July 23, 2012

On top of the fortress above the church.

Okay mom I will answer some questions I guess! So it is very hot and they close down work for businesses if it gets to like 40. But of course we go out! Not even heat can stop the Lord’s work! We try to schedule lessons inside though because not a lot of people come out so contacting is hard when there are no people! No I don't have a bike and I never will. It would be stolen to easily! We get around by foot, and there is a really good bus system in the city and it only costs 1 lev for a ticket as far as you want to go on that bus. So that is one way but we usually just walk everywhere, and no we don't have a car! Only the Assistant to the President and the Zone Leaders in Varna have cars. Oh and the elders who are working in the mission office. So, unless I become one of those I will not get a car.
          That fish is crazy big! (fish Tyler's Dad caught in Alaska)    We were going to go fishing today for p-day but we found out we are not allowed to fish in the rowing canal. Kind of a bummer because I guess they have some pretty nice fish in it! This week was kind of crazy. We had zone conference and the Mission President came and gave a speech about how he wants to run the mission and keep the trend of success going up like it has been in recent times. We met with Tony again and asked her to be baptized and she said she will when she knows that all of the things we have told her are true. She also needs to stop drinking!
          My companion will be going home at this time next week. He will be in Sofia getting packed to jump on a plane! This Friday I will get my phone call to find out where I am going next transfer and who will be my companion. It is kind of exciting. I don't have much else to say because I guess I am kind of boring! So I’ll give you some pictures of the fortress we hiked to and other stuff! I love you mom and you need to get the family to write me more! Scott is very good about it because he knows what it is like to be out! But I haven't gotten anything from anyone else!   LOVE Elder Petersen

The three zone leaders and me, my trainer is on the far left, Elder Walker. My other companion is to the right of me, Elder Seymore and the third ZL Elder Loughran who is not my companion but wanted to jump in anyway.\

The ruins of the fortress and a church on the hill.

Here is web link to information on the Fortress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asen's_Fortress 

July 16, 2012

Okay mom,
          You probably think it is hot there, but yesterday it was over 46 degrees here! that is about 117! There was a warning on the news to stay inside and it is supposed to be like that for about the next 2 weeks! So, I feel not bad for you guys :) I sweat through all of my clothes it is so hot! I’m pretty sure I have only sweat more in wrestling practices!  Anyway I knew Scott got home! I remembered when I woke up that morning and he had been home for just a few hours!
          We were teaching Tony and we were going to give her a baptism date this last Friday but... she texted us Thursday night and said she was in love with my trainer. She only wanted to go to church if he was there and he has only 2 weeks left! So, we are no longer teaching her :( now we have nooooo investigators. None of our people that we have gotten telephone numbers from have turned out for the past two weeks and we have gotten about 35. Bulgars will be nice to you in person but when you call them they can be pretty rude.
          I did go exploring! We hiked up to a statue in Plovdiv of a soviet soldier! The soviets freed the Bulgarians from the Turkish a while ago so that's why it is here. We could see the city all around and it was really cool! This week i am going to another little village called Assenofgrad and they have some ruins of castles! I should get some cool pictures!
          I got a new companion! So now there are three of us. He was one of the four elders that went to Turkey from Bulgaria! So he knows Turkish and Bulgarian but they got kicked out so they may or may not be able to go back after 3 months. He is pretty cool. He marched in the Davis High School band and played the tenors! So we talk about marching band sometimes. It was funny because I remembered the name of all his shows better than he did :)
           English class is good and I have made a deal with a girl to teach her English before class and she will help me learn Bulgarian faster. She is pretty cool! Her name is Mary and she is a 15 year old investigator who just needs her mom’s permission and then she will get baptized. She is super cool and really smart! She is not our investigator though.
          Well I think that is all for this week so now I will send you some pictures!
LOVE Elder Petersen

 

View from my Balcony

The second is my favorite drink banana juice! 

Who would think of such a thing? Bulgars would.

This is the Russian soldier that we hiked up to!

Me over the city up at the big Russian statue 

The friends we find in our apartment!
We have caught a few more since this one!

July 9, 2012

Mom!
          Yeah that is so crazy that Scott is coming home! I bet he is so excited! I can tell my companion is! Also I forgot my camera today so I can't send you pictures again.. :( Next week I will have more though! Karl made the snares huh? If I was him I would have said no and just kept on the snares :) nah I’m just kidding but that is pretty cool! Tenors are fun too! I have been watching a lot of DCI stuff on you tube on p-days because it is allowed here and it is so exciting! I had a dream last night that the Mission President allowed all his Missionaries to go and do DCI for the summer then come back. It was pretty cool and I played the baritone! It is so hot here! I actually sweat completely through my white shirt it is so hot! And yes humid! The people here call it the Jega. They say the Jega is here! Which means, the HEAT has come. It’s really funny. I also got my first two potential investigators! My companion was not even around and I had to do all the talking and listening by myself! It was really scary but it is good to know that I can actually speak enough to be a missionary! I also have taught the first lesson all in Bulgarian (the restoration) I don't know if I told you this but we only have one progressing investigator right now and she speaks perfect English. She is super cool! Tony is her name. I’m trying really hard to think of what else cool happened but I can't! The craziest thing I have eaten is called tortatal soup. It is literally sour milk water and sliced cucumbers. It was so nasty I could hardly stomach it. They love the sour milk here! I have seen a whole lot of homeless people and stuff but I will have some sweet pictures for you next Monday! I do need to go exploring though so I will write you next week! LOVE Elder Petersen

