A Fond Farewell to Bulgaria

OK, so farewells are hard on the emotions. Especially when everyone treats you as someone special and it feels awkward. Sunday was the day the branch put on a special meeting after the 3 hour block. Nina, the R. S. president and concert violinist, and Liana, a concert pianist played for us. Pacinka gave a short talk about how much they love their Sr. Couples, and then they presented us with flowers, an oil painting of the old town gate, and Nikolai Kalmandonski gave us a rug his mother made 40 years ago in the Bulgarian traditional style. I didn't think it would be this hard. Pleasant memories, wonderful people, beautiful country. Goodbye.
Below are just a representative sampling of the people we have grown to love.

Galia, from Pazardjik, YSA, Dreamed of her Grandfather going to heaven when 12, Joined the church 9 years later.

Zoi Palova, a personal physical trainer, RS counselor, good friend to all in Branch; one of the true rocks of the church in Bulgaria.

Pacinka Angelova, my good friend, wants to be and is close to being perfect . A sweet testimony

Elder Hannenin from Finland is representing all our missionaries in this picture. Love of the gospel and enthusiasm that radiates to all they meet.

Maria Stoyana, always has a smile and a hug, (as do all Bulgarians), showed from the beginning a love for us and a willingness to be our friend.

A professional concert violinist, Nina Kolumijan has performed for the branch and other groups on numerous occasions and never with sheet music. Our R. S. president, has a strong testimony and is willing to share her talents any time.

George Matikov always at church, opens the door welcoming us every Sunday, he cleans the flower beds because of his love of beautiful things, and wants the church grounds to be as beautiful as the gospel.

Farewell Firesides for the Bennetts

President and Sister Bennett will be leaving the mission the first of July. Saying goodbye is an ongoing effort on their part as they travel the mission branches one last time. They will put on over 4000 kilometers going to all of the branches. They have invited the Senior Couples to go with them to the major branches. Along with the Bennett's, the Jewell's, who are the office couple, and the Andersen's (CES) are also leaving within a few days of their departure. So, in effect it has been a goodbye tour for the Andersen's and Jewell's as well. We have been to Varna, Burgas, and Plovdiv so far, and have yet to attend the farewell for Sofia. In the picture below, President Gancho Pasev of the Plovdiv branch is presenting the Bennett's a farewell gift of flowers and a picture of the city of Plovdiv's most famous spot in Old Town. In Varna, the branch presented all of the couples with flowers. It is an Eastern Europe tradition to present flowers at all special occasions. Below pictured from the left, E/S Andersen, E/S Jewell, E/S Mace, E/S Jorgensen, Pres and Sister Bennett.

The Burgas branch is extraordinary by Bulgaria standards. It is the only branch with more than one or two youth. Here we have four, and they are very involved in Branch activities. From left Elder Andersen, Andrei (non member), Acen, Borislava (non member), Sister Andersen, Gergana. Andrei and Borislava don't yet have permission from their fathers to be baptized, but it is a definite they will be baptized when they turn 18 in about a year.

This is Rose country. World famous for their rose oil and rose perfume. We stopped at a field just before the harvest, which takes place in about a week. The roses have to be harvested in the morning and must be completed within a week or 10 days.

Unique to Bulgaria is the way they take care of illegal parking. Here a "spider" truck lifts a car that has been parked in a bus zone. We were in our hotel in Varna looking out at the sea and their olympic size swimming pool when we saw this happening. The owner will have to pay about 35 lev to get the car back. That is about $28. We had to retrieve our car once and learned the hard way to be careful where you park the car. The sidewalk is usually a safe place to park.

Unfortunately, the sidewalk is not a safe place to walk, and crossing the street for a pedestrian is a life threatening experience. We won't go into detail as to the safety of cars on the roads. As our time in Bulgaria quickens to its end, we can honestly say it has been a great experience.