Transfer on Christmas eve

Maman!
There is no problem. I bet you are really tired from the christmas party. I saw the photos, they are awesome. I'm sure everyone loved it.
Yeah, i'm so excited that we get to talk this week. But i'm getting transferred to Togo tommorow. Kind of crazy huh to get transferred on Christmas Eve? But i'm sure there is a reason. My new number is...And also it is an hour difference than Benin. It is an hour earlier. So right now it is 3:39 pm in Togo right now. But don't worry i've already started working on fun things to do here in Benin. Also i think it would be fun to visit a few recent converts too. Also i've been talking a lot with the assistants, so i'm sure they help me out a lot too.
Also, i bought that fabric the other day for you, carli, and Chelsea, but i think i'm going to leave in with a tailor here in Benin. Because one of my old investigators is one of the best in Benin(he is getting baptized this week too.) But I think i'll need some measurements. So i'll talk to him and maybe at christmas i tell you what i need. Would that work?
This week has been a pretty good one. We had quite a bit of teach and a few amazing lessons. I have to admit that it was pretty hard to say good bye to them. Especially a lot of the members. I have to admit if we get to visit a branch while you guys are here i would love to take you to the branch of Cococodji. Also this good bye was kind of hard because i'm leaving the country. I have to admit i like Togo,
but Benin is kind of like my second home.
It will be fun to go back and work in Togo for a few weeks. Also my new campanion there is Elder Sery. We were in the same branch before. He is a really nice guy and a good missionary. So it will be fun to work with him too.
Mom, i'm so excited for you to come here. I know you are going to love it. I know somethings are a little different, but i'm sure you will love the people like i love them. Also i'm sure the members are going to love you too. Also you'll have a chance to practice your french. 

 Alors je t'aime maman, et j’espère que tu vas passer un
joyeux Noël. Salue tout le monde à ma part. 

 We get to talk in a few day. 

 Love you more than pie,
Elder Corey Kimzey

My release date has changed!

Bonjour maman,
comment ça va? How has your week been? I can't believe that you still have snow on the ground. Maybe you'll have a white christmas how fun would that be? The ward christmas party sounds like it is going to be awesome. When is it? Say hi to everyone for me.
That is fun that chelsea and skyler will be down for christmas. Are you still thinking of going over to nanny jo's and grandpa's.
Ok so i kind of some big news. President Weed called me this week and told me that he has decided to bump up my realese date. I guess there are bunch of missionaries who are coming in soon and they don't have enough room for everyone. So he said that my realase date is now Feb 15. I know holy cow! When he told me that it blew my mind. That is like in 2 months from yesterday. But he called me because he
wanted to make sure that that didn't ruin any of your plans. Also Elder Semkens called me to ask me if i could cordonate with you guys so that he can reserve my flight plans. So if you still wanted to come, he could set the flight plans for latter.
Answers:
1. Carli and I watched some classic christmas movies today. What is your favorite christmas movie?

My favorite christmas is it is a wonderful life.
2. Did you have a ward party? How do they celebrate in your branch?

We haven't exactly planned a ward party yet. But i think that they will do one maybe the 24th. But there already doing a primary party this saturday.

3. Thanks for the phone number- so I'll call you at the end of the week and  arrange for christmas call? 

Okay that sounds like a plan there is no worries.

4. Did you happen to find a nativity set? Do you need me to put money in you account? 

So today, my companion and i went to Tokpa and the Hall of arts to do some shopping. I found a pretty awesome nativity set. It is a full 12 piece set. My campanion talked the guy down to the equalivant of $50 dollars. Which is pretty good considering he started at around 100. Also a lot of other missionaries have got them for more expensive

and worse quality so i was pretty happy. Also i found 2 statues for 20 bucks in total. They're about 6 inches and pretty awesome too.
Then we went to Tokpa. I decided to buy you, carli, and chelsea a present. So I bought some traditional fabric. I found a really good one too. And not very expensive for how awesome they are. So i'm going to ask a lady in the branch if she can do the sewing for me.
She is really good. But I'm not sure what measurements she will need, so i'll ask her and get back to you on that. And also i found carli something she can run in. It is a t-shirt that says I love africa. I thought she'd like that.
5. So, one of the great things about missions that I've heard is that you can learn from each companion. what have you taught, and learned from you new companion? 

I have learned a lot from my campanions. Elder Rav is so good at being personable. He is really good at getting a long with people.  Also he always seems to make an akward situation better. I think that one of the things i try to teach to all of my campanions is to just enjoy the journey.

This week was great again. We kind of had a miracle happen on Saturday. We have been kind of struggling with finding members to teach with us because there isn't that many in our secteur. But on saturday, while we were walking to our next rendez-vous we saw one of the members who lives in our secteurs. Which was kind of strange because she works usually on saturdays. She told us that she had the
day off and she asked if she could come and teach with us. We accepted gladly. She did a great job during the lesson too. Then we invited her to come teach another investigator later. Her prescence in the lesson helped so much. Her testimony about how she was tired of all the churches and that through prayer, church attendance, and the book of mormon she came to know that the church was true. The ami
de l'eglise was really touched and promised to pray about our message. It was great.
I'm so excited to talk with you too. At what time are you thinking about calling at? Also Elder Semkens told me he would really like to set my flight plans soon. So we probably need to figure that out together.
Also i thought you would think it was funny that i taught an english speaker the other day and she totally thought i was french not american. haha It was pretty funny.
I love you more than pie mom and can't wait to hear from you,
Elder Kimzey