Monday July 2, 2012

Hello Mum!                                                                                                
I’m super jealous that you get to go to the DCI competition again! It sounds super fun! Dad was right that we get up at 630 every day. I actually get up a 6 though, and run to the church and play basketball with some other missionaries. I don't remember if I told you but I am in the City of Plovdiv. I live on Boulevard Bulgaria in building #9! It’s a block (apartment building) and our church is Boulevard Maretsa 138. It is the only actually LDS church building in Bulgaria! It is very nice! I have not had a chance to meet the new Mission President here in Bulgaria yet but I will have a 30 minute interview with him on Thursday and I will get to know him then! Should be good.
            The language is hard, but I know  most of the words people usually say to me, I just can't put them all in order fast enough to know what they are saying! I should be able to talk to people by the end of this transfer though! That is the hope anyway! I try to talk to people every day even though I know I will not catch everything they say! They are usually very patient with us, or they are calling us a sect and keep walking. We try to contact every day. Sometimes we are on the Glav (mainstreet) for up to 4 hours just trying to get people to talk with us, about 70% either ignore us completely when we talk to them or they say nymam vremey which means I don't have time. Then 20% will stop and take our survey but will end up saying they are not interested in learning more. So we are looking for the 10% who will be willing to give us their number and want to learn more. Half of those people make it past the first lesson so we have to try a lot to get any investigators!
            We only have one now, her name is Tony and she is an English teacher in high shchool. Pretty much the best investigator possible for a greenie to have! She speaks English to us always and she always wants to help me speak better Bulgarian! She is our only actual investigator but we have about 10 names we are going to call later today and see if we can get some times set up! Hopefully we pick up a couple more so we are not on the hot street looking so much!
            I am pretty much in love with yogurt here, they have flavored yogurt that is the brand Activia. It is sooooo good! But they also have keeslo mlyako which translated literally means sour milk. It is very good if you mix it with myooslee which is like sweet granola, and put some chopped up bananas in it! Also they have juice for every type of fruit here! Like cherry and apple and banana and cactus and pear and peach! It is so awesome! Banana juice is so good! I didn't think it would be possible to make banana juice but it is so good!
            We come to this little online gaming cafe thing to e-mail and everybody around us is playing world of warcraft. It is really lame because it would be so easy to just start playing all the games they have on the computers. Some missionaries do play the games, usually they are the ones near the end of their missions and we call them dying. I guess the mission is like a whole life. You are born into a city and your first trainer is your father. Then your life is the city where you spend most of your time on your mission. Then you die in the last city you are in before you go home. When you train someone they are your son, and you have grandsons and stuff. It is weird! So when older missionaries talk about another missionary sometimes they will say he is dead and that just means he has gone home. The goal is to not start dying before you actually die. My trainer has started to die with only 4 weeks left. He is already registered for college and has his travel itinerary for going home. CRAZY! He is a good guy though and I love him.
             Every Thursday and Saturday I teach the English class we hold at the church. There are 3 classes and I teach level 3 which means they are pretty much fluent. Last Thursday this crazy lady came and I guess she was baptized a long time ago but now she is going to a Catholic church. Sometimes she comes to our church and steals stuff out of the bathroom and kitchen! Anyway we got in an argument with her about our church and how we are not a sect. A lot of people here believe we are and it is kind of sad. They will believe anything crazy they hear about us!
           What else do I have to tell you.... get Karl to write me! I want to hear about band and stuff! I miss playing so much it is crazy! He will probably be better than me by the time I get home! Well I need to go and I have run out of stuff to say! LOVE you mom!!

