Loving Life

Bonsoir ma famile;
Je vais bien.  I hope everyone is doing well too.  This week was really awesome.  The baptism of Pepe went so well. 

 It was really cool to see.  He has been investigating the church for a really long time, so it ws so great to see him baptized.  It was awesome after the baptism he asked me,"  I made the right choice huh?" (I think that is how you would say that in English.)  He gave me a big huge afterward.  His sister told me she had been praying for him to be baptized.
Also this week we did a split with the Zone Leaders.  I got to work with Elder Haycock(the son of Dad's high school friend) over in the secteur of Tokoin.  It was pretty fun to work over.  Also our secteur changed this week.  So we lost like half of our secteur.  So it should be fun this next week to find a bunch of new amis.
Also we have been teaching Chantal a lot.  She has come to church a few times and plans on being baptized the 6th of Oct.  We have had some really great lessons with us.  She even had her sister start taking the lessons too.  The two are kind of reserved but maybe are the nicest people in the world.  She made us some Enyam Pate on Sunday.  It was crazy good.  I love that people over here are always offering us to come over and eat.  It really hard sometimes because if someone is preparing food they expect you to eat with them.  People are just so nice.  Also they expect you to finish it too even if you are stuffed.  It is so awesome.

So yeah that was kind of what happened this week.  It was really great.  I have attached a few photos.  One is of Pepe and I; the whole baptismal group; then there is one with me and a few of the kids in my branch; the other is of me, sidonie(a recent convert) and a few kids in the branch; one is of pepe, melanie, and i; the other one i can't remember. (sorry- I didn't get the last few photos  )

Well i hope everyone is having a great week. Je sais que l'eglise est vrai. 

Je vous aime beacoup,
Elder Corey Kimzey

Bonsoir mama,
Je vais tres bien, comment vas-tu? (I am really well, how are you doing?)  I have been eating well like always but I think i'm starting to get back to normal...   Go sundevils!  That is so great they beat Utah- Yeah Brigham City is just 30 minutes away if you take the canyon.  I really hope I can go to it a few times before i get back... (I asked Corey about the national election there- they were having riots in the streets a few weeks back)  I'm not sure what elections you are talking about?  Was there elections in Togo?  If there was i didn't know?  We don't do a ton for P-days.  We play soccer or go to the beach. Supposely there is a cool slave memorial down on the beach but i haven't gone yet.  Also there is supposly a huge  market with Elephant heads and everything.  I'm not really sure what tourists do here.  I would like to go see some villages.  Supposly there is a village on a lake in Benin that the missionary go and see all the time.  I really love my ward right now.  They have been helping one of our amis named Justine a lot.  The church is going quite well.  We have a few problems like all areas but ca va aller.(that's how it goes)  The new building is going to be finished soon.  I hope to be here when it is. Maybe an apostle or a seventy will come and dedicate it.  The next transfer is probably in the next few weeks.  I hope i get to stay here in Togo.  I really love it.   Although it would be fun to see what Benin was like too.  The transfers in between benin and togo really depends some missionary will spend 14 months in one country before getting switched to the other.  But usually every other transfer someone comes from benin to here.  My amis are doing awesome.  We lost a few of them because of the changing of the secteur(because a new branch is opening in adidogome)  So this week i hope we can go find so more investigators who will progress.  I really have been working on taking more pictures.  I took a ton the other day at church.  I love you mom.  I hope everything is going well at home.  I heard that dad might have to get more of his tongue cut out.  I make sure to keep him in my prayers.  Also how is chels' wedding going?  I hope that it walks(as we say in french.) 

 Je t'aime plus que glaces, fan ice(the ice cream here), benyahs, eclaires, et tartes,

(I love you more that ice cream, benyahs,eclairs and pastries......)

 Elder Corey Kimzey

Member's are awesome!