no snow here...haha

Bonjour maman,

Comment tu vas? Je vais très bien. Wow, you recieved a lot of snow huh? holy cow! I don't think i have ever seen that much snow ever in st george. The only time that i have seen that much snow is when i was in logan. I remember that feeling of waking up to a bunch of snow in logan. It is kind of wierd. That is too bad that hunter got into an accident. I remeber how hard it is to drive in the snow. Remember
the time that you, casey, and i went driving in the snow to practice? haha That was pretty fun.
That is crazy that you even had to start snow shoveling. I don't think i have ever even done that in st george. haha. That is crazy that they canceled church too. Thanks for the photos. They were pretty great. I think he told me before that it doesn't really snow in Madagascar.
I think that you're right, that it would be better that you call me this time. My number is ....... I went to the bureau the
other day but i think someone said that we were leaving around the 12 of march. But i get some more details about that later. Also I think this next week i'm going to go to Tokpa, to do some shopping. If i got it right you wanted something to put on the table(would a small stuate or maybe a african mancala set work?), also carli wanted something to run in(would an african t-shirt work) Also i was think
of buying some african fabric because it is pretty cheap and pretty cool. Is there any thing else that you would want me to buy?
Ok this week has been pretty awesome. We recieved a bunch of contacts. Got to love that! Especially because most of them are families. Even one of our amis started giving us contacts. She gives brouchures to all of her friends and she isn't even baptized yet haha. She even came and helped us teach her next door neighboor. Which was an awesome lesson. We taught a husband and a wife about the restoration. They seemed to be way intrested. Our ami even taught
part of the lesson haha.
Also the assistants gave a contact of a young husband and his wife. I guess the husband is about to give his disertation soon to get his docrate in business fincance(or something like that.) Lets just say he is really smart. We had a really great lesson about the savior minstry, the apostasy, and the restoration. He seem to be really touched by the lesson. He was telling us that he is searching for the truth so hopeful he keep progressing too.
Well, mom i love you. I glad to hear that everyone is doing well, even if they are freezing. Here, it is has been pretty toasty.
I love you more than all the christmas treats,
Elder Corey Kimzey

Bad Cold

Maman!
Bonjour Comment vas-tu? Moi, je vais bien. It sounds like
thanksgiving was awesome. That is great that so many people were able
to come up for it. That is great that all of our football teams seem
to win too. haha
...This week, i taught gospel principes. We were talking about
Obessience(obedience). And a lady asked a question but the way she worded it was
kind of wierd. So i did my best, but she wasn't sastified with the
answer. Good things, some of the investigators and members explained
it to her better and she seemed to be ok. So i guess it happens to all
of us.
Answers(daily double)
1. Did you try out your card? did it work?
 yeah i tried out my card. It worked. I don't know why it didn't
work before, i used the same bank and everything. But it seems to be
working now.
2.  sending your last missionary package- so last requests??? Did you get your xmas package?I got my xmas package, but i haven't opened it yet. scout's honor. Although, it was pretty tempting haha. I can't think of anything particularly, maybe some granola bars.haha
3. could you look for a nativity set from there? I could put money in your account, anything cool, like wood carved???Yeah, i think this next week we are thinking of going to Tokpa(the
big market) or the hall of arts. So I think i'll be able to find it. I think Elder Poll bought one, so i'll ask him for how much it got it. Also, i was wondering if there was anything else you guys wanted?
4. I got a note from the semkins- are you feeling better? was it a cold? Yeah, i'm feeling a lot better. I had a really really nasty cold. haha. I wasn't able to leave the appartement for like 4 days. But
now, i'm doing great.
5.What is a cool christmas tradition there?

Well, on christmas day if you visit someone you have to eat at there
house. They just constantly cooking that day. haha. So that day we
get super stuffed.

Wow, i can't believe that cj is coming home already in 13 days. That
is absoutly crazy. Did I tell you that Elder Poll is going home the
same day? So we got a new assistant in our appartement. His name is
Elder Ritchie. He is one of my best friends, so it is pretty fun.
6. (arranging for xmas call!!!)Ok i can give my number to you when ever you want.
This week wasn't really exciting because i stayed home for most of it.
But Sunday was pretty great. I hadn't planned on giving the lesson
in the 2nd hour but no one else had prepared a lesson either. So i
volunteered. It turned out pretty well actually. Like i said before
it was all about obedience. We had a intresting discussion about when
motivates us to respect the commandements. Is it fear, blessings, or
our love for God? It was really intresting but we decided that in the
end we have to be motivated by our love for God if we want to endure
to the end. I learned a lot from that lesson.
Ok, i can't wait to hear from you too. It is crazy to think that it
will be the last time that i call.
love you more than pie too,
Elder Corey Kimzey

November 25

Dear dad,
How is it going? This week has been awesome. We have had a ton of  things going on this week. On Saturday, there were 7 people baptized  in our branch 2 family and 2 little kids(that my companion and i teach)It was pretty great. Then after the baptism, that afternoon we  had an missionary activity that my companion and i were in-charge of. I didn't think many people would show up but 95 people did. It was  fun, we watched the film the testaments and then answered questions about the book of mormon. Then we eat sandwiches and beesap. It was  great.
 That is great that Aunt Nicole's play went so well. That is amazing how many temple names you guys have already done. It seems like each week  you seem to do a ton.I really like those scriptures. Especially the scripture about the  importance of the holy ghost. We were talking to one of our ami who has a hard time understanding why she needs to get baptized again. She was telling us about how she had done many miracle and healed  people so that must mean that she has the gift of the holy ghost. But  she doesn't realize that the things she feels isn't actually the gift of the holy ghost but the influence of the holy ghost. Hopefully,  she'll come around.
 My week is going pretty well. The branch is going well. We had tons of people at church again, which was a good sign because we have had a  lot of people absent lately. We don't really celebrate thanksgiving  here. School is about to take a break though. I love you too and
 have a great week, 

Elder Corey Kimzey

Plans and the temple

Bonsoir maman,
Comment va la meilleure mère dans la monde entière? (How is the best mother in the whole world?)

What?! There is a second Thor movie comment? haha Yeah i left a little time after the first one came out. That is great that carli is doig so well with her running. Maybe the trip to nike will convince her to do track. That is fun that she is going down there. I always loved that trip.
That is amazing that carli's volleyball team won took second. It was probably because of their amazing coach.
I'm glad to her that your lesson on education went well. Last week, i had some serious computer issues. It took me a year in an half to get logon to my email and then i started writing you and the power cut.
So sorry i didn't write you to tell you why i think it is important that girls are educated. I like your spin on it though. It is so true that we all need to be spirtually independent. I think it was president wilkey who would always tell that when you go off to college, you leave your family and friend, so it is so important to have a good realtionship with God because that wont leave. I hope that makes sense. My english is sometimes a little rough these days.
Answers:
What do you think of us coming? I have two concerns. One- are you going to be tired and just want to come home? I know some missionaries are and so don't be afraid to tell us. Two- will you be sad to miss the whole"greet your family" at the airport?


