Week of November 12, 2012: I laughed out loud at ths one.

It's me again! Ha ha ha. I hope you enjoyed the sloppy jumble of crazed pictures last week, because now I'm going to write a sloppy jumble of a crazed memail!

 

First of all, set the scene. A kid to the left of me in this internet zala is playing some sort of Afghanistan war video game with headphones on and keeps yelling out, very loudly, to maybe other players through his speaker: "Go ahead! Kill the guy! No, I'm going to kill this other guy," and so forth. KIDS. Also, right before coming here, we took a little trip to a Bulgarian thrift store because the zala was too filled up with school-skipping video gamers when we got here. KIDS. And I bought several crazed things at the Bulgarian thrifty, which is like a weird combination of a gymnasium from 1952, a refrigerator, and an old-lady club, all the while with very loud, dirty technopop playing.  Also, mom, yes, I received the PACKAGE. Wink. The secrets are safe on the intercat.

 

So what did I do this week? What DIDN'T I do. Well, I didn't . . . eat very many vegetables. For one thing. Dangit. But on Mondee, we had a nice little visiting teaching/young women's time with a young convert here named Stefi, who is fifteen and got baptized in March or so, and is a ridiculously mature and cool young grill, but obviously has some problems staying attached to/living in the Church, because, obviously, she's fifteen and fifteen-year-olds in Europe are too busy . . . smoking? To believe in God. So we did that. Also I gave her my old "let's not be anorexic, because it is stupid" lecture, because it is stupid.

 

Um, what else. There's an awesome member here named Sevda, who all missionaries peeping in on this will know (p.s. isn't it weird that in English we use the same word to "know" a fact and to "know" a person? other languages make more sense in that regard), who is about 27 and very loud and excitable and was an orphan from Turkey until she was 18 (and I guess, still was from Turkey after she turned 18...) and is probably one of the strongest/most active members in the branch. Turkish people are awesome. And Bulgarian people! But in very different ways. Anyway, she is very excited about missionary work and will call us at all hours of the night asking questions about what a dispensation is so she can explain it to her roommates, or how our investigators are and if she can come to their lessons. And we've been teaching one of her roommates, Svetlin, who pretty much knows nothing about God or churches and seems very into it. It's cool. I think I had sort of gotten used to the idea that only old ladies would ever be interested in the Gospel here (or anywhere?) so it's really cool/weird to adjust to when young people want to talk about religion. Oh darn it, I realized I said all of that stuff about Sevda already last week.

 

We're also teaching a long-time "friend of the church" (someone who shows up to everything the church for years and gets taught by endless sets of missionaries, or ignored) named Svetlo who has a cleft palette, so teaching him is like teaching in a whole different language: Bulgarian spoken by someone with a speech disability. Like two layers of other language. It's interesting. It makes me realize who much of our job as missionaries really is about making people feel accepted/loved/the Spirit and less about what we tell them or understand from what they say.  He likes really old cowboy movies like Gene Autry and stuff.  And he knows a lot about American Indian history, like how he was struggling to tell us that there was an incident one time in which "names" were "taken away" at a place called "ynded ee," which took years to figure out until he wrote down in transliterated Bulgarian characters: Wounded Knee. It was cool. Okay, I am banned from saying "it was cool" after this.

 

On Wednesday I got packageszzzz!!!!! Man. I am a little kid, it turns out. Thank you everybody for everything. Mom and Mimi and Dad for the fun stuff, and Annie for the Italy stuff! I gotta write that girl a letter. I'm just so scared of Bulgarian mails, for reasons that one could probably guess.

 

We've also been continuing to teach Seifitin, the guy with a baptismal date for November 24th. He's pretty awesome. He invited us to his house on Sunday which was an adventure, trying to find that, because I know nothing about Ruse and like a poor little country bumpkin, am so confused about non-grid systems (since Stara Zagora has STRAIGHT STREETS. BTW, that was what the little "introduction" to Stara Zagora said on the map I purchased for it: "In conclusion, Stara Zagora is a non-consequential town of poets, old ampitheaters, and straight streets."). So we made our way to a bus stop that appeared to have no buses coming to it, and Seifitin said his house doesn't even HAVE A NUMBER, so we couldn't really take a taxi and direct it there, but eventually I pulled one over and said the name of the street and said, "Uh, just . . . take us to the beginning." And then we ended up in a crazy freezing suburb somewhere in the middle of nowhere underneath a tower that looked like it was from STAR WARS and a stranger walking toward us in the dark turned out to be our old buddy Seifi, and then he took us into a completely dark, cement house (they don't have electricity for some reason) that for some reason had a modern LG flatscreen TV working perfectly with music videos and soccer, but no light bulbs or heat?? And then he "treated" us to all this food and fruit and juice, as people are wont to do, but it was so cute because he clearly just wanted to TREAT US. BECAUSE WE'RE HIS BUDDIES. AND THEN WANTED US TO WATCH TV WITH HIM. But we politely excited, but not without him shoving all the rest of the uneaten food into a bag and sending it with us. People! So cute/terrible.

