer in a big park in Sofia. It is the same park where Russell M. Nelson dedicated the mission. It was amazing but it was pretty cold. There was about 3 feet of snow and I didnt relly have much warm clothes so I just knelt in the snow with my knee length skirt and regular church shoes haha. After I got to go contacting for the first time! We got so incredibly lucky because everyone we asked to listen to us did and I stopped someone and in my sad broken bulgarian testified of the Book of Mormon and he wanted to take it! So I was the only one who gave away a book of mormom :)
Later, we went back and had dinner. Then they let us go to sleep. After an hour of sleeping I thought it was time wakr up but then the other sister missionaries saw me and informed me that I had only been asleep for 1 hour...haha it was a rough night to say the least.
We had a good orientation in the morning and I founf out I would be serving with Sister Child in the city of Sliven. Sister Child is amazing. She is from Layton, UT and goes to BYU-Hawaii she played on the soccer team for Byu-hawaii and is slowly convincing me to want to go there! She loves sports and being outside! We are a rocking team haha.
So, we jumped on this little bus (like a big mini van..) that was pretty crammed with bags under our seats and rode for 5 hours and arrived in the cute town of Sliven :). The apartment is pretty nice. We have all the essentials...good bathroom, a washing machine, no dryer...they dont have dryers in Bulgaria so we hang up our clothes, and a decent bed, we have a few extra friends as well... yup we have cockroaches those are fun to find thorughout the day haha.
Since I have been here in Sliven I have met some pretty amazing people. I have met people who have nothing but seem as though they have absolutley everything.
We have met with quite a few people and teach them various lessons about the gospel and they are so sweet and listen. They always apologize to me for not talking to me because I dont understand. I smile and tell them I I actually do understand somethings that they say, I just dont know how to respond haha.
I just smile at everyone and say the small things that I do know... I feel like most of the time they are kinda shocked I am speaking Bulgarian because I kinda stand out...A LOT. Pretty much no one here in Bulgaria has blonde hair... so i get constant looks/stares daily haha.
Yesterday at church I introduced myself and bore my testimony, I was pretty nervous but did it anyway! The sister missionaries are in charge of teaching the primary for now. It is crazy but pretty fun there are about 5 kids from the ages of 4-11... so it is hard to meet all of there needs. There was this one girl who was infatuated with my hair and played with it the whole time. She would always ask me questions and I had no idea what she was saying so I just said yes and she would get a big smile on her face and give me a big hug....It makes me wonder what I said yes to...uh oh haha!
After church in Sliven we took a bus to Yambull...(dont really know how to spell it in englich...) which is about 30 mins away to have a sacrament meeting for 4 members there. I bore my testimony and introduced myself there as well and it was funny because all of them knew I had only been there for about 4 days so as I was talking all of them were smiling at me like I was this little cute baby and that they wanted to squeeze my cheeks haha.
later that night we went over to visit a family in the branch in Sliven. They are so cute. They were baptized a few noths ago and the husband is the 1st counselor in the branch presidency. they have a little daughter named Annie (well in english) She is 11 and is awesome. Before we went over my companion warned me about Antuinetas(mom) cooking and how she makes you eat a lot of food... I was way nervous! Well we went to there house...they rent a room from a house and it is smaller or maybe around the size of our fromt room and that is there WHOLE house. they have a little kithchen thing and a small table and a couch that folds out to a bed that they all sleep on. They dont have much but they are so happy! They re in our english class and so they were practicing some english with me it is pretty funny. Anywho...she made us a lot of food. I dont really know how to describe it... ok, I dont want to sound like a snob but it was awful. I held my breath the whole time and would just swallow. I didnt even want to know what was in anything I ate. (My comp says most the food she has had is bearable, but nothing antuineta makes is!) The worst part is that they have nothing and make all this food for you so you have to eat it. I would stop for a second and she would motion her hand from my mouth to the plate saying in her broken engllish, "eat, eat!" There I am doing what she says but crying on the inside. I had to try so hard not laugh because My companion and I would make contact and smile knowing exactly what the other was thinking haha.
After dinner we shared a spiritual thought and they wanted us to teach us some fun activites from America. So we taught them a couple girls camp songs and they absolutely LOVED it. They are so cute.