Ok, so last week i didn't get dad's email. So i'm kind of confused what the plan is. Personally i would love it. I don't feel like i would be too tired. Also i don't think i would miss the whole greet your family. Because i could do that for you guys. Maybe i could create a banner that said Bienvenu Au Benin. haha. No, but seriously i don't think i would miss that. I don't know my release date, but i think i should know it soon because someone told me the office elders are going to start working on our flight plans(crazy huh?) But I told dad that i would think about it this week and i'll try to find out from the office when my release date is. But personally i think it would be awesome.2.I was thinking at the temple- do your youth ever get a chance to go? 
So we have 3 temple trips every year. They actually left to ghana today. haha. But i know they try to help the youth go. I know they even reduce the price sometimes for the youth. And usually afterward, they invite some of the people to come up and bear their testimony about the temple. I always like the sunday after a temple trip.
3. Do you know your release date? If not when do missionaries know? 
Yeah, i don't know the date. I thinking maybe to email the office and maybe they'll know. It is worth a shot.
4. Tell us about the best lesson you taught this week... 
We had a good lesson about the book of mormon with one of our amis. She has a hard time coming to church lately because she has to take care of her uncle sometimes. She told us that some people had told her that our church was a sect because of the book of mormon. She was really confused about it. So we read the introduction together. I think it helped her realize that it wasn't a book written by Joseph Smith or a book that replaced the bible. I could tell that the spirit started to work on her little by little. She seemed to understand by the end and said she would start reading. It renforced my testimony about how the spirit helps people resolve their problems and that the truth really does win out haha.
5. What are you personally studying? 
Lately i study by topic or even chose certain words to study. The other day though i did some serious studying on the preisthood. I read in Doctrine and Covenants 121 and 84. It really struck me the importance of the preisthood and really the way we should act when we have the priesthood. ALso the blessings if we respect the preisthood.
I liked a lot a verse in d and c 84 which talked about how it is
through ordonnaces we become more like God. I thought how true that it.
6. We didn't get a letter last week- no power??
 yeah sorry about the fact that you didn't get a letter. The power was cut most of the day. Power sometimes cut because we are in the dry season.
Well, i love you more than pie mom. I hope you have a great week. Love you,
Elder Corey Kimzey

No Halloween in Benin

Bonsoir maman,
ça va bien, et chez-toi? Time is flying by. I can't really believe
how fast my mission has gone by. I'm almost at my 20 month mark.
Yeah, i'm sure that it will speed up for casey around a year.
That is too bad that DH won state. Well not too bad for them, but
that would of be cool if we would of won. That is great that Byron
took second though. He has become so fast.
The weather is doing well. We got some rain so that helped a little.
This week it has been super hot and pretty dusty. But it is a good
thing that i like the heat. haha But it seems like the crops are
doing well.
That is so great that your mia maid applied what you were teaching.
I'm sure many of the others are listening and applying the lessons
too.
Wow, you guys month is going to be crazy. We just started scouting
here a few month ago. We haven't started yet in our branch but i know
some of the branches do it. that is cool that the church has been
doing scouting for 100 years. Wow, i can't believe also that dad is
about to hit his 7th tithing settlement(numéro sept, ou on peut dire
septième.)
Reponse:
1. How is teaching this week?This week was a great teaching week. On saturday, one of our amis
got baptized. She is amazing. She is one of my favorite
investigators. She is the one that i often write about. She is
great, she reads 2 chapters in the book of mormon everyday and tells
her sister what she learned in church so that her sister will come one
day. Now her sister has even accepted a Book of Mormon.
The amazing lesson i had this week was actually with an old
investigator. She actually was an ami of mine when i was in
Fidjrossé. When I was in Fidjrossé, she wasn't ever very intressed in
listening to our lessons(because she had her own church), but she did
love cooking for us. haha. But her sisters were super intressed, so
we kept coming, and after awhile we become great friends with her and
her family. But after a while even her sisters stopped progressing,
so we didn't visit them as much and then i was transferred. About 2
weeks ago, we were walking to our next rendez-vous, when this lady who
was a ways away started calling us over. As we got closer, i realized
that it was the same investigator that i had taught in Fidjrossé. So
we set up an appointment with her, for the upcoming week. When we got
there, she was so happy to see us. She told me how much she
appreciated our visits when i was in Fidjrossé. That all of her
family considered me of their friends. And For maybe the first time
she really took the time to listen to us. She explained to us that
she had left her old church, because of problems with the pasteur.
She then told us that she thinks that this is her time to join the
church. That God is showing her that she needs to join our church.
It was crazy to see how much she had changed. It made me realize that
God prepares everyone at different times. And that even if someone
isn't intressed today, maybe they will be one day.
2.  What is your favorite new french word that you have learned?

Well, that question reminded me of an experience the other day. So
we went to our amis' house who is a college student. She was doing
her math homework. She asked me if i could help her. I realized at
that moment that i had a lot of work on my math skills before i get
home. It was a question talking about metal producing companies, it
had tons of french terms that i have never used.haha So that was fun
to learn some new french. Also Elder Gomun teaches me a lot of French
words too. ONe word i learned from my amis' math homework was lot
which means something along the lines of type.
3.Carli wants to know how you acheived your level of awesomeness

Tell carli yes, i have acheived my level of awesomeness haha. I

don't know if i have acheived that or not. I hope to achieve that
someday.
4.  What is the best thing about your companion?My campanion is super funny. He is always joking around. Also he

is way relaxed and chill. I love him a lot.
5.Did people in your apartment change? Who is there now?nope, It is still Elder Rav, Elder Gomun, ELder Poll, and me

Well, i love you mom. I hope you have a great week. I tried to send
you a photo again, but it didn't work again. Maybe next week. I love
you more than all the pie, even Pumpkin pie, and all the haloween
treats you can eat,
Elder Corey Kimzey


