Only sixteen years ago the ancient country of Bulgaria, which had long been a backwater of Eastern Europe, was still trapped in the orbit of the Soviet satellite system. But with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the USSR in 1991, an unprecedented freedom came to Bulgaria — and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. In the course of the past 16 years, the Church has established a solid foothold of faithful Saints in Bulgaria.
The first missionaries entered the country in 1991, and today the Church has a mission of 70 missionaries and 20 branches. In the main the Church rents or purchases (and remodels) space for meetinghouses, usually in office or commercial buildings. The missionaries work with heart and soul to find the elect of God (see D&C 29:7), and the member missionaries do likewise while living the gospel with excitement and deep gratitude.
The store-front Church meetinghouse is Shumen, Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is part of the Church's Eastern Europe and Central Asian area, not so much because of its geographic location but because of its use of the Cyrillic alphabet, which originated in Bulgaria in the 9th century (devised by the monk, Saint Cyrill). (Cyrillic is the alphabet used today for Russian and the related languages of Ukrainian and Belarusian.)
A Harsh History
The Bulgarians have been subjected to a harsh history, largely because of their being Christians. The country's Christian beginnings and culture go back to 870 AD, with the founding of the Bulgarian Christian Orthodox Church. But for five interminable centuries, until 1878, the people were subjected to Ottoman Turkish rule and oppression. Under this rule, Christian Bulgarians were killed and most of their cultural relics were destroyed.
One result of the centuries of oppression is that there are only 8 million persons left in the country. But the Bulgarians who remain in the country revere Russian Czar Alexander II, who fought successfully to free them from their many centuries of Turkish horror. He is referred to as their “Liberator King.”
The inscription on the principal monument in Sofia, Bulgaria, reads:
"To the Liberator King — Grateful Bulgaria”
A noteworthy fact of history is that during World War II, when Bulgaria was allied with Nazi Germany, it was one of only two countries (it and Finland) that saved its entire Jewish population (approximately 50,000) from the Nazi death camps by refusing to comply with a 1943 Nazi resolution requiring segregation of the Jews, and thereafter deportation of the Jews. (The Bulgarians also protected their Gypsies — originally roaming "Egypt-ies — who make up nearly 5% of the population today.)
Soviet Rule
During the 35 years of the Soviet rule in Bulgaria the country was controlled with an iron fist by the Communist Party general secretary, Zhivkov. Today, still, the only real freeway in the land is the long stretch he built between the capital city of Sofia and his home village, an hour and a half to the northeast. Near his village, which is in a pleasant location at the foot of the central mountain range, he installed a large artificial lake, built the finest resort hotel in the land, and so on. He brought government and industry to the village, making it into a substantial and prosperous town.
At the end of the Communist era in the late 1980's, Bulgaria become an independent parliamentary democracy and turned to free-market economics. Because of political unrest, the standard of living shrank by 40%. These economic difficulties, caused more than 800,000 Bulgarians to flee the country, further crippling the nation. The country and its economy have been clawing their way back up ever since.
Outside of the cities, Bulgaria is still very much a peasant society. Many houses in the dirt-road villages are empty, younger people having moved to the cities for jobs. The few people you do see in the dilapidated villages are mostly old. They laboriously work their vegetable gardens by hand, tend their chickens, and draw water up from wells.
You can still see horses pulling ploughs, and I've seen peasants bringing manure onto the fields and taking produce off the land in small, donkey- or horse-drawn carts. You even see carts in the cities (kind of charming). But it's all changing — very rapidly now. Go quickly if you want to take advantage of the low prices!
Krasimir Kolarov — a Founding Convert
The Bulgarians who grew up during the 45 years of communist rule are mostly non-religious. But as everywhere in the latter-day world with the work of the gathering of scattered Israel, there have been spiritually in-tune people found who recognize and accept the Shepherd's voice and teachings when they hear them.
It is inspiring to read the written testimony of Krasimir Kolarov, one of the country's first Melchizedek priesthood holders. Krasimir, now 36 years old, is a very special member in the capitol city of Sofia — a member whom other Bulgarian Church members respect as one of the founders of the Church there.
Krasimir had a challenging youth — an orphanage, a drunken father and stepfather, waiting in long lines to get a jar of milk. In September of 1991, after the Berlin Wall had crumbled and as the Soviet Union was failing, a female friend told him of meeting two young ladies on public transport who wanted to visit her and talk about God. Worried about what would happen, she invited Krasimir to be in the meeting with her.
The missionaries used a translator, but they had Selections from the Book of Mormon in Bulgarian, of which Krasimir received a copy. He was impressed "that the young missionaries I met there were my age and were people who did not drink and smoke and were friendly to the people they saw for first time. Wonderful feelings came to me in my heart. I had never joined my schoolmates in parties where there was drinking or smoking. These young boys and girls were as I always strived to be."
He continued:
A Mission and Scriptures Translation
Krasimir was baptized that December 22; he was 20 years old at the time. Toward the end of 1992, his branch president asked him if he would serve a mission. He responded that he would "try to do all that is required" and submitted his application. He was one of the first Bulgarians to receive the Melchizedek priesthood and served a wonderful mission in Sacramento, California, learning excellent English in the process. Temple work was done in California for his grandparents, and he was given to know by the Spirit that his grandfather had accepted the gospel.
Elder Krasimir Kolarov serving his mission in Sacramento, California.
Back in Bulgaria from his mission, Krasimir baptized and married the girl who had waited for him. He soon became branch president in Sofia. He then participated in the translation of the scriptures into Bulgarian, which work was completed in 2002.
Toward the end of the highly demanding translation project, the pressures of a young family, of Church callings, of working full-time in a government printing company, and of the demanding scripture translation work became too much. He read an article in the Church Liahona magazine that advised: "When the Lord calls for you, let go of the material things, He will take care of you."
He continued:
