transfers

So much has happened before we last talked. The week before I think that I forgot to mention that I traveled to Varna for Zone Conference. Anyway, I had to help quote part of the first lesson. I thought that I had to quote a lot more, so I was stressing about it but it ended up being a tiny tiny section. So it wasn't to bad. And of course Zone conferences are amazing.

I also traveled to Sofia for passport work. I have to go one more time to get a card that says I'm a resident here in Bulgaria, or more legal, I don't know but it it'll be nice to have because I have to carry a piece of paper that says that I'm registered in the town I'm serving or in ... and that card replaces that, but when I serve in another town I'll have to register again. It's just how it works. I got to see one of the people in my group Elder ... this time. Last time I went for passport work I missed him by 5 minutes. He's just really funny so it was good to see him again. I was also on exchanges with Elder ... when I went because he had to do some passport to instead of my companion. We walked to the mission home from the passport work place, and Sofia is beautiful. Especially with Architecture. It's different walking instead of taking a Taxi like my companion and I did the time before. We also went to Dunkin Donuts, which I think is one of the only spots they are at, in Sofia. 

Transfers also just happened. I'm getting a new companion and staying in .... My companion (Elder ...) is going to Varna and is actually going to be companions with a person in my group Elder ... (One from Finland). He is also going to be District Leader.

My new companion name is Elder .... From what I have heard, he is 25 and has a degree in physics. It sounds like he is a genius and also I consider my Elder ... a genius to. I have to admit, when things are working a certain way and it's working, I don't like changing things up. It's probably because I've never had "another" companion in the field. Everything I know is based off my trainer Elder ..., so It'll be interesting to see how a new companion works and see what will change, because everyone has their own way of doing things.

 It also has been raining off and on here. To be honest I love the rain but I hate when I have to work or do missionary work in it. It's also harder to stop people because they don't want to stand in the rain although they have an umbrella.

Some answers to Questions: 

1- Since mothers day is coming up, yes we can Skype. I'm so excited for that 

This is quoted off a email
"For those of you that your parents live in North America, Finland, and Australia; 11 May is Mother’s day and as you know this is your opportunity to Skype your parents for 30 to 40 minutes. Please schedule a time now via email with your families so we are not trying to resolve this at the last minute. We recognize that every evening is a teaching and finding evening however if your Mother cannot be available before 18:00 in Bulgaria please find a time that works however all Skype sessions must be over at 21:00 No later! Due to the time change if you need to arrange a time on Saturday 10 May that is OK as well. If a senior couple invites you to Skype from their apartment that is fine."

So I have another P-day before that day comes. Honestly, I have no idea when the best time to do it. I just know that Bulgaria is 9 hours ahead if I remember correct. So that would mean I would have to do skype at the latest at 8:20-9:00 your time. And that is the latest, so probably wanting earlier but I'm guessing with my new companion we'll have to try to coordinate it. So be thinking about that and let me know what time would best suit you and I'll try to match it up. 

2- My birthday cake was delicious. My companion has never had jello cake so it was fun to make.

I don't know if I mention this but my companion had his birthday, well last week on the 21. We had a little party with more cake. It was a lot of fun. We did little gathering at the church with the main youth and it was basically just messing around. It's fun to just mess around ha ha.

Investigators:

Also, with Investigators ... have been amazing. With ... we have gone through everything now. We are going to start going through some of the Laws and Ordinances in Preach my Gospel because even though it's for after baptism, it can still be taught before. We have a baptism date reset for him because he felt like he had more time, but in both my companion and I opinion we'll be able to move it up. He's going to be such a strong member once the times come. He is young, and loves "fitness" so basically has the muscle to prove it ha ha. Anyway he just needs to come to church 2 times before baptism, and he has been busy on Sundays but we meet with him almost everyday for half the week which makes me not worry about church.

... is actually a new investigator that we found while meeting with another one. She is so prepared for the gospel. Even though we met her about a week and a half ago she has already came to church and likes it. She says she has been waiting for this for a long time. Also she speaks English and prefers to practice it. She also had a baby, but unfortunately the father ran out. I hate that, but she says that she forgives him, which would not be easy for me if I was in her situation. Anyway, she has progressed so fast and actually said basically her father taught her certain values which is everything the church believes in. She basically said she follows all the commandments without us asking. She also answers questions or thoughts that actually goes over what we plan on going over. It's amazing because no one would be able to do it like her unless prepared by God.