Hey dad,
This week in Africa was great. How was your week? We are teaching quite of
few people. We have quite of few new amis, and some really good ones. We
have an investigator who is awesome. She reads a ton.
The missionary who contacted her gave her the book of mormon and she loved
it from the start. The other week she called us to tell us that she read in
the book of mormon about the urium and thumim(i have to admit i was a little
nervous when she said that) and that she crossed referenced it with things
in the bible. She said that she thought that was really intressed. I have
to admit i was amazed about how much she understood it already. This week we
gave her the brouchure:
Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. She told us that she loved it.
Then she explained to us that she thought that so people might have a
problem with the idea that an angel(angel moroni) could visit a person. So
she had found some scriptures for us in the bible to help people understand
that. It is the first time for me to have an investigator who searches
scriptures to convince other people. She is really amazing. I hope she'll
kept progressing.
It sounds like you guys are really busy this week. No, we don't celebrate
halloween here. The other day i tried to explain it to my campanion. He
thought it was a pretty awesome and funny.
Wow, i had no idea that the Kirtland temple cost so much money. That must
of been hard when many of them had to move to Missouri. That is awesome
that President Woodruff wore a white deerskin outfit. I always liked seeing
everyone in white. I'm so glad that i had a bunch of time to go to the
temple before my mission. I know some missionaries in our mission who went
through for the first time at the MTC and got to go maybe 2 or 3 times
before coming on their mission.
Well dad, i love you and i hope you have a great week, Elder Corey Kimzey

District conference

Bonsoir maman,

Nothing much, how about you dog? haha. Wow, i can't believe XC season is over already. Did both the girls and guys make it to state?
Holy cow, 800 pavers is a ton. I'm sure that will look cool when you have finished.
I totally know the talk you are talking about. I don't know why but we have a copy in our appartement. It is really great. I like the part about how there were some poor people in germany after the war
who people thought joined the church just for the food, but it turned out most of those people stayed active in the church.
1. District conference was awesome! Elder Vinson of the seventy was there. He is from australia. I think he even talked in General Conference this last time. He is amazing. He invited all of the amis
and new converts to come an hour early so that we could have a special meeting for them. Him and President Weed talked in that meeting. Then the actual meeting followed right after. The talks were great.
Sister Weed gave a great talk about how primary songs can influence our testimony. Then President Weed talked also about how we need the Holy Ghost in our life. Then Elder Vinson came up. They had invited
one of the members of the district presidency to come and translate for him. But Elder Vinson gave most of his talk in French. He explained that he wanted to practice his french. He did a great job.
He started off by telling everyone that he feels like here in Benin more people need to pay there tithing. That God is holding back blessings because certain people are paying there tithing. Then he went on to talk about what he feeling the members in Benin need. Then he shared a great story about how with Elder Oaks he had to choice a stake president and how humble Elder Oaks was. It was a great conference. It was fun to see some of my recent converts too.
2. Yeah we had 21 missionaries come in. So a lot of new trainers. Nothing changed in our apartement. But it was nice they added two more missionaries at Calavi, so we are back up to 12 missionaires in the zone. One is even Tahtian, the first tahtian elder in our mission.
3. Well, it is pretty hot. We are heading straight into the hot season. IN early December it should start getting more windy because the winds come off the sahara desert, but right now it is mostly just hot. Although, today it rained so that was pretty nice.
4. Our amis are doing great. We have a new ami that i think i told you about that loves the book of mormon. This week, we started talking about Lesson 1 and talked about the apostasy. It seemed to really strike home. She told us about how she used to be part of a church but she doesn't go there anymore because she knows that they don't follow the bible. She said she visits a lot of church but has yet to find a church that is true. We didn't have time to continue but hopefully next time we will get to talk about the restoration.
Well, i love you a ton mom. I hope you have a great week.
I love you
more than pie,
Elder Corey Kimzey



DAD,
...
You know, i can't think of anything right now that you can do, but i'll think about it. I have to admit that being here makes me realize how much i take for grant it and maybe how lazy i was. Sorry about that. People are
hard workers here. Like for instance, as we were going to district conference we saw one of my recent convert from Menontin. It turns out that he had showed up at the church at Menontin because he had forgotten that it was district conference. So he decided he was going to walk all the way to
Cadejohoun(which is across town) because he couldn't afford to the transport. But fornuatly we found him as he was walking. 

 So I know you would like to help but maybe the best thing to do is just to continue to
pray for them. I have a feeling that there are going to be some great changes here in Benin and that the church is going to keeping growing.
Wow, i can't believe you've been a bishop for almost 7 years already. I remember when you were called it feels like it was yesterday. How is everyone doing in the ward? Yeah, i totally agree that we have to ask people to do hard things. Even Elder Vinson said that in his talk in District Conference. He said that he knows that it will be tough for people to pay there tithing but the lord will bless them if they do. Yeah, i have noticed too that sometimes we teach people who seem to be perfectly content will life, but as we explained to them what they are missing out on, or the commandments that they need to respect they seem to find more joy than they had before and seem to feel a void that they didn't even know that they had.
I know what you mean about how people take my words very seriously. The other day we were teaching a guy who was having a hard time understanding the priesthood. I said something along the line that God
doesn't want people to attach themselves to a church because of miracles, but God wants that people attach themselves to the church because of their faith. I didn't think it was anything spectacular, but the investigator
looked at me and said that is amazing. He took out a notebook so that he could write it down word for word and share it with his friends. Even sometimes i feel the spirit prompt us to promise things that seem highly
miraculous but come true. For example we promised a lady who wanted to get baptized but had finincal problems that lead her to do sin. But we promised her that if we fixed a baptismal date and she worked towards it she would find an answer. When we promised that i had know idea how God was going to help her but i knew he would. You know what, her business took off, like never before. She sells enyams on the side of the road. More people come to her then ever before, she has even expanded to sell other things now. I know that God blessed her because of her faith.
This week we have been having a ton of fun and doing a lot of service projects. The assistants invite us to help them clear out a lot in there secteur. It turned out to be more like a small jungle haha. It was super fun. We had machatis and hoes and we cleared out a good part of it. It was prettyfun. I'm hoping to be able to send a picture of it. Also we got to help one of our amis who sells charcoal. We divided up all the charcoal by size. It was great because we usually just teach her husband. It was great to be able to talk to her. We even got to talk to her a little bit about the book of mormon and got to know her better.
Well i love you dad. I hope you have a great week. I'm having a great time.

