Miscellaneous from Bulgaria

Nobody knocks on our door at 8:30 a.m., or so we thought. We opened our door to Tony, our landlord, who had this wonderful cake in hand. We did not tell him he was a month early. He is a very thoughtful person, who is so aware of us. He speaks a little English, wishes we would speak even that much Bulgarian. A former pro soccer player in Germany, he owns 7 apartments in our building and 3 on the Black Sea. We shared the cake with the missionaries that night at the branch.

An interesting fact about Bulgarians: They do not eat lettuce. The lettuce we have purchased was tough, tasteless. So we eat our salads as they do. Chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, a small amount of onions and green peppers with fresh parsley. We decided to grow our own garden. Yes, we have 4 pots with 2 cucumber plants and 2 tomato plants. They are on the patio next to our bedroom. This is also the place where we hang our clothes to dry in the summer. So, you can know the luxury of living in the past we are posting pictures of our wonderful patio.

The Black Sea

Joining millions, or so it seems, we spent our weekend at the Black Sea. This has to be the resort destination for Europe, and Russia. In our travels between the 3 branches we visited, we stopped at 3 beaches just to see what it was like. Our pictures show little sand, mostly white umbrellas, and almost nude bodies going on for what seemed like miles. We walked out on Varna Beach and navigated our way to the water's edge. Looking back over the path we covered we decided that modesty was not a word they understood and we decided to make our exit as quickly as possible. Sunny Beach was so crowded that finding a place to park the car was impossible. We were there to meet a young friend named Radost, which means Joy, a new member of our Branch in Plovdiv who was working there for the summer. After visiting with her for lunch, we walked to the beach and found a repeat of Varna Beach. I did not know there could be so many people in one place at a time; on the beach, in the swimming pools, walking the shopping areas, Half of Europe and Russia had to be on the Black Sea Beaches this past week; the other half of Europe on different weeks. The Germans get 45 days of paid vacation, and most of them spend it here at the Black Sea resorts.

Our efforts were to meet with the 3 branch presidents in that area and give our fireside. They are all wonderful men and work hard for their small branches. Dobrich has fewer than 10 people who show up each Sunday. The Br. Pres. is retired and handicapped with only 1 leg, so he doesn't get around very much. But he is so dedicated and loved by the members. His name is Dimitur Neykov (English spelling)

TheVarna Branch Pres. is young, 29, with one child. He is quite busy, but knows his people very well, and tries to work with them as best he can. His name is Nikolai Danev. He is one of only few members who understands the administration of the church.

Burgas' Pres. is a very loving person, very concerned about his people, and shows them he cares in so many ways.

We took each of the Branch presidents out to dinner to show them our appreciation, and to talk about the young people in their branches. In 2 of the branches we took the missionaries out to dinner with us. Translation is only an excuse; they love to eat, and we love to feed them. This is how we get to know them and learn about how the work is going in their areas. We also quiz them on the youth and young adults in their branches so we can know who is active and how

the inactives are responding to their efforts of

reactivation. The branch presidents are also

working hard to get their young people enrolled

in Seminary and Institute. We also gave a fireside to 2 branches and spoke in Sacrament Meeting at Burgas on Sunday.

President Nikolai Nikolav is the 2nd from the right. This is a picture of the branch who came to the fireside.

Sunflowers, oh, how beautiful they are with their yellow eyelashes surrounding their piercing brown eyes. Thousands of acres of this plant are planted each year covering the landscape of Bulgaria. The farmers raise them for their seeds; not to eat at ball games, but to press them for their oil. Sunflower seed oil is used in cooking mostly; we use it regularly. We couldn't help stop near one of the fields and have our pictures taken among them. Above, Peggy is giving them competition for their beauty.

YSA Conference

YSA Conference couldn't have been in a better setting; mountains, trees, a small lake with croaking frogs, and wonderful people to work with. We had Elder and Sister Senkans, our Area Authority Seventy and friends from Latvia, come to speak to us. Our Supervisor, Igor Poddubny, from the Ukraine, also came and gave a wonderful presentation. President Bennett gave a scintillating talk on how Joseph Smith received the plates. With dancing in the evenings, and great workshops, the young adults had a marvelous time. John put on his bridge-building activity and everyone, adults included, were seen frantically working together to create a bridge out of newspapers strong enough to hold a 35 pound box for 10 seconds, and big enough for the box to pass under. Exhilarated and exhausted, we are now home and basking in the pleasant memories and preparing to do it all over again for the youth of our mission this weekend.