Bonsoir Ma famille et mes amis,
Je vais bien. (I am well)  Our secteur is going really well too.  It is quite crazy.  We have a baptism coming up this Saturday with Pepe.  I was really nervous that he wouldn't come to church this Sunday,which would've meant he couldn't get baptized.  Then right before sacrament starts he walks in.  I was so excited.  So he is going to be baptized on Saturday if all goes to plan.
Also this Sunday I gave a talk.  It was really scary.  I talked about the blessing and the importance of the restoration.  It went pretty well.  I was so nervous.  My legs I think were even shaking.  The reason I gave the talk was because it was missionary Sunday.  I guess that from now on every 3rd Sunday the missionary are in charge.  So we give the talks and teach the classes.  It was pretty fun.  It really helped the members get to know us better.
Also this week we got to teach a ton.  We even did a split on Saturday.  I went out with a ward missionary named Messan.  I was so lucky he was there.  The first appointment, i thought the people spoke french, but they only spoke lingala and ewe.  My companion usually talked to them in lingala  so I had no idea they didn't speak french.  So Messan explained everything in ewe, it was way awesome.  Sometimes I wish I spoke ewe too.  I'm trying to pick up a little but it is really really hard.
Also this week, we were just walking down the road and just we decided to knock at this door.  Well, we didn't really knock we just walk into their parcel(but that's just what people do here.)  We started talking to the mothers in the parcel but they were busy.  They said we could talk to their daughters though.  So we started talking to these 5 girls.  It was a pretty decent first lesson.  We came back a few days latter.  We had an awesome lesson on Joseph Smith and the book of mormon.  We only had one copy of the Book of Mormon at that time, so we gave it to them.  They were trying to decide who got to read it first because everyone wanted to read.  Then 2 of the girls came to church that Sunday.  So that was really exciting.
Also this week, we had one of the best lesson ever with a member.  We had a lesson  planned to teach Abivi(the lady that sells chalk.)  She has been progressing really well, so we were hoping to teach her with a member so she will start to know people in the ward.  So Soeur (Sister) Catherine(she is from Ghana but speaks french well) told us she would.  We were teaching about the plan of Salvation.  At the end we ask her if she would be baptized.  She said that she really loves our message but she didn't know if she could change Churches again.  She said she had changed Churches a bunch of times.  Then Soeur Catherine bore her testimony about how if she asked God if our church is the path for her than changing Churches is nothing.  It was really awesome.  It really touched Abivi's heart.  She promised that she would pray for an answer.  I love member, they are so awesome.
Well that was my week this week.  It was quite exciting. 
Merci pour tout choses.  Je vous aime beacoup, (thanks for things.  I love you alot)
Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey
(from Kerry's letter)
Hey Dad,  Togo is awesome.  In Togo, you have to come to church twice before you can be baptized.  Usually the hard one is that people have to be married either traditionally and/or leagally.  How are the youth doing with preach my gospel?  That will really help them a lot on their mission.  I can't believe USU lost by a  field goal too.  That is really a heart breaker.  Byu lost to Utah that too bad too, but if utah state beat utah, and utah beat byu does that mean utah state would beat byu?  haha I'm just kidding.  Actually the other american in my appartment is a huge Florida State fan, so he tells me every week how they do.  So he will be happy to here they dominated.

(to mom this week)
 My companion is LeVieux(meaning the old in french) Makubu.  He is a convert of the church since 2000.  He is like 26 or 27 years old.  He told me his plan is to become a taxi driver because taxi driver make a lot of money in the Congo.  And he said he wants me to find him an American Girl who knows a little french.  Church is usually awesome. WE have been having problems with the electricity.  So the fans turn on and off. We have had a lot of people at church lately so that has been great.  I have been lacking at the whole picture taking thing, but I'm working on it.      
Also mom i have decided you would really like it here. Everyone with their bright color clothes, the dancing, and the soap operas.(I think he's refering to the spanish novella I watched to try and learn spanish???)  Everyone here watches either sports or soap operas, it is really funny. 
I love you more than the biggest slice of pie in all the world,
Elder Corey Kimzey