 I love you a ton, Elder Corey Kimzey

Service and teaching

Bonjour, maman
Comment ça va?  Moi, je vais très bien.  Yeah, you totally said that
correctly.  I heard that the new pergola looks good.  I can't wait for
the pictures.  I like the idea of the fireplace, it would be fun to
roast marshmellows with it.  That is great that carli is running so
well.  She is improving so much... It is wierd to think that she is that old
already.  Yeah, you kind of had to tease her haha.
Thanks for the quote.  I think it is so true that we have to always
try and do the best with the time we are given.  Speaking of Young
Womens, this week the young women president asked to help her with her
lesson during the third hour.  So Elder Welch and I sat in on her
lesson.  It was on how can i cultivate a christ-like love.  It was a
pretty good lesson.  It made me think about how you told me that you
had done a similar lesson a few weeks ago. How cool is that that even
though we are on two different parts of the world the lessons are the
same and the apply to everyone.
Answers:

1.  Haven't got any pictures lately????  

  yeah sorry about the pictures.  i keep forgetting my camera at the house.  I'll try to bring it next time. 

2. got an email about the problems in benin with sending packages, so I'm going to send a large envelope instead of a box, any requests for you last african xmas?  Yes, I need to send it soon so that you will get it, crazy! 

i don't know.  i would like maybe a note from the family i think that would be great. 

 4.  Tell us about a great teaching moment this week...Well, this week i thought a lesson that was pretty intresting was one we had on tuesday.  We have been teaching a family and just recently a few of the neighboors have been assisting too. Usually the 

husband translates for the others because they don't speak much

french.  When we showed up, the husband was there.  He had got called
into work, so that left us with the three women who didn't speak  a
ton of french.  But they really wanted to do the lesson nevertheless.
so i was kind of worried how they were going to understand one
another.  So as we started we tried to be as clear as possible.  The
miraclesously they totally understood us.  I thought that was pretty
amazing.  They even we're able to answer our questions.  I thought
that was pretty amazing.
 5.  Do you teach gospel essentials on sunday? 

So, gospel essentials is a pretty full class.  Usually we have

around 30 or so people who come.  This week happened to be my turn to
teach.  So i taught about christ church in the past.  We happened to
have a lot of people there.  It also helped that the second conseulor
in the branch presidency translated for me in Fon.  Because at the end
he bore his testimony about how he knew the church of christ is
restored again on the earth.  That really invited the spirit into the
lesson.

6.  What did you do today for pday? 

Well today p-day was pretty boring.  I was my clothes.  I had a
ton of laundry to do.  Also we cleaned the apartement.  Then we went
out to eat at the cafertria of a recent convert.  So not a ton of
exciting stuff.  We are hoping to go to Ganvié soon.  It is the city
which was built on a lake.  That should be pretty exciting. 

7.  My lesson next week is on service, any missionary stories that I could use?  Do you do service for member/non members there? 

That is really funny because this week we have had a bunch of

service activities.  Often times we help people clean or cook.
Especially cooking.  Even someone told me the sauce i made was
delicous although, all i did was follow the mom's instrucions. haha.
Service helps a lot because it lets people see that we just normal
people who are here to serve.  Also the other day my campanion and i
worked at a corn mill(i think that is what you call a moulin à maïs.)
One of our amis owns one, so she let us work there.  My campanion ran
the mill while i was incharge of cooling the corn by turning in with a
bowl.  It was a ton of fun.
Well, i love you a ton too. Even more than all the pie in the world
Elder Corey Kimzey

Hey dad,
Things are going great here, how are things over there?  The branch is
progressing really well.  We had 3 baptism in our branch this week and i
think at the end of the month we have like 6 or 7 more.  Also we are really
excited that district conference is coming up this week so maybe we can get
more melchizedick priesthood holders.  It will be nice because i think we be
able to an Elder Quorum presidency, sunday school presidency, etc.  But we
actually don't live that close to the branch.  We live at Atrokpocodji near
Cocotomey while the branch is a good 6 to 7 kilometers away at Cococodji. So
they have been thinking about maybe creating a group closer to us.  Which
would be super nice.
congrats on finishing the pergola.  Was it just you, mom, and carli who did
it?
That is too bad that those missionaries died. Lately, sister weed has really
been stressing safety.  So i'll make sure to stay safe.
Thanks for the scripture dad.  I definetly keep working hard so that you can
live haha.  I like that scripture because it is kind of a direct promise if
you work hard , God will forgive you.
Also by the way, i got the email about the line of autority.  Thank you for
that.  Also early i had sent an email to the church asking for it. They
didn't have it complete.  They had though that you were ordained April
25,2004.  Thanks, i think i'll probably print it off so that i can have a
copy with me at all times.
It sounds like football is getting pretty intense.  Who is number one right
now?  I can't believe that Kyte can already go on a mission.  He seems so
young.  How is his brother and sister doing in Japan?
Wow, i can't believe Nick is back already.  I remeber when he left.
That is definetly wierd to think about.  That is so great that the Sawtelles
did so well on family feud.  That is crazy.  Lately, i have some intresting question that my
investigators have been asking.  For instance, one of our amis asked if God
forgave David and if David went to heaven?  It was our first visit with this
ami, so we just told him that we would look more into it and try to answer
it the next time.
Although, i found some intresting things in DCs about it. And also in the
translation of the Bible by Joseph Smith.  It is a kind of hard to example
that to an new investigator but maybe we will try to help him understand at
a basic level.  But this week i had been studying a lot in Preach my gospel
Chapter 13.  I was trying to come up with some ideas, so that our branch
could keep progressing.  I have always liked the part by President Hinckly
where he talks about the thing a convert needs.  Also i have always found
intresting the letter he said he recieved where a woman explain how diffcult
it is to be a recent convert.  Being "born in the church" i never had
thought about how hard that would be to adjust to the new vocuablary,
traditions, and etc.  Also it gave me a good idea to do a branch activity
where we watch the restoration or the testaments.  So hopefully we are going
to be doing that soon.
Also speaking of working with the branch, this week we had a ton of
rendez-vous planned on Saturday, so we invited two young men to help us.  So
we did an exchange so that we could visit all the people.
well, lets just say it didn't go exactly as planned haha.  Every single
rendez-vous we had planned fell through.  But it did get an occacison to
talk to the young man about serving a mission.  He is 18ish and has only
been baptized for 6 or 7 months but already has a huge desire to serve a
mission.  It was pretty fun to talk to him about how great a mission is and
to share some advice and experiences.
It made me realize just how awesome my mission is.  But luckily the last
rendez-vous was there.  We were talking about the priesthood with one of our
amis who is going to be baptized soon and her friend.  Her friend didn't
really want to accept the fact that all the churches don't have the autority
of the priesthood.  But then our ami said something that i felt was pretty
deep.  She said something along the line of that the reason she(her friend)
couldn't believe that the priesthood was in the church was because her
friend had never been to church.  She then said if her friend had been to
church she would've seen the priesthood in action and she would know that it
was true.
That really made me think about how we really need to make sure that all we
do reflects that the priesthood has been restored.
Well dad, i love you a lot.  Thanks for always been there for me. 

