Menotin

Bonjour tout le monde,

Comment allez-vous?  I'm doing pretty good.  I got to my new secteur on Tuesday.  So there wasn't a tons of time to say good bye and to pack but i managed.  This week was pretty intresting too because we were working in a trio because Elder Perkins was still here.  He left Saturday night.  It was prety cool though because we had 2 baptism that saturday.  So he got to perform a baptism on his last day.  How great is that?  

Also i got to bare my testimony at church.  We met in this big warehouse that the church rents. So it pretty cool to see all the people we can put in the building.  I have to admit, it is one of the bigger branches here.  The members are really nice and so it should be fun to work with them.  

The baptism was really great too.  There was 15 or so people there to be baptized.  It was pretty amazing to see all the baptism canidates in white with the District President.  The part i really like was that there were quite a few people getting baptized who already had familly in the church.  So it was great to see that the whole family are baptized now.

Well, that was kind of my week.  It wasn't very exciting.  I'm sorry.  I hope that i will have more to write next week.  

Je vous aime tous,

Elder Corey Kimzey

Bonjour maman,

Comment vas-tu?  ça va bien chez-moi. (how are you?  It's good at my house) Wow, that is awesome that Reann is going on a mission.  Russia is definetly going to be a cold one though.  We are going to have so many missionaries out from our ward.  

I can't believe casey barely missed the time for the 3200 and the 1600.  The good thing is that it is early in the season.  So he has tons of time to qualify still.  I bet he will get it next race.

1.  Are you still teaching English?  Have you learned anything haha?

No, in this branch we don't have an english class.  I think we are going to start one soon though.  The problem is that i am now in an appartment with all french speakers, so i'm never going to speak english.  Which is okay with me because i feel wierd when i speak english now.
2.  What are your assignments as zone leader?

 Well, we are incharge of the whole zone.  We have like 16 Elders.  We are incharge of the statistic and also when we have zone conferences or zone meetings.
3.  Who is you new companion?  Is he also a zone leader?  How is it going with him?

My new campanion is named Elder Mundu.  He is also a zone leader.  He only has 5 months on his mission.  So he is almost finished.  He is a pretty nice and relaxed guy.  He is from the congo too.  
4.  Who else is in your new apartment?

Also in my appartment there are two elders who come from madagascar.  So i'm learning a little malgasy also.  Their names are(sorry ahead of time because i know i'm going to slaughter their names) Elder Raveljonana and ELder Rakotansania.  They are kind of a mouth full.  
5.  What was your best teaching moment this week?

I think that the best teaching moment was probably when we helped one of our amis who has been having problems at work.  She has been looking for a job.  I guess she found one so she was really exctied.
6.  sis Water's stopped me in the hall today at church to say that the semken's are from their ward up north, so when You see them you are suppose to say hi from them.

I will definetly tell the semekens that the next time i see them;

(I told Elder Kimzey that he needs to stop saying that he is fat-but that he looks healthy-but that he's lost about 20 lbs.)Thanks mom, i try.  I think it is the food of africa that makes me look so good. haha.  Everyone tells me that Pate makes you strong.  

Bon, je t'aime beaucoup maman.  yes that is the way that we spell mère.  

I love you more than pie,

Elder Corey

ouidah, transfers, and baptism

Bonjour Famille,

Comment allez-vous?  Je vais bien.  This week has been absoultly crazy.

Ok, to start off today we went to Ouidah!!!!  It was really awesome.  I sent two pictures for you to see.  So to start off our adventure, we went to the museum at the old portguese fort.  It was really cool.  They taught us about how the Benin slaves had influence on other countries like Brazil and Haiti.  That is why there is still vodoo in those countries.  They had a bunch of amazing artifacts and pictures of the slave trade.  Then we took a few pictures at this huge tree which someone had carved into.

  Then it was oft to the Temple of Pythons.  So the Temple of Pythons is this voodo  temple that is really safe and open to vistors.  The main attraction is they bring out pythons and you can take pictures with them ie the first picture that i sent.

  It was pretty scare to have that huge snake around me, but they are pretty harmless.  I guess they said that the snakes are really important to them. 

The guide said that they keep all the snakes inside the temple except for once a week they open the gates at 2:00 in the morning so that the snakes can go look for things to eat.  They said that often they will go into peoples homes and it is suppose to be a sign of good fortune.  And if they do come into your home you are suppose to bring them back.  I had a hard time imagining that if i found a python in my house i would be calm enough to just take it back.  One person even said sometimes they will come snuggle with you while you are sleeping.  It was pretty intresting to see all the cultural things behind it. 

 They we went to the port of no return.  It is a grand monument(seen in my second picture) for all the slaves that were brought there. 

 They would march them along that beach to bring them to the slave ships.  It was a pretty amazing monument.  I really like this one part where they had a tree that the slaves would walk around three times to signify that they after they died there spirits would return to their homeland.  Overall, it was a really cool experience and one that I will never forget.  It was amazing just to see all the amazing cultural sites and the respect that they had for their ancestors.

Secondly, This week i recieved a suprising call.  I getting transfered to Menotin.  I going to be working with Elder Mundu as a Zone Leader.  I heard that Menotin is a really great branch so i'm excited for that.  I have to admit though it is going to  be hard to leave Fidjrossé.  I really love it here.  I guess the thing i love the most it just my amis and my recent converts and the members too.  The nice thing is that we are still in the same zone.  So i will be able to see them sometimes.  

Lastly, this week we had the baptism this week.  We got to see one of our amis get baptism.  I think she was really nervous about it, but afterwards she felt really good.  So that was really great to see.  She has changed so much and made so many strides.  I know she is going to do so many great things.

So That is kind of what happened this week.  It was definetly a crazy, unexpected one.  I hope everything is going well with all of you.  Je vous aime tous,

Elder Corey Kimzey

I didn't receive an email this week, but I wanted to share an excerpt from another missionary in Benin...

 Here is what I know about some other missionaries... Elder Smilies (Kimzey) is going to be a zone leader in Benin