The only bad news with her is that she lives in the other Elders area. That means we have to transfer her to the other Elders or they'll be teaching her instead of my companion and I. She's going to be baptized so it doesn't matter who teaches her but I enjoy meeting with her. She is actually planning on being baptized on the 17th I believe. I forgot my planner, so its that week on a Saturday. A week later ... will be baptized, unless moved up, which I'm hoping it will. Maybe they'll both be baptized the same day. That would be great. It's amazing how this gospel can change their lives with the changes they have made and the knowledge that they know now.

Happy Easter

Hey everyone. In the case of Easter, actually today is one of the Easter Days for Bulgaria. How Easter works here is 19-21 they have Easter. To be honest, I think it's super cool for it being celebrated for 3 days to represent the resurrection of Christ. In the beginning of the month, they put huge plastic eggs that are the size of small kids. It's so fun to see families take pictures with small kids holding it because of the size. They also made an arch over the street in ... during ... day and it's till up and they put light up eggs in it and the tree that is next to it, they have eggs throughout all of it's branches.

Another tradition of Easter that they do here is cracking each others eggs. Basically you hold the your boiled egg and try to use your egg to crack the other person egg. Yesterday, after church we did that and it was a lot of fun doing it with the youth.

There was a lady named ... that we miraculously came in contact with. She's from out of town about 33km. She is poor and can't afford the bus for church. She was baptized around 2006. I think the church building moved or something, and she lost contact and couldn't find the church. How we ran into her is by meeting her son ... and his girlfriend. The other Elders found a record of him and he is a less active that we lost contact with. That shows the importance of going through the area book and try to clear things out in it. Anyway, when we tried to contact him at this house ... was there and was visiting her son. After talking for actually a while, we figured out that she is member and wants to be active. She came to church yesterday and actually acted like the teacher for the group discussion. She is such a strong member and it's something that this church needs in .... She then said that she could come to church 2 times a month. It's so exciting.

Also, with baptismal dates. One that we have, actually isn't going to happen and my companion and I knew that because we have only been able to meet with him the one time and that is when he said he would commit to it. He has just been really busy.

The other one is basically going to be baptized or at least that is what it feels like. He has a problem with the ... and hasn't come to church yet because he has been busy on Sundays. He's a really great guy, and said that he needs a few weeks to be ready then he'll do it. So we just need to commit to another date. We have gone through all the lessons with him except for the law of Tithing and he has been good with every else we have taught. I'm so excited for him.

Transfers are going to be this next coming week. I have to admit, it just feels like last transfer day was just yesterday. Time as a missionary, is just not normal. It's weird.

Also today is my companion birthday. One of the members wants us to be at the church later today for something about his birthday. He wouldn't say, so I look forward to that. 

The last 2 weeks, I think, not sure, but I started a scripture journal. It has made me realize how much we can learn from the scriptures and truly, to me, it shows really how the Book of Mormon can answer the questions of the soul. It's absolutely amazing. Once I get home, I want to type all of my notes, and also it would be a lot faster because, well... typing is so much easier than writing. Also you can fix mistakes a lot easier. 

With it being Easter, I have been studying the Resurrection of Christ. It's absolutely amazing that God gives us that free gift of resurrection because of Christ resurrection. One of the reasons why we came here on the Earth is to receive a body to become more like our Heavenly Father. Our goal for eternity is to become like our Heavenly Father and one of the things that he has that we needed was a body and that is why we are here. It's also amazing to think what life will be like with a perfect body after the resurrection. I don't think we can comprehend what that will be like. It's a great thing to just ponder about.

When we ever teach the first lesson talking about prophets and apostasies, we draw a diagram that I love. It shows some of the great prophets from the Bible and showing apostasies and eventually leading to Christ. When Christ was crucified and resurrected and raised to heaven, his apostles taught the gospel until eventually the people rejected and killed them like Christ. Whenever the gospel is here on the Earth, there are always a prophet. That's how is was from the beginning of the world with Adam being a prophet. That just shows that if the gospel is truly here on the Earth, then there has to be a prophet, and I know that Thomas S Monson is the living prophet here on the Earth.