 I love you and think you are the best dad.Elder Corey Kimzey 

5 months left...I'm really hitting my stride

Bonjour maman,
Comment ca va?  I'm doing great.  Yep, we have power and my amis are
doing well too.
Wow, it sounds like carli ran so well.  She is really improving.  I
can't believe she cut around 9 minutes off her time.  That is too bad
that she's not sure about  track.  I kind of thought
that my freshman year too. But it was during track that i really
learned how to run.  Maybe i try to encourage that in my email with
her.  I'm sure she'd love track. I would love to see her too.  LIke
you said Crazy to think that i'll could  be home for that.  Actually,
today i have 5 months left.  wow.
I heard for multiple people that conference was great.  Even someone
told me that it was many one of the best conferences yet.  We had two
of the seventy who serve in our area president talked.  Elder
Dube(from Zimbawe) and Elder Vinson(who is from Australia)  so i'm
excited to read their talks.  Yeah,  i have to admit that i think that
now is the time that i feel like i'm really hitting my stride as a
missionary.
Answers
1.  Do you think that you will stay in Benin for the rest of the mission?
     I kind of hope to stay in Benin.  I have spent most of my mission
here.  So i'd like to stay here.  Supposely the next transfer is in
Nov or Dec, so i think i'll be here for a while.
2 Maggie and Sammy want to know if you have seen a giraffe (but not in a
zoo)?.No i have never seen any giraffes at the zoo nor in the wild.
3.   Maggie says hi! Say hi to maggie for me too.
4 btw- cj's date changed to come home to december 14th!
Wow, that is coming up.  The other day i found out that the group
right before us just got their flight plans.  How crazy is that?
5.  do you get to watch conference this week?
 no, i think we will probably watch it in novemeber.  We do have
our district conference coming up.  We are pretty excited for that
because we have a lot of people who are going to receive the
Melchizedek priesthood.
This week has been a pretty good one.  I think one of the best lessons
was one we had with one of amis who has been coming to church for a
while.  I think i've talked about her before, she the one who asked if
all the pasteurs have the autority of God.  So, she was telling us
about how she would like to be baptized but she doesn't know if she
could respect all of the commandements.  So we started talking about
what problems she could face and how itwould be hard.  So we decided
to read 1 nephi 3:7.  She was touched by that scripture and then we
told her that we were going to fix a goal and if she turned toward God
he would help her so that she could get baptized.  She gladly accepted
and she to be pretty excited about it.  It is pretty amazing how when
we show to God a little bit of faith he helps us to be able to do what
we need to do.
So things are going well in general.
  I love you a ton mom.  even more
than pie.  Je t'aime,
Elder Corey Kimzey

 Hey dad,
yeah, i got your email there is no worries.  Thanks for all the conference
quotes.  It sounds like Conference was great.  I'm doing good.  Yeah it was
kind of wierd to see my campanion going home.  but i love my new one too.
He is great.  He is from Madgascar.  It is the first malgasy campanion for
me.  He is going to go home about the same time as me.  He is thinking of
going to BYU though, so you'll get to see him if he goes there.
That is wierd that you had to go to conference by yourself.  But i just had
a wierd thought: atleast the next one we can go together.
Did i tell you also that Logan sent me an email to tell me that President
and Sister Weed happened to visit the ward he is serving in?
President Weed had to go back to the US to take care of a few medical
things so i guess he went to the same ward as Logan.  What a small world?
That is too bad that Byu beat USU.  I guess there is always next year.
But it seems like we say that every year haha.  That is cool that Stanford
won again.  We have a missionary here who is going to play football for
stanford after his mision.  He is a big guy. I hope he can keep in shape so
that he can still play for them afterward.
That is great that carli did so well.  She is improving so much.  I also
heard that Coach holt ran really well at the St; George marathon.
I like your quote on controlling your thoughts.
This week has been going well. This week we had a whole family come to
church.  It was great.  The husband usually comes to church but the rest of
the family usually can't come because they don't have a way to get to
church.  But this last week he bought a motorcycle so that his whole family
could come to church. It was great to see everyone there.
I think he leaned over and told me like 4 times,"did you see that my wife
came to church today?"  He was pretty excited.  And now they are planning to
get married soon.  Also it was great to see what an effect church can have
on the wife.  Before she wasn't very intrested but after church she asked us
if we could send over a book of mormon, so that she could read.  It is
amazing how church attendance can help.
Well dad, i love you a lot.  Good luck for your spritual thought. I think
this week i might have to give a talk in Church. So that should be
intresting.  The branch is going well.  We kept expanding each week.  The
leaders in our branch are great.  We have quite a few couples who need to
get married but they help us a lot with them.  Our branch is great too,
because we have mostly recent converts so the recent converts get a lot of
oppurtunites to participate, so they tend to stay more active.  Well i love
you dad.  Thanks for all that you do.
Have a good weektoo.  I love you,
Elder Corey Kimzey