 

We also met a cat with NO EYES. BOTH DUG OUT. Oftentimes one sees a cute little kitten, perfectly adorable but for one eye dug out into a fiery bloodhole, but this time it was BOTH. Man.

 

Anyway. Gospel's true. I miss you guys. It's almost December? Cain't believe it. I love you all. Be nice to your everybody!

 

Love,

Sister Scramble

Sunday, November 4, 2012: PIX!!

Week of October 22, 2012: No e-mail, but big news!

Hello team Sister Campbell!

Eliza was only able to send a short, personal e-mail this week as she is in the midst of a big transfer!  She is now serving in Ruse, Bulgaria.  Ruse is on the Northern border of Bulgaria, on the banks of the Danube, across the river from Romania.  Doesn't that sound so authentically European? 

Here's a map!  Thank you for your prayers, love, and support.  Love you all!

Marni 

Week of October 15, 2012: These Are The Dees O'The Week

Dear Everybody,

I'm not sure if you all grasped the full implications of this, but I've more or less been in the same city in Bulgaria for the past seven months or so.  He is called Stara Zagora. Look him up on wikipedia. There will be little, but interesting, things to say. He is home to the Zagorka beer factory, arguably the best beer in all of Bugland (although some people are more partial to Kamenitza). It is very irregular for missionaries in this mission to be in a city for more than four months at the most, maybe six months if you're in a bigger city with more ground to cover, etc. Starz is a pretty small city, though, with a pretty small, struggling branch (missionary serving as a branch president, etc.). So it's been strange to be here for so long, and to train two times in a row in this same little crazy city. I've loved it. I don't know. I realize the voice I'm using makes it sound like I'm on my way out, which is possibly true and possibly not true. But either way, transfer calls are this Friday, and more likely than not, since I've been here seven months, I'm probably actually headed somewhere else. Somewhere else? Weird. 

The mane (ha ha, lions) events of this week: (delivered in 12-apostle accent "dees" in honor of confrince)

Mondee: Actually a working day, since we had a zone conference on Wednesday and had our pee day on Tuesday. Saw Raiko, the coke lite artist guy, who wanted to give us back our pan from the birthday cake we made him. It was funny because he had become convinced that because we hadn't called in in so long, we were mad at him or something. So when I told him, no, we were just busy preaching the Gospel, a Gospel that he wasn't interested in hearing from us, it was just interesting/sad to see how his brain has become programmed to . . . I don't know. Seek for happiness? In the wrong places?

Tuesdee: Watched the sun rise at our fifth-floor block church for the last time? And then traveled into Plovdiv (one of the oldest cities in Europe?) and had interviews.

Wednesdee: Zone conference! Power! Missionaries competing for attention and approval!! Ultimately a good time, though.  Found out that caffeinated beverages are now not allowed for all missions in Eastern Europe. I don't want to talk about it. Also made dutch babies and ate them with Bulgarian yogurt. EVERYTHING is eaten with yogurt here. Even Dutch things.

Thursdee: Contacted for three hours. Taught English. One of the long-standing students, who I'll just call Arnold here for privacy purposes, gave me a list of homework sentences he had written that included the sentence, "When will the loves of all of the cats?" Who knew that we had a modernist poet waiting to get a big break in our first-level English class?

Fridee: Amazingly, had three lessons that 1) all showed up, b) all weren't crazy, and 3) all went pretty well! Two of them were even second lessons! That hasn't happened in a while. It was a really good day. 

Saturdee: Went to a less-active lady's house where she takes care of her grandmother, who was wearing the hugest old lady glasses ever. You know like ones that are basically just magnifying glasses held on one's face? And the old person in question's eyes are the size of yogurt containers? (I can't stop relating everything to yogurt! I guess I'm just lost in my mission ha ha ha)

Sundee: Woke up convinced I was dying of mono again (it's been creeping back the past few weeks.) Eventually managed to get up and go to the conference sacrament meeting/lunch, in which the three branch children who were there managed to break an entire bottle of lyutenitza we needed for the lunch, get soap and bubbles all over the upstairs, and release a 25-kilo bag of white fluff (stuffing? why was it at the church??) all over the floor, classroom, and branch president office. The explanation i was given: "koleda doide." (christmas came.) wacky times!

Anyway. I am getting emotional and weirded out the idea of not being in this city anymore. I know all of the members way too well. I love them all way too much. And I've really had to learn to trust the Lord when advising them on their ridiculously difficult problems, or hoping things will work out for them.