Teaching, Teaching, Teaching

 Bonsoir ma famille et mes amis,
OK this week was quite fun.  I celebrated my 6 months anniversary on my mission.  I didn't really do anything special but it was fun none the less.  Also this week we had 2 amis commit to be baptized.  The first one is named Pépé.  He has been taking the lessons for awhile but has never been ready to be baptized.  So I'm really excited for him.
Also we have another named Chantal.  We met her on the street one day. She had a lot of questions on why she needed to be baptized again especially why did it need to be by immersion.  She seemed to understand and agreed to a date, her family doesn't seem for it.  I hope they will come around though.
One of the coolest stories of this week is of an amie named Fryiza.  We often pass by her enyam stand.  She one day asked us who we are.  We explained that we were missionaries and so on and so forth.  We then later started talking about  her religious background.  She told us how she grew up in a non-christian religion, but never really felt part of it.  She even got married into that religion.  Then she started talking to Christian missionaries.  She said she knew that christian religions were for her.  She said that she knew her decision was right because she  started to feel the holy ghost as she prayed.  So she is really awesome.  We invited to her to this small activity the ward was having.  She accepted.  She came and started playing scrabble.  I played for a little bit, but french scrabble is a little harder for me. 
Also this Sunday we had tons of people come to church.  Some of us even had to go seat out in the hall.  Our branch is getting quite big, but they are about to split it and create a group at Adidgome. 
Another awesome ami we found this week is named Egenie.  We were actually looking for someone else when we met.  She seemed kind of skeptic at first, she didn't really want to talk to us. Then we gave her a brouchure and that seemed to peak her interest.  Then when we showed up for the first rendez-vous she told us she had read the whole brouchure.  She told us how she had been praying to find the truth on the earth.  She has been going to one church since her childhood, but she says it like they teach the same thing all the time and don't even use the Bible.  She has obviously been prepared by Heavenly Father.  She really seems to accept out message.  I hope she will just keep progressing.
So that was my week in a nutshell.  A lot of great lesson and a lot of great amis.  I'm hoping that are ami keeping progressing as well as they have.
Je vous aime beaucoup,
Elder Corey Kimzey
 from Kerry's letter-
Things are going well. I can't believe USU won. Hey aggies hey aggies hey!  That is so cool!

and part of mom's letter, I asked him if he had any advice for his cousin that is leaving for the MTC in a couple of weeks-
 I would tell him that the MTC is kind of hard at first because you usually have like 4 to 5 hours a day to study.  Also i will give him 2 pieces of advice that i received the first day.  First, that days in the mtc feel like weeks and weeks feel like days.  The first day seemed to last forever.  I remember after the first day I thought I'm not quite sure i could do this everyday for 2 years.  Second, I remember being in the MTC the first day and teaching an investigator with 20 other missionary.  You could just raise your hand and say something.  I couldn't really think of anything worth wild to say the whole time.  I remember walking back to my class room and my companion turning to me and saying Elder Kimzey we need to do be better because we are missionary.  So the most important thing is to take one day at a time.  Be patient and try to get better everyday.  I know that Logan going to be a good missionary.  He is really going to love it.

6 months holy cow!

 I didn't edit these letters to show how corey's starting to lose his english!-kim

 Bonsoir ma famille,
Comment ca va?  This week has been quite awesome.  We have recieved so much help from the members this week.  They help some much.  Also this week we've had some of the best lessons. 
For example, we had an awesome lesson with this lady named Abivi.  I'm not sure if I told you about her.  She produces and sells chalk.  We were working with Elder Boklo(the assistant.)  We didn't have a rendez-vous with her but we just stopped by to see if she was there.  She was and she was really excited to see us.  My campanion started off reviewing what we had talked about last time, then he gave me the nudge to talk about the restoration.  I have talked about the restoration plenty of times before but this one was different.  I don't think I explained it amazingly but the spirit was there.  It seemed to hit her pretty strongly.  It was kind of like she had always know it in her heart.  It was really amazing.  Then a few days latter she came to church.  She told us afterward that she really loved it.  So I'm really excited for her.  One thing i love about her is that if you say something she like or you pray  for her, she says amen.  She is really a great ami.

Another is when we went to see this less active who doesn't come to church because she doesn't speak french.  She only speaks English and some Ewe.  Elder Burkhart and I were on a split when we visted her.  We explained to her a little bit about the Book of Mormon in English.  It was really hard to teach in English sometimes the french words would come out.  It was kind of funny.  She told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is the Word of God.  Then we explained to her the gravity of that.  How if the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet and how our church is the only true church.  We explained the difference between the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  She told us she had never been taught those things.  She seemed really touched and thought about that for a long time.  She even promised to come back to church, it was really awesome. 
Also this week we have had a bunch of people stop us on the street and ask if we can come teach them.  We had an awesome lesson with these guys named Balougou and Koukou.  They work at this school as bodyguard or something.  Usually only one of them is there at a time, but they both stayed so that we can talk with them.  They had read all of the Testimony of Joseph Smith and had tons of questions.  We explained to them about the Book of Mormon too.  They seem really intrested in our message.  I hope they keep reading. 
Today, for p-day, all the missionary got together and had a huge feast.  They killed this big pig and cooked it in the ground.  It was really good.  I ate so much I thought I was going to burst.  6 of us played soccer against this kids.  We were doing good when they were only 8 but then more kids came.  Then it was like 20 versus 6.  So we lost but it was a lot of fun.