Baptisms and a wedding

Maman,
Comment va la meilleure mère du monde entière?  Yeah, we had two
baptisms this last saturday.  It was a great baptismal service.  It
was the first one ever at Cococodji and we had 7 people who got
baptized.  It was awesome to see because 4 were from the same family.
They have been coming to church for a few months now, but couldn't get
baptized because they need to get married first.  So they got married
on Friday and baptized on Saturday, and confirmed on Sunday.  How
awesome is that?
 ok... missionary advice... ok well that was maybe one of the hardest thing
at the beginning of my mission.  We would teach people who would love
talking to us but they would never come to church.  And since they
never came to church they couldn't progress. So I learned that we had
to be a little direct with those people and explain to them why we
were really here.  Many people think that we are like the evanqlic
churches who are there just to spread the "good news" but they don't
understand that our message is actually different.  That in fact we
are there to help they make ordiances and come back to christ through
his restored authority.  So often, when people don't progress, we
explain to them our missionary objectif, or c'est à dire the reason
why we come and teach them.  Often time i find that that helps people
hold commitment better.  And if that doesn't work we usually have to
leave them a lone for a while and teach people we are ready right now.
I have to admit that that is one of the hardest parts of the mission
when people don't progress.  It probably one of the things that hurts
the worst.  Beacause i want them to progress, but they don't want to
progress.   Also i found that praying helps a lot.  It seems
to help me.
It sounds like carli did great this week.  That is crazy that it was
only 38 degrees considering here it is around 85.  Yeah that is crazy
to think that casey and i speak the same language but are in two
cultures totally different.
One of my favorite christlike atributes is serving and loving i guess.
I think i could always be a little more patient.  It is probably one
thing i could always work on.
1.  Do you eat the same kinds of food in your new secteur?
I notice that i tend to get more traditional foods here. haha.  I
have now gotten to the point where i can make pate.  So prepare a lot
of cornflour when i get home and we'll have a pate party haha.  It is
pretty wierd now, when people ask me if i want pate , rice,or
speghatti i usually choose pate haha.  I guess i'll have to adjust
when i get home.  Also lately i have been eating more gari.  Which i'm
not sure how to explain.  But it is pretty good.
2. Do you teach mostly in French?  Or in native?  if so, how since there are not many members?  We teach mostly in french.  Most people we teach have at least a
basic understanding of french.  Most of them speak really well.
Although sometimes we do teach people who don't speak french.  That is
when we ask a member to translate.  And if there isn't a member we ask
one of the kids to translate.  Although, the last option isn't the
best because sometimes the kids translate weirdly.
3.  How do you figure out where people live since I'm guessing there are no street signs?  Yeah, here in Benin there are no street signs.  There are in Togo
but no one uses them. haha.  So often they indicate to us something
that is close to where they live usually a school, a hotel, a
bar/restuarant, or a pharamice.  Then when we get there we call them
and they come and show us where there house is.  It works pretty well.
4. We saw a tv show on a pro cyclist team from africa, do people ride bikes in benin?  Are they road bikes or mtn with dirt roads? I don't see a lot of bike riders.  A lot of people do ride motorcycles though. I have seen a few cyclist, but none that looked
very serious.  I  have mostly seen road bikes.
5.  Did you get to see the wedding?  Tell us all about it...We did get to go to the wedding.  My companion knew two of the
couples well so we got to go.  It was super fun as usual.  There were
4 couples who got married.  Two of the couples were already members of
the church and the two grooms happened to be brothers.  Then there was
one couple who were investigators who then got baptized the next day.
And the other couple was from another church.  But they said they were
intrested in talking with the missionaries.  Cool huh?  It was pretty
fun.  Most of the service was done in Fon so i didn't understand
anything but thats ok. haha.  I did take some pictures though so that
was great.  The cermony mostly goes as follows the mayor of hèvie
talks to the couples about the marriage laws of benin(like the fact
that plural marriage was discontinued in 2006 i believe), then the
mayor asked the couple and the witness if they are in accordance with
the wedding.  Then there is the exchange of rings and the exchange of
vows probably my favorite part.  Then the mayor talks so more and then
we take pictures.  It is pretty simple and sweet.  Also usually the
couples come in some pretty sweet traditional african clothes so that
is also great too.
6.Going to send a package this next month for xmas (that's crazy!)  any  requests???I have to admit we ahve loved the drink mixes.  But nothing
particular comes to mind.  I let you know if i come up with something.
Well, sorry that this letter has kind of been a long one.  I thought i
tell quand même about a guy that we have recently started teaching.
We recieved his contact from some other missionaries who told us he
was really intrested.  When we went to his house he explained to us
that he lost his job a few months ago because he was fasely acussed of
stealing.  So since then he goes out everyday looking for work but
often doesn't find any.  He has started selling many things he owns to
pay for things.  But then he said something that really he touched me.
He said that he knows with christ ça peut aller.  or in other word
that if he has faith in christ all will work out .  It was amazing to
see how strange his faith was.  He told us that he believe with our
message things will all work out.  We explained the first lesson and
he told us that he already believe in joseph smith because of what the
other missionaries have said and by the brouchure.  He is pretty cool
guy.  I really hope things will improve for him.
WEll mom, i love you a ton.  Thanks for your great example.  I LOve you more than pie,
Elder Corey Kimzey

Hey Dad,
Things are going great here.  How about there?  Here it has been raining a
bunch.  The only problem is that they have been working on the big road near
our house.  So since in has been raining so much it caused the road to turn
into one gigantic mud pit.  It made getting to the baptism and to church
intresting haha.  How has the weather been there?  No, we didn't have a
meeting on thursday?  It sounds like yours was pretty awesome.  I really
like the quote from Pres.
Bangerter.  I will definetly use that in my teaching.  Also i like the quote
by Pres Kimball that there would be less problems if people went to the
temple.  HOw true is that?  It would really help people to become better
peolple.  That is great that PV beat DH.  I'm sure everyone was estatic.
That is great that all of our football teams won too.  That is crazy to
think CJ is going to be home in a few months.  Sometimes i feel like i just
got here. haha.  It seems like missionary life has become so normal it is
hard to think of life without it.  Good thing i don't have to worry about
that for a while.
Also i found out that i can write letters to Shane eaisly because we are in the
same area.
I thought of you this week.  We had a lesson with one of our amis who
progesses really well.  But he told us that he doesn't believe in Tithing.
He told us that in his church they said that Christ abolished the law of the
tithes.  But he is suppose to get baptized soon, so this week we talked
about tithing.  At first he was a little hesitint.  I even talked about how
you and mom were such great examples of full tithe payers.  I talked about
how when you were first starting your business things weren't easy but you
kept paying your tithing.  That seemed to really touch him.  Also i kind of
stole your quote about how tithing brings us tons of spirtual blessing not
just temporal blessing.  Then at the end, something suprising happened he
looked up at us and said lord, now i understand.  He then explained how he
understood that the church has to pay for things to make the work advance
and that he understood that it was the members resbonsiblity to help with
that.  It was pretty cool lesson.
Thanks dad.  You know what is funny i have been thinking this week how
awesome my dad is.    I love you too, 
Elder Corey Kimzey

It was really cold today, like 78 degrees!

