week I have no idea anymore

Bonjour tout le monde,
So this week was kind of crazy but awesome. So mondayish and tuesday I was kind of sick. I'm not quite sure what I had. I guess I had the sympotms of malaria, but they are kind of like kind of sickness. So I took the medication for when you have malaria. I got better really quick, so I'm not sure if I had malaria or not, but by Wednesday I could go back out. I'm just glad it didn't last long. So we had planned on having Antoine be baptized this week. I guess there is some diffucilties with him finding all of the information he needs, but he plans on getting baptized soon. Though this week we had 2 baptism. I attached a photo of my campanion and I with their families. Its kind of a long story, but i'll try and give you the reader's digest version. So Elder Hansen( an elder in my appartment) had to go home because of his back on Friday and his campanion got transferred to Benin. So the number of Elders in our apartment went from 6 to 4. We took over their secteur. So now we have a ton of new amies which was awesome. The two kids in the photo were their amies but now their in our secteur. I don't know them really well. The boy's name is Daniel and the girl's name is Francoise. They both come from non-member families but we introduced to the church by their friends. I'm really excited to go through all the lessons with them though. Their baptism was very awesome. Their were tons of people getting baptism. I wish i had a picture. There is always just an amazing spirit when people make convenants. So that was great to see and I hope to see more of it too.
We have a few new amies and a lot who will hopfully keep progressing. We found this guy named Edgar the other day. Well actually he kind of found us. He stopped us on the street and invited us into his house. He was way funny(maybe a little drunk, but a really nice guy) We couldn't teach him though because we had another appointment. We went back a few days latter. He was way intrested especially in Joseph Smith. He is really amazing, so i hope we get to keep teaching him. This week has been a big testimony builder of the Book of Mormon. I just recently finished the Book of Mormon in french for the first time. This week also we have had many great experiences with teaching it too like our new amie named Michael. He stopped us on the street the other day and started talking to us in English. He asked,"Are you like an organisation because i see you walk by here everyday?" We talked to him a little about the church. Well My campanion and another elder went to visit him on tuesday( the one day i was, i so wish i could of been there) They thought he spoke english, not french, so they started the lesson off in English. My campanion asked if he could give the opening prayer in French because he didn't know how to in English. Michael then told him that he was actually Togolesse and that he spoke French better than English. I laughed so hard. We got to teach him again this last week. He asked so many good questions. We testified of the Book of Mormon and he just kept saying things like absoultement( abousoulty) and stuff like that. It was really amazing. He even invited a bunch of his friends to hear our message too. It was a big testimony builder of how important the Book of Mormon is in truly being converted. So i hope he keeps progressing because I really thing he could do great things.
Also we had another good experience with an amie named akakpo. Yeah i had to ask my campanion how to spell that the first time. He is really awesome but he only has real use of one of his arm. I'm not sure why. It doesn't stop him though. In was our second lesson with him and his friends. He hadn't showed up yet so we just started teaching his friends. The lesson was going ok, but one of the guys there just wasn't really helping. He kept asking wierd questions and stuff. So the lessons was just going okay. Then Akakpo showed up and we started talking about the Book of Mormon. The lesson seemed drastically different. They were way intrested. WE didn't have enough copies for everyone so we have to go back and give them more. They really wanted to understand it not just read it too which was a good sign.
So this week was pretty awesome. I really enjoyed it. I learned so much about the Book of Mormon and just how awesome and important it is to me.
I love you all and thanks for everything,
Elder Kimzey