How was confrince for everyone? Any nineteen-year-old girls gonna come join me out here in Bugland?

I love you guys.

Week of October 1, 2012: Stara Zagora

What are you doing??!!!!

I'm at the church right now, in the branch president/clerk's office (or as we call him, the "clark") because we finally got a computer!!! We have had wireless internet in this building for like, ten years, but until now never had a computer! So we've all been in an overwhelmed overstimulated blur, trying to deal with a COMPUTER upon which we can actually do our SCHEDULED IN-FIELD TRAINING ACTIVITIES and maybe even watch a MORMON MASSAGE. That's right, massage.

Anyway. Sister Frame has her first passport work appointment at the registration office in Sofia (my little second daughter is growing up so fast!) so we're on our way to catch a bus in two hours or so. And I was able to watch the sunrise from our sixth-floor balcony where we are right now. Speaking of this church building, I can't even express how much it has come to feel like home/a place I will be for the rest of my life. I've been in Stara Zagora for about six months now. What? We've been hearing distant rumors for years now that we'd be switching to a new building (probably a good idea because this one literally gives people heatstroke and lets in snow). And I never really thought it would happen, but this week we received the news that it WILL. In two weeks. So a moving crew came and bustled around and got all busy and in the end, just took away our carpets. But I guess we're moving soon.

Okay. What happened this week, you ask? We had a lesson in which someone said a prayer in the name of His Holiness Ravi Shankar. We were given meditation DVDs by this same person. We met up with Mirena in the park on her way back from a job interview (pray she gets that one).  I need to explain more about Mirena one of these days. We contacted and contacted and contacted.

Also, September is over. How did that happen? How is everybody? Is baby happen yet? 

Never forget to read the New Testament. That guy is a winner.

I love you guys. Stay safe and happy.

Week of September 17, 2012: The District

It's me again! Does this ever get boring? Probably! Exclamation point!

Yet another week has somehow gone by. Sorry, I'll stop saying things like that that make me sound like a middle-aged newspaper columnist trying to be cool. When we last left off, I was in Sliven about to go on Mount Carandila for some well-needed frolicking (it's my . . . third time? going on that mountain). You take a rickety, 50-year-old ski-like lift up the mountain (like unto Sundance, but in an Eastern European kind of way) and can hike up past all these old communist meeting houses that are now broken and empty and graffitied, and then into the wild frontier of nature! And look out over Yambol and Sliven and all of their little celos. I'll send pictures someday when I'm in a zala that has hook-ups for such things. But let me first just mention some amusing happenings from that outing:

1) We did our traditional yoga/om-ing on the summit (pictures shall come later) and a member from the Sliven branch, who happened to be with us, got uncomfortable and kept asking, "Is this religious? Does this mean something religious??"

 

2) I was sliding down a rock face, looking all cool, and there was one of those comically loud and juicy ripping sounds and I had torn my cotton Target brand exercise pants completely in half.

 

3) In front of everybody.

 

4) Luckily, I am a good sister missionary and enjoy laughing and myself/others, and had a skirt in my backpack.

This has mainly been a finding transfer. And by mainly I mean, all-ly. It's kind of funny because we use these DVD episodes called "The District" (some people will know what I'm talking about) to train/practice our missionary skills, and they're basically videos of missionaries' experiences in two missions in the States, and how those missionaries are perfect and everything goes perfectly and they have cars. So it's funny to watch those segments with Sister Frame, as I try to train her, and then to go to our reality of finding in Bulgaria, which consists of walking around the streets all day, trying to stop people and give them a survey/ask them about God. Sometimes getting yelled at, sometimes being kissed unexpectedly. I've never tracted yet - I imagine that will happen in the wintertyme. But anyway. Still finding. Still looking. Still don't really have anyone to teach, and we're giving Raiko a break until he wants to progress. BUT a really cool, yet frustrating, thing happened this week. 

 

On Wednesday I stopped a lady in the bazaar (a section of Stara Zagora all full of produce markets/open-air clothing stalls, etc.) and talked to her about the Book of Mormon. She seemed interested, and was extremely nice (which is always a good sign), but said that although she was born in Bulgaria, she usually lives in Germany, with a German husband, and was only there a few days like she does every summer, to visit family. Could we still meet with her? I said yes, of course, and we exchanged numbers. I didn't really think anything of it, of course, because I've reached a kind of point where you just don't expect anybody to want to meet with you, even those who give you their numbers, because it's less painful that way. BUT - and I say but because this is the first time this has happened to me - SHE actually called US that evening. Which is even weirder because people here often don't have enough money on their phones to make calls, only to receive them, such that my incoming call list on the cell phone we have consists only ever of other missionaries calling me. And she called. And asked if we could meet the next day, the day before we left for Germany. And I knew we were leaving for Plovdiv that morning for zone conference, and would have to be on a bus by ten. So we set it up for 9 that morning, and waited for her at the church. And she actually CAME. (People also tend to not show up to appointments.) It was kind of amazing. So I tried to explain to her about the Book of Mormon, Apostasy, We Don't Worship Mormon, etc., and she said she planned to read the Book when she got back to Germany, and wanted to meet the German missionaries. So we said goodbye, she wished us all the best, and I gave her my email address.