Hey dad,
 How is it going? Things are going great here. Yeah, the power was out, so i wasn't able to write. Yeah, we should be getting a ton of missionaries soon. I think we are getting around 21. It is pretty exciting. Yeah, i don't think there are many cyclists here. And also the roads are a little rough, so that would be a little hard to have a tour here. Although, i did see a cyclist the other day. It sounds like Kaylee's wedding was super nice. Mom sent me a picture, kaylee and her husband seemed pretty happy which is probably the most important thing. It is good to hear that everyone was able to make it down too. Thanks for the quote dad. I will definetly use that one. I think you are right, i think often we think about the atonement and how it helps us overcome sin, but sometimes we forget how it helps us overcome other problems too. LIke the alma 7:11-13 says. That is too bad utah state lost. They never seem to be able to pull out the big upsets. I sure one day they'll put it all together. Maybe when i'll get back. That is too bad that byu lost again too. They seem to be really struggling lately. Hopefully they will come around. Yeah, i'm way excited for conference. We will probably get to watch it in Novemeber. Hopefully they even play it at our branch. Also i almost forgot to tell you our exciting news here in Benin. This week for the first time, we are going to be able to do our baptisms at the branch here at cococodji. Before we only had 1 baptismal font in Benin, but now we have 2 soon 3. How cool is that. I thought i'd share an experience that i had this week with a family. The family isn't free very often, but we usually teach them once a week. At first when we invited them to church, they politely told us that it wasn't possible. That they had responsibilties in their own church and didn't have time to come to ours. But the next time, when we talked about the apostasy and the restoration, their hearts seemed to be touched by that. They said that they would try and come. They didn't end up coming, but it made me think about how amazing the message of the restoration is. How crazy is it to think that God has restored his church here on the earth. What a blessing! Well, i've been writing casey and he seems to be doing good. The first 6 weeks are hard but it gets easier after that. you know dad, often i really wish you could be here, to meet all the amazing people here. I'm sure that you would love them and love teaching them. And i'm sure you would be a way better teacher that i would be. Often i brag to the other missionaries about how cool my dad is. Thanks for being such a great example and i hope someday you get to meet these people.
 I love you, 
Elder Corey Kimzey 
 Bonsoir maman,
 Comment ça va? Guess who has power, i do!!!haha. Last week, the power had been coming off and on all day long. So i was able to read you emails but then after that they cut the power for the rest of the day. So today i'm hoping that this will go through. But don't worry all is well here. First thing first, i thought i would tell you that today it has been raining all day long. So your prayers have been working. It was kind of funny though, because today we played a soccer match against some teenage kids in a nearby neighboorhood. We got owned haha 5-0. But it was a lot of fun in the rain. Although pretty cold. But then we looked on a therometer and it was only 78°f. Then i realized that i'm going to struggle in the winter when i get back. haha. It sounds like kaylee's wedding went well. It is hard to think of all the cousins who have gotten married since i started my misson. It has got to be around 5 or 6. That is too bad that byu and usu lost. But it sounds like usu played well at least. Maybe when i get back they have a good team. I did hear from casey. He sounds like he is doing prety well. That would be great if you could send his weekly family letters too. 1. My new companion is great. He is pretty funny. We work well together too. 2. the new missionaries come the 16 of october. There are 21 missionaries who are going to come. That is a lot for our mission. Usually, as a zone leader i don't train unless it is absoultly nessariry. 3. My amis are doing great. 2 are going to be baptized this saturday. They are part of a parital member family. We have been working with this family a ton so it is nice to see that more of them will be members soon. I love that family a lot. Also we have an ami who has come to church a few times but hasn't been abled to get baptized because he needs to get married with his wife before he can get baptized. We talked to him the other day and he told us that he is ready to get married and baptized. It has been cool to see how he has come to know that our message is true. At first, he seemed to think that we were like all the other churches, but little by little he has come to know the truthfulness of our message. 4.a funny story... well i know you might think this is kind of a lame one, but the other day i was kind of running late. So i was trying to get ready to leave and eat at the same time haha. Not the smartest ideas. So just after i put on my white shirt, i went to eat some of my rice with tomato sauce. As i bet you could imagine what happen next. As i did this the tomato sauce splattered all over my white shirt haha. The good thing was i had a spare one handy. haha 5.This week has been full of good lessons, i'm not sure exactly why. but it has been great. We had a lesson with this lady that we have been teaching for a while. She is kind of like my beninoise grandma haha. I love her to death. I think nanny jo and grandma hawaii would really like her too. She is pretty funny. So we have been teaching her for a while but she has never come to church. Every time she has a small problem, but she never seems to be able to make it. So on saturday, we were talking to her about baptism. She had a lot of questions and the lesson was going well. We started talking about how we have to be baptized by someone who has the autority She then asked(something along the lines of) well, do all the pasteur hold the autority or not? Questions like that can kind of be kind of sensitive because we don't want to hurt the person's feelings but at the same time we want to help they understand the nessecity of the autority. When she asked the question, i wasn't sure how i was going to answer her. But i felt like we should read in 3 nephi 11 about how jesus christ said we have to be baptized. She read it and seemed to agree that that was a good way to be baptized. Then i asked the question, you said that there are many different ways that people baptize, but do you think that all these different baptism are done by the autority of god?. Looking back, i usually wouldn't ask a question like that. Even my companion told me he was shocked how straightforward i was. But it turned to be exactly the right question and the right way to handle it. She told us that she didn't believe that all those people could baptize in the different manners and still have the autority of god. She even then accepted to be baptize and she came to church too. That lesson taught me that it is important to listen to the spirit and not to teach all the lessons the same way. That everyone is different so they need to be taught a little differently. I have to admit that is one of the things that has suprized me the most over my mission. The fact that i can say things(when guided by the spirit) that i would never have the guts before to ask someone. haha. It is amazing how the spirit supports us. 6.Well, i just finished the book of mormon a few weeks ago, so i'm planning on restarting that again. I did study the other day about the gospel of jesus christ. I was reading in 3 nephi 27 starting with 13. I found that chapter intresting. Especially the verses 13-16ish. I like them a lot. Well, that was the things that happened this week. I love you a lot mom. I can't believe that there are only 22 sundays that rest. That isn't that many. 
 Well I love you more than pie. 
 Ton fils, 
Elder Corey Kimzey