1st letter from Bulgaria

Okay well, I am in a city called Plovdiv for my first transfer! I don't know our exact address but it is on Boulevard Bulgaria! I will have to find that out and let you know! My companion is Elder Walker and he hadsabout 4 weeks left in the mission, so he has started to die a little bit but we are still getting solid work hours in! I did not tract after I called you because there just wasn't enough time left! It was so crazy! I have been out a couple of times since then though. Mostly we survey people on the Glav (the main street) and that is pretty fun! I actually do understand about 85% of the words people say but I just need to put together the sentences they are saying faster! I like talking to little kids because they don't have a huge vocabulary! and they are fun to tease.
          Our new Mission President comes in this Friday and takes over on Saturday! He seems really cool though. Our church building, which is the only actual church building we have in Bulgaria, is on boulevard Mareetsa #138. I don't know if you will be able to find it! I have not actually taken out my camera yet so I will definitely do that tomorrow! I have seen so many stray dogs and cats, and a lot of Gypsy people taking things out of garbage cans and begging for money. We gave 37 Stoteenkee to a guy this morning. That’s about a quarter. Plovdiv has the biggest concentration of gypsies in the world they say! It’s so crazy! Also the food here is so good! I love Boneetsa and Keeslo Meelako which literarily means sour milk, but it is soooo good! I don't know how I lived without it before, and they have juice here that is sooooo good!
            We missed our flight from Frankfurt to Sofia because the air conditioning broke on our 747 when we were trying to take off from DC. It was soooo hot for 2 hours!! So half of the group flew to Vienna then to Sofia and the other half waited for 8 hours in Frankfurt then flew to Sofia! I got to go to Vienna! it was super awesome!
            I have an investigator whose name is Tony. She is so good! She asks questions about just about everything you can imagine! we were trying to  teach her about the restoration but she got it so fast and started asking questions about the plan of salvation, like about the pre earth life and after death, and she is actually reading the Book of Mormon. It is so weird that we only ever really teach people in the church and usually lessons are really really short, but our lessons with Tony are usually 2-3 hours! She asks so many questions! She also came to church this Sunday! She said she enjoyed it!  I’m so excited to teach her some more! Oh, she also is an English teacher so she speaks perfect English! :) In this cafe thing I am in, everybody is playing World of Warcraft. It is ridiculous!
            Well I think we are either going bowling or go-cart racing today! Maybe both, or chasing cats? We do that every day anyway though! Well I’m about out of time so I love you mom! Have an awesome week!

June 4th

Hey mom!
Yesterday was the craziest Sunday of my life! So, it was Fast Sunday as you know, and we have Sacrament Meeting at 8 am. At approximately 7:45 they asked me to be the District Leader for the rest of our stay here in the MTC! It’s pretty crazy! I get to pick up the mail now, and go to meetings and stuff! Then about 5 minutes later, they asked ME, out of about 1500 missionaries to say the opening prayer on Tuesday the 12th for the devotional! That is the one that is either an apostle or a member of the 70! Super cool, but I will not get to sing in the choir that week which is our last Tuesday here in the MTC so that sucks, but I will practice with them any way because I love singing.
          Also I don't know if I told you, but mail has a hard time making it to us while we are in Bulgaria, BUT our teachers have never had a problem getting and sending packages! They said that if you have to do a customs thing and declare how much it is worth you always just say about 80$ dollars. If it is more than that then it will get stopped and searched and then you have to pay over 200 dollars to get it through! Some things I want before I leave the MTC... spicy hot Cheeze Its! A chess set, flavored water packets, you know the ones you can dump into a water bottle? Thousands of those!
          Uhhh, it sounds like Karl is having a very good time with marching band! I met a guy who marched with the Blue Knights! He was really cool. I have met a lot of other people that were in marching band. Actually one of my roommates is a baritone player! He is kinda strange though. I have been wanting to play my trombone so bad! I want one of those p-bones! They are so cool!
           I’m so excited to go to Bulgaria! The food sounds amazing and so do the people! I don't remember if I told you but the zoos are crazy because nobody really cares so you can reach out and touch like the tigers and stuff! So crazy. Maren used to send me a dear elder every Sunday but I haven't heard from her in a little bit, but I wrote her again last week and I hope she writes back! I have heard from you and Dad and Kaitlin and Maren and Lisha and Sharolyn and Jensen.
          I’m pretty much the man around here now. I’m a beach volleyball champion that you would be proud of. We play against the Cantonese elders every gym period and it is so much fun! I wish we would have played more volleyball because I love it! We rock the Cantonese! :)
          There is a really big Tongan elder standing right next to me singing and he is soooooo good! Really cool. I’m struggling with finding things to say because my weeks have started to run together a little bit! It’s so crazy how fast time is flying! I’m going to write you my testimony in Bulgarian!

знам че книгата на мормон съдържа словото божие. знам че църктвата е истинна. аз вяра че можем жевот с небесен отец пак. ние сме негови деца. той обича вас. знам че джозеф смит е пророк на бог.

I don't know how well that will translate in Google translate, but you could try it! I may have spelled some things a little bit off! I will give you my translation!

I know that the Book of Mormon contains the word of God. I know the church is true. I believe that we may live with Heavenly Father again. We are his children. He loves us. I know that Joseph Smith  is a Prophet of God.

Well I need to go eat some lunch! I’ll let you go! I hope to hear from you soon! Your letters and everyone else’s are very welcome! Sorry I have not written back to your deal elders from last week but if you send more I will write back! :) I love you Mom and let everyone know the same for them! Especially Dad! He is THE MAN!

Love, Elder Petersen