Bulgarian Scriptures

[alstoddard]

Hey guys! I just got my call a couple of weeks ago to Bulgaria!I'm totally stoked!!!! This website has been very informative, so I have a question. I know a lot of my friends that have recently left on missions bought (or were given) a new set of "missonary scriptures." However, all of my friends have gone to English speaking missions. My questions is, would you buy a new set of missionary scriptures in English, or would you just mark up Bulgarian scriptures as your missionary scriptures? Also any other advice about anything is welcome! Ü

[Richard Davies]

You'll get a set of Bulgarian scriptures in the MTC. But you'll probably want a set of English scriptures too on your mission for several reasons. First, it will take you a while before you'll be able to really read and understand your Bulgarian scriptures. It's hard to do daily scripture study if it takes you half an hour to just comprehend one or two verses from your Bulgarian scriptures. Also, the Bulgarian Bible you'll get isn't an "LDS" edition. In other words, there's no footnotes or topical guide, etc. You'll need your English scriptures for that.

If you're going to be buying a new set of scriptures, you might want to consider getting one of the little "quad" sets. I preferred to always carry my English scriptures with me because they were already marked up, cross referenced, and it was easy for me to find particular scriptures in them. (Plus they have the topical guide so you can look up a scripture when someone hits you up with some wacky question...) I was glad I had the little quad set because it's a lot lighter on your back if you don't have to lug around a large, heavy set of scriptures. But then again, a lot of missionaries didn't bother to carry their English scriptures around with them. So ultimately, it will depend on your personal preferences.

[alstoddard]

Sounds good. I have a little quad set of scriptures so I will probably just take those ones with me. Thanks! Ü

[Blindspot]

I do all my personal scripture study in English simply because it goes faster and I understand more.  But I never carry my English scriptures to church anymore.  As a missionary, whenever I found a great scripture, I marked it in both sets of scriptures.  And because I'm terrible with remembering numbers, in the front of my Bulgarian scriptures I would make a note of the reference and the topic.  Kinda of like a potent topical guide.  I very rarely used those for the weird questions, but it was a comfort to know that it was there.

One thing you'll find out really quick about BG is that it isn't the Bible belt.  You will run into very few people who have actually read the Bible, much less can quote it.  That doesn't mean you don't have to know it any less...on the contrary - they rely on your understanding.  Very few people will attack you scripturally.  Instead you are fighting blind tradition and ignorance which, in my opinion, is worse.

[Brinton]

Oh, Blind Tradition....my favorite thing as a missonary.  I especially loved it when the person I was talking to would proclaim they were  Pravoslav (Bulgarian Orthodox, the state and traditional religon -- for the newbies) and then in the next breath, also claim to be athiest.....those were some fun circular conversations!

As for scriptures, I had my English set, and I would take them occasionally when we were teaching an upper discussion (in the days before Preach My Gospel there were 6 discussions), just because those uppers were so unfamiliar to us.  English scriputres also help when you do get to the point where you want to start reading your scriputres in Bulgarian, it's nice to have them handy.

[alstoddard]

Thanks for all the comments guys! You're great!! I also had another question for you.....Is Bulgaria mostly a walking, biking, car mission (I'm kinda doubting that one) or how do you get around? I've heard they have trains there also but I was wondering how you guys got around most while you were there??

[Richard Davies]

You'll use trains to go from city to city (i.e. for transfers, zone conference, etc.) In the city, you'll mostly walk and ride buses. Most missionaries purchase monthly bus passes. There are taxis too which you'll probably use occasionally. If you serve in Sofia, there's also the tramvi, or street cars which you'll use in addition to the buses.

[alstoddard]

Sweet. Thanks for letting me know...I just randomly think up these questions sometimes and it's great to have someone who can answer them!

[bulgarboy]

When I had been in Bulgaria for about three months, I had my English scriptures stolen from me, so I had to order new ones from Germany.  Unfortunately, that proved to be a neverending process, so I ended up being forced early on in my mission to read the Bulgarian ones.  When I finally got some English scriptures I didn't even use them, because at that point I had already read the entire Book of Mormon about three times and the Old and New Testaments at least once  in Bulgarian. 

It took a TON of work to really grasp the scripture language--especially if you have an Old-Bulgarian Bible--but it was worth it, and I didn't need to rely on my English ones as much.

That said, if you don't have a similar experience, you're probably not going to be 100 percent comfortable using just Bulgarian scriptures.