Also we got conference off the computer onto a flash drive and have been playing the talks in our apartment throughout the day whenever we have "extra" time. I love the talks. I love the Sleeping through the Restoration talk from Elder Uchtdorf. I also fill like coming on the mission is an awakening for me. Before, I felt like a read the scriptures well... Sundays and maybe just maybe every now and then. Now of course, it's everyday, but it just makes me wish I would have started it sooner to be better prepared with knowing the scriptures better and the many great stories that are in it.

I also want to extend one of the challenges that was emphasized in one of the talks in conference. About Preach My Gospel, that take the time to study it or to read part of it with reading the scriptures daily. It truly is a map of how the gospel works and the many great benefits of it. I have completely marked up the lesson part of Preach my Gospel because there are so many great points in it. For example, just reading the first lesson The Restoration gives you the idea of it and has sources to better understand it with scriptures and also with the missionary library books. It's such a blessing to have those resources. I couldn't imagine the mission before they came out.

I love all of you and thanks for all of the letters. I hope to hear more. I love hearing whats going on.

Love Elder Green (and yes I realized recently that I have been struggling to end my letters with my name ha ha)

Thanks everyone for the Happy Birthdays

Wow, it's weird to think that I'm 19 now. I think it's weirder to think that in just one year I'll be 20 and that sounds a ton older than 19 ha ha. Thanks everyone for the Happy Birthdays. I think I got more emails this week than any other week. Anyway, one of the members gave me a tie for my birthday. It was super nice and it's a nice tie to. Buying ties here is interesting because, since ... is a big tourist city, a lot of stores have their prices "raised" since tourists don't know the price they could be getting it at. Sometimes your able to find nice ties for around 3 leva which is super super cheap. Anyway that one tie I got is the first "Bulgarian" tie I have ha ha. I'm really good friends with the youth, or the two most active members in the church. They wished me happy birthday a million times yesterday. My companion and I didn't have time to make cake but that is what we are doing for our P-day activity. We explored basically the whole city now. I don't know if I mentioned it last week, but ... (He's the one that gave me the tie) took us on a hike. It was the funnest activity I've done here.

That hike went out of ..., so we got permission to leave the area. Basically, walk out of town, and your in the mountains full of nature and hiking. We got to a point where we saw the whole city of ... at the size of my finger. I didn't realize how far up we went until I saw that scene. ... actually speaks English and you can understand but he can't express himself super super good. I would just love to be at the same level he is in Bulgarian ha ha.

About 2 weeks ago, I started really applying a way to learn words from one of the Elders in my district. I have to admit, I think I can learn words now. Before I did flashcards, the MTC was great for that, but it isn't as practical as a word book. Eventually you have so many words in the book you would have a hard time knowing which words you new and which ones to work on throughout the 500 words I have written in it. So now the system is hard to explain but simply you review 10 words, write a tally mark on top. Next day do that with new words and the same and review the day before. You repeat the process until 7 days later then you write the day of the week on column with the 1st 10 words. Then you review those words that day of the week until you do it for 4 weeks. Then you write the day of the month and review it monthly. I don't know if that makes sense but hopefully it gets you an Idea.

I've been trying to focus on grammar to. I know a lot of words but forming simple sentences is still really tricky for me. I'm getting better each day, and I'll have to admit, it's a good thing there is a lot of days in the mission because it might be a while before I get "completely comfortable" with the language.

Right now, my companion and I have 2 baptismal dates planned for this month. One of them we're going to have to change though, because the person that has that date, we haven't been able to meet except for the day that we gave him the date. It's annoying because he says he wants to meet, but whenever we plan on meeting it always "falls through." But the other person ... (current investigator) I feel like is really going to get baptized. We have gone over everything with him, but the commandments. He's the first one that my companion and I together taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's exciting because I've never had that lesson before with an investigator.

We also had conference this Saturday and Sunday. We watched it off of a flash drive that was connected to a player thing which was connected to the TV. Anyway ... went to one of the sessions and said that he is really going to try to read the Book of Mormon because conference helped him see how important it is. I'm so excited for him. Also it was all in Bulgarian so I had no clue what was happening, but I'm hoping to print out the talks eventually and reading them.