I attached some photos of the first building in Togo. It is at Kegue.  It is really nice and really big.  I can't wait until its finish.  I heard that it will take maybe 2 more months.  The first is of my district all together (um- didn't receive that!), the second is of me, elder burkhart, and elder Owusu.  Then the next is of the outside of the building.  Then there is one of my campanion.  Also there is one of Elder Sow who is from Cote D'ivoire.  He is one of my favorite Elders. 

 

Well  thanks for everything.  I really loving my mission.  I can't believe how fast it has flown by.  6 months already is so crazy to think about.

Je vous aime beaucoup,
Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey

Maman,
As you probably can guess from my title, I got my package you sent me this week.(I sent this package the first week of May...)  It was really awesome.  It made my day.  Thanks also for the letters from my friends and from the kids in the primary.  Maybe this week I write an email for them I sent it to you.  I would sent a letter but it is so hard to mail things here.  Thanks for the package again.  I'm loving the peanut butter and all the jus(juice.)    Also i was going to tell you that the demstorations are still going on, but not to worry.  They are mostly just walks.  I guess they had a problem in one secteur because a bunch of people were going to go protest naked, so the missionary had to stay away from that part of town.  I don't think they ever did protest naked but i thought it was really crazy and funny...
 I'm probably going to be the obesse one after my mission if I  keep eating like this. haha jk.  I stopped gaining weight so its really good...
  (I told corey about a new elder coming in November, and asked if he had any advice for him) What is this elder's name? One thing is if he uses razor blades, sometimes the replacements are hard to find so I'm glad i have a ton of those.  Also i would tell him to try new things and new foods when he gets here.  It makes the mission so much more fun if you try new foods.  Also love your new companion.  He'll probably be from some foreign country but if you just serve him and look for the good things in him you'll have a great time.  That is probably the biggest advice, so many missionary struggle with that.  Also in the mtc don't worry about the difference between tu and vous.  In france, in is a very impolite to use tu with someone you don't know well.  Here even if you never met the person you can use tu.  Also don't worry about french.  It will come.  And when you get to africa you'll probably be in a little bit of shock.  Just know that you'll adjust really fast and you'll love it.  I'm not quite sure what either advice to give.  I tell him to read a lot of preach my gospel and the book of Mormon.  I'm sure he'll do great...
  I hope you know that I love you.  It has already been 6 months- can you believe it?  I feel like i just got here.
 Je t'aime plus que tout le tart dans la monde,  Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey

Hey dad,
Things are great here in Africa... I'm sorry today was so difficult.  Turkey though sounds good.  I don't think they even have turkey here haha. 
Thanks for the update on sports...(Corey was a professional sports viewer and loves to get sports updates!)   When are you guys thinking of going to Disney World? 
We have a lot of really good investigators.  Sometimes it is hard because we have so many we have to be really good at planning and also if someone isn't progressing we have to visit them less often because there are so many people just waiting for the gospel.  It is crazy.  I'm glad to here everyone is doing so well.  And tell Morgan for me that he'll get the language down real quick.  Yeah I know Elder Layton he is Ablogami I think.  We just had a huge transfer.  Everyone is staying in my apartment except Elder Owusu.  He leaves to Benin and we get a malagesse Elder.  Yes there is a couple coming in October.  I don't remember there names either.  It will be nice to have two couples.  One in Benin and one in Togo.  The language is really fun.  I still mess up a lot but that's okay people usually understand what i mean.  It really crazy though how quick it comes.  Thanks for everything dad.  I love you a lot too.  I love sharing the gospel.  It just seems so normal now.  Sometimes, it feels like I've always been doing it.  I love the people of Togo.  You will have to come here today just to see them for yourselves.  They are one in a kind.
 I hope you have a great week love you a lot , 
Elder Corey Kimzey