By the way- I got malaria and I'm eating dog

Bonsoir mama,
Je vais tres bien. Ok I knew about the protest. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. They aren't close to us, so we don't really know whats been going on with them. All  I know is they aren't happy with their president. I don't think it will last that long though because everyone here is so nice. We only had one experience with them. We were teaching a guy and someone lite some tires aways down the road. It has really died down lately and we are really pretty far from where it has been happening. I'm doing really good. I know you're probably wondering how I got malaria(um... mom did NOT KNOW this!) if I been taking my doxy, but I really have been taking it. I guess it not full prove, but I'm doing really well now. I'm sure getting ready for the lake has been crazy. I heard you might be switching houseboats or something. A week from tommorow thats crazy. I'm sure you'll have a great time, eat some good smores for me. Although I'll probably eat some good benyeahs for the fourth of july. Although it will be a little wierd because I'm the only american in my apartment. Also tell everyone at the lake that I love them. My mission is going pretty awesome. I think I have it pretty lucky. My campanion is awesome and my area is too. I guess the president said my campanion and I will probably stay here till september, which is pretty great.
I love you more than pie and best wishes at the lake, Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey
Hey dad,
 My investigators are doing pretty good. We have a bunch who kind of are at the point of deciding if our message is really true and wether they should really join our church. We also have a bunch of new good ones who we've found or have found us. Everyone here watches the soccer matches. It's funny when one is on, you can see herds of people gathered around one little tv. Although, it doesn't compare with when Togo plays. I guess they have been playing in the Cup of Africa. The other day we waited at a members house for our amie because he had to see the end of the game. So funny.
  I've heard a lot about the repairs to the boat. I'm sure that will be awesome for the lake.
  Favorite book of mormon character that is a hard one. I've been studying a lot about Abandi, so I'll pick him. Although I do like Mormon and Captain Moroni, but I'll stick with Abandi.
  I heard Ried and Kimball are going on a mission that awesome. I highly doubt that morgan's investigator is real but who know maybe.
Also I need your advice. The other day I found out that we have been eating dog in our appartment. I had no idea, I thought they were just joking when they said they were going to buy. Then each time we ate it they told me it was beef. It wasn't really that good it has a lot of fat to it. So I need you advice as wether I should tell Carli.haha. I haven't ate it since, but they have been talking about eating crazier things like maybe buying a snake to eat. I usually just eat everything they make. I've been able to eat some pretty cool things. Also I was going to tell you not to worry about the "Togo is dead" protests. They were mostly just marches around the admisterative quartier. I'm doing great.
 Thanks for everything dad, I love you, Elder Kimzey

Week 6ish

Bonsoir Ma Famille,
This week was a pretty great one.  We have been preparing Antoine for baptism.  It was great he said that he is already married(well traditional which counts in the church in Togo.)  That was just another proof that he is ready because a lot of people aren't married yet here.  So he came to church again and now has even started answering questions and reading scriptures in class.  I was way surprised because he hasn't been to church very many times.  Also we have been working a lot with these 3 sisters.   They live in the same parcel and each of them has 2-4 kids.  I really like teaching them because they are genuine with us.  When something doesn't make sense they ask questions.  Its nice because a lot of time people are so nice they don't want to hurt our feelings by asking questions.  So they seem to be progressing.  It was kind of too bad though this week was Ignace told us that he is going to spend half the time at his church and half at ours.  I wanted to say "or you could just spend each Sunday at ours".  What can you do but just keep trying.  Also this week we went to a lesson on Sunday.  After the lesson it started to rain.  We decided to wait until it stopped.  It rained hard for 30 straight minutes.  We finally decided we just had to go.  The streets were just massive rivers.  We end up walking about mid calf high in water.  It was absolutely crazy but a total blast.  I'm doing really well.  I haven't eat really any weird things this week  I'll have to keep you posted though.  Sorry the letter a little shorter this week.  I had to spend some time in the house with Elder Hansen because he hurt his back.
Je vous aime,
Elder Kimzey

Rainy Season in full swing

Bonsoir tout le monde,

This week has been crazy, but way fun. Rainy season is in full swing. It rains a ton and when it rains here it down downpours. I'll have to try and take some pictures of that. We been able to teach a ton this week which was awesome. We even have a few amies who are really close to baptism. One is named Antoine. On, I think, Wednesday we had a lesson with him. We were sitting on a rock about to teach him when we look up and the sky is just black. There was no place for us to go either. My companion turns to me and says teach him the first lesson, but do it quick because we don't have much time. I gave the first lesson in like 4 minutes. If he understood anything from it, it would be a miracle. Right after i was done, it was raining so hard. We found temporary relief under an overhang for motorcycles. My companion asked him if he would like to be baptised and he accepted. Good thing later on this week we got to teach him again. We went over lesson 1 again and the word of wisdom. He said that he already doesn't do those things. So hopefully he can keep progressing and be baptized on the 23. Also this week on Sunday we had district conference. So all the members of Togo meet together. The place was packed. We didn't even get to seat by our amies there was so many people. It was really great though one of our amies named Ignace came. He was a devote catholic when we started teaching him. Actually we kind of met him on accident. We went to go meet an ami but he wasn't there. They said he was coming back so we went for him. When we were waiting for him we were sitting next to Ignace. He was selling some shoes. We started talking to him and then we set up another time to teach. WE usually go to his work to teach him. So usually it kind of loud because we just on the side of the road. He really awesome though. Its really funny here but when someone is in accordance with something you say they make a clicking noise with their mouth. He does it all the time. Its pretty great. So we also invited him to be baptized. He isn't as confident but he is going to pray about it. Also one of our funnier amis is named Odiele. She is actually a Jehovah's witness. She loves studying other religions though so she let us in. She actually already had a copy of the Book of Mormon. I guess her brother was getting rid of some books and gave it to her. She didn't read much of it. Then when we gave her the Restoration pamphlet she realized she had it. She searched through her whole house and found it. She says she's not quite sure why she kept it. She thinks it might be a sign from God. So we have some great lessons with her.