Anyway. I guess I will just say that being a missionary anywhere requires huge faith, I believe. Maybe that lady will never meet with missionaries/join the church/whatever. But I have the faith that I did what I had to do in that moment, and that it mattered. And even though I'm in Bulgaria, I know that my mission isn't necessarily "harder" or more requiring of faith than anyone else's, even those happy sisters in San Diego on The District. And it's been strange to get up every morning and realize I have no idea if I'll even find anyone interested to listen to me, but that I will be faithful and cheerful and do my best anyway. 

Lessons! Also, Sister Frame and I made Bulgarian-style BLTs: bacon, which we had to slice ourselves, lyutenitza, this spicy eggplant/pepper/tomato sauce I eat at least one pint of every day, tomatoes (they're officially going out of season, tears weep gnashing of teeth), cirene, and yogurt instead of mayonnaise. Um. I don't even want to talk about it. 

Everybody's life is going on! Today is the first day of school for Bulgarian children, and it reminds me of how you're all off going to school and starting things and having babies and going on missions and making new friends and getting new jobs. Aww. Cute. I miss you all so much. Keep the faith!

Love,

Sister Scramble

Week of September 3, 2012: Po-hladnichko!

Po-hladnichko! 

I am so happy because it is getting more Seattle-like up in this Eastern Euro-pop, or "po-hladnichko" as people often say. So everything is slowly, slowly cooling down, apples are slowly coming out to the fruit stands, melon piles are going down (frown), and tomatoes are still doin' fine.

How to start?  First of all, thank you all for writing to me and helping me feel loved. I am very lucky to be as supported and buoyed as I am. Shout-outs to all and sundry. I apologize for not writing back some of you, but we have been discouraged from writing to non-family, for one thing, and email time has just continued to go faster and faster since I've gotten "older" in the mission, and now I have a little daughter who watches my every move, so I have to Be A Good Guy. Which I'm okay with.

Anyway, I won't do one of those annoying "I'm an American in Europe blah blah blah fun!" rundowns. (Although what I write might be annoying anyway). But I SHALL share two spiritual experiences from this week, and one food experience.

First of all, does anybody remember Raiko? The painter who likes Coke Lite? After kind of deciding a week ago that he wasn't ready, due to his constant doubting/lack of paying attention, we managed to see him on Friday after getting back from a 3-hour train ride from Chirpan (accidentally didn't get off the train in Starz, because too many people were pushing me). And this time, he actually listened. We talked about the Holy Ghost and what it actually is, and how hard it is for him to accept that there is life after death. And he finally, finally admitted that he felt the feeling we were talking about, that the Holy Ghost was present while we talked to him and while he read. And it was just really cool. 

 

Also this week, my annoying four-chord-equipped guitar fingers made their re-entry onto the scene, and we played some hymns with him and made him sing with us. So this all sounds silly. But I guess I'm just happy that he is making any small movement toward a greater knowledge of himself and of God that he can, even if it's somewhat limited. 

Second of all, our Relief Society president, Zladka (the same one who passed out a few weeks ago in the middle of church) is in the hospital, sadly, with some really bad and complicated liver condition. So we six missionaries went up to the hospital (I think I've talked about Bulgarian hospitals before . . . ) to see her. Surrounded by garbage and cigarette smoke and techno blasting from the cafes near the hospital (nothing like getting away from your cancer patients for a nice smoke), we sat on the ground and had a sacrament meeting with her, and sang hymns with my silly blue guitar, and gave her the sacrament (elders, not us), and talked about the people in the branch and how they were doing.

Food experience: Maria, the new convert, randomly decided to buy a giant (e.g., two feet long) bannitza from her favorite bakery and bring it to English, and to invite whomever wanted to come and bite from it, and to drink airan (yogurt salty thing, it's Turkish). So a weird collection of us ended up eating bannitza in the weird upstairs area of the church, and discussing Russian and arguing about who knew English better. I've never felt more Bulgarian than the time I carried a two-foot-long bannitza on my head that one time.

Okay. I love you guys. Tell me how school is! Send me socks! Remember to be nice to your parents!