I would write more but I'm out of time. I love you all and thanks again for the Happy Birthday.

Love Elder Green

Got the package :)

This past week we had the Mission President and Sister Wilstead come to ... I guess at least 1-2 times a year they will pop into a town for the district meeting and sit in during lessons and other activities to give comments on how we can do some things better. They didn't have a chance to see my companion and I teach because we didn't have any lessons in the first part of the day that they were here. The district meeting was so great. The President Wilstead gave an example of committing someone to church. Wow! I can't believe how he said it. It literally felt like it was a do or die scenario. It made me really, really realize the importance of the Sacrament. It was awesome how he said it. It was also funny because he paid for lunch for everyone and we got Marios sandwiches (It's a place here) and it's funny because it's all in Bulgarian letters for the menu but it sounds out the English word of what the thing is. So it's not even the Bulgarian word for the thing. There's a few places like that here because there are a lot of tourists here because of ... and other monuments. Anyway while they were here, they gave me the birthday package that you sent. I have to admit, I wasn't patient and opened it the first chance I got. I'm waiting to open the card until my birthday actually comes, so I'm still excited. I love the ties, they're super nice.

We also went on exchanges. I had to plan the whole day because it was my area with another Elder. His name is Elder ... and he is actually from Cedar Hills, so not to far from home. Anyway, the whole mission felt different because it was with someone with a completely different attitude.

There are 2 investigators that we have been meeting with ... и .... They are absolutely amazing. I think I mention them before, but not sure. Whenever we meet they meet together but while on exchanges, Elder ... and I met with .... He is one of the nicest, understanding people here in Bulgaria that I've met with. We actually do the lesson in English because he has lived in America for work with a work/school program. He is currently going to College and majoring in Linguistics and his mother is from Russia. He speaks Russian to. Anyway we had a lesson with Apostasy and the Restoration. We drew a certain diagram that made him say that It makes sense to have Joseph Smith as the Prophet. We only meet once every week or two because he's so busy with work. If anything I want to meet with him all the time. He actually is a referral from ... and ... said he has a girl friend that is interested to. From the sounds of it, she really believes in the Bible and liked what she heard about us from .... I'm so glad that we had the chance to contact them on the street and meet the group of people.

We have been able to find some open blocks or buildings for tracking but have been doing a lot of street teaching. It's been pretty warm here but the last couple of days have been colder, so there wasn't a lot of people on the street during that time, so we do a lot of walking with not to much success. Sometimes it's nice to walk around, but on the other hand it feels like nothing is getting done when that happens and I don't like that feeling.

With General Conference, we actually haven't done anything for it. It depends on which area you are in Bulgaria. There some places where they have computer and a projector that they can get conference a week later because it takes a week to get it translated. In ... we actually have to wait until the mission home burns it into a disk and send it to us, so because of that it takes an extra week for it to get here. So, 2 weeks after General Conference I should be able to see it. It's weird to think that I'm on the opposite end waiting for it weeks later after it actually took place. I'm excited for it but at the same time not so much because I'm basically not going to understand it since it's going to be in Bulgarian, or I won't get the fullness of it.

I'm also really excited for today. One of the members, he's 18 I think, named ... is taking us on a hike that is actually out of our area but barely out of our area like 5 minutes away. It's supposed to be a really pretty hike. I've never really done anything with a member on P-day, so just because of that fact I'm excited. I love the members here.

Also another thing that I just thought of is, I get a lot of comments on how young I am. It was funny because one of the people in Sofia that works in the mission home said that "I know that they lowered the age for missionaries, but I didn't know they lowered it to 16." Or something on the line of that. I've actually get that a lot from the members here. I've actually had a few people pinch my cheeks (usually grandma people) which makes everyone laugh and it's just weird for me.

This is a picture of my companion and I with the member ....

And here is a picture of a church that is famous here. It also has a house with a solar water heater and it reminds me of Dad ha ha. Actually there is a quite a few buildings with solar water heaters and I've also seen some solar panels.



   


   
Here's another church. I love the architecture of churches and also another picture of how green part of our area is.