This week i eat maybe the craziest food. Since there has been a lot of rain we've seen more bugs too. Elder Muamba, he is Congolesse, caught a bunch of this one kind of bug. I'm not quite sure what it was. I didn't know why. He just kept it in this Tupperware type container. Then the other day he had made some foufou and two types of sauces. One was a beef tomato one and the other one i attached a picture of. It had the bugs in it. At first i wasn't quite sure if i should eat it. Then i thought way not. It actually wasn't bad. Then i think it was yesterday, Elder Owsu made some sauce and Eyam(I'm not sure how thats spelled) I didn't realize till i was halve way down with it that it had the same bugs in it too. It tasted good so i eat the rest. I know probably everyone is thinking I'm crazy and probably rightfully so, but its kind of actually normal here to do. It definitely an experience haha, but for the most part i eat semi-normal things.

 

  So in general life is going well and the work is too. You can definitely see how much God has prepared some people its astounding.

Je vous aime beaucoup,

Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey

Amies and American Football

Bonsoir tout le monde,
This week has seemed to really fly by.  Each week seems to be getting faster and faster.  This week also finally all the ovb(ouvrir votre bouche, open your mouth which means in essence is contacting) has really started to pay off.  WE have some really great new amies.  WE have one named messon who is really great.  At first he was a little hesitate.  He flat out told us, he didn't really believe what we said but he would read and look into it.  Then the next time it was kind of like night and day.  We talked about Joseph Smith and the book of Mormon and he said,"C'est Bon."  We were really happy he is progressing well.  I know its not because of me because I know my french is still not perfect.  Also we started teaching Afi and Late.  Afi works as a maid and Late as a chauffer for the same lady.  So we teach them as they have breaks.  When we told them about Joseph Smith, Late said he feels like Joseph Smith with all the churches around.  There are a lot of churches here, more than america.  Also it was a miracle that happened on Sunday.  We had an appointment with an amie named Antoine Congo on Saturday.  All was going to plan when it started to rain.  When it rains here it rains a ton.  It makes it really hard for people to get home because the roads are made of dirt.  So when we got to his house he wasn't there.  So we were kind of sad, but understood because most of our appointments had fallen through because of the rain.  Then on Sunday, he shows up at church.  We hadn't even started teaching him yet.  So that was really awesome.  He seems way interested and really liked church.  So good signs there.  Right now is the raining season, so it rains here probably once every two days.  Its nice because its a lot cooler when it rains.  Also we have another ami who we just starrted teaching, she is very catholic but is starting to open up to the idea of our chearch. Yeah so we have started having more and more amies hopefully some of the others will progress well too.

For Pday we went and played american football on the beach.  It was fun to explain some of the rules to the others.  The beach here is really nice, but no one ever is there.  It was way funny.  There was a fisherman's boat there so i thought everyone would think that was cool.  We took some pictures and stuff. It was fun.  Also we went to the grande marché, grand market, there was people everywhere.  People will try to sell me things as your just standing there.  Also everything is negotiable, so everyone is bartering.

 It was pretty cool.  Also I put a picture on of something that people eat here all the time.  Its called foufou.  You eat it with your hands, no silverware.  You take the dough looking stuff and form it into a ball in your hand and then dip it in the sauce stuff.  The sauce also had some beef in it which is pretty rare here.

 So yeah everything is going well.  I love my campanion.  He helps me with everything.  He speaks perfect french so that helps a ton.  He also is really great with our amies.  So my french isn't perfect but it has improved a lot.  I usually teach half of the leasons which is pretty crazy compared to before when I would usually teach one section with my other campanion.  The gift of the spirit is real because I know sometimes I don't explain things well and still the person understands.  Its pretty crazy.
Je vous aime,
Elder Corey Kimzey