Anyway today is my first pday here in Bulgaria and I am so excited!! We are going to go hiking up this mountain with a huge cross on it. Plus I am going to try my first "duner" and drink called "boza" apparently a duner is this flat bread thing with meat, cheese, cucmbers, and french fries or something... i have no idea but its happeneing. Oh and the Boz drink is something that a lot of Bulgarians drink but it is awful...it just has everything disgusting imagineble in it and they blend it all together to make a ddrink. So I have to drink it to become a "real" missionary in Bulgaria. I am pretty nervous...but it is happening haha. Oh yeah and in the city of sliven there is just my comp nd I and two other Elders. Elder Dropla is from South Carolina and is really funny, Elder Olmstead is from Chandler, AZ and is really funny too. They are coming hiking with us today!
To answer you questions- I am having the hardet time with the yes and no of nodding your head. I get confused by people all the time and they get confused by me. I have to change my ways fast before I cause too much damage haha!
Oh and about the smiling thing...not to many people smile, but I do all the time. I also laugh a lot just because of how serious people look all the time. They probably think I am so weird....blonde girl, speaking like a baby, and laughing and smiling all the time! Oh well :)
Sliven is about 2 hrs away from the Black sea. For the most part everything is a little cheaper than America... Its hard to tell exactly because they use the Lev here. I got some bright pink wool gloves that are nice and warm but they shed on everything! My boots are really nice and are lined with fur :)
Oh and I got this hand made knitted socks/slippers for my feet in the apt because they dont really have carpet here and the floors are pretty cold. So they are nice.
Anyway, I hope everything is going well with you all! I show everyone my pictures of you all and they always say how beautiful my family is and I agree!
I love you bunches and bunches!!
Love, Jodi :)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Feruary 7th 2012
This week was really nice! We did get some travel plans on friday but, we dont find out if we have our VISA's until friday or saturday... so we are not sure if we for sure will be leaving or staying here for an extra week or being relocated temporarily...so we will see! If we get our visas then we will leave early on the 14th of Feb...Valentine's Day! We fly to Chicago and have a 6 hr lay over then we go to London and then Bulgaria!!! Kinda cool seeing plans like that!!! If those are the plans I have I would call during the lay over in chicago....I will be calling you so you better answer!!!! I will try and call when you are out of school but i dont know...
So last tuesday we had th 50th anniversary and we had Russell M. Nelson com speak to us and Jefferey R. Holland!!! It was so good and I sang in the choir :)
I havent seen the Rick's parents.... We dont see to many of the Elderly couple missionaries with the schedule I have. But I will keep a look out.
Wowo that's awesome that Dad is doing so well! Keep up the good work! Mom don't hurt yourself!!
Hahaha ewww those cookies sound gross hahaha I wouldnt eat them either!
Oh and fast sunday was great! I bore my testimony in bulgarian! It was cool. Everyone was amazed by it (even though it was a pretty simple testimony)
My teachers have been showing us pics and telling stories this week and next week I am getting so excited but nervous!!
Oh and Could you pretty please make sure I have atleast 100 dollars on my card? I need it for traveling money and there is no way i can check my balance here. I think im going to keep my card because all my teachers suggest its a good idea so if you ever want to send me money it is best that way and not the mail. plus I would only use it at a machine to get cash out because in Bulgaria they pretty much only use cash.
Anyway things are great! I love being a missionary! I am ready to go but want to be better at the language...
I love you all!
Love,
Jodi :)
So last tuesday we had th 50th anniversary and we had Russell M. Nelson com speak to us and Jefferey R. Holland!!! It was so good and I sang in the choir :)
I havent seen the Rick's parents.... We dont see to many of the Elderly couple missionaries with the schedule I have. But I will keep a look out.
Wowo that's awesome that Dad is doing so well! Keep up the good work! Mom don't hurt yourself!!
Hahaha ewww those cookies sound gross hahaha I wouldnt eat them either!
Oh and fast sunday was great! I bore my testimony in bulgarian! It was cool. Everyone was amazed by it (even though it was a pretty simple testimony)
My teachers have been showing us pics and telling stories this week and next week I am getting so excited but nervous!!
Oh and Could you pretty please make sure I have atleast 100 dollars on my card? I need it for traveling money and there is no way i can check my balance here. I think im going to keep my card because all my teachers suggest its a good idea so if you ever want to send me money it is best that way and not the mail. plus I would only use it at a machine to get cash out because in Bulgaria they pretty much only use cash.
Anyway things are great! I love being a missionary! I am ready to go but want to be better at the language...
I love you all!
Love,
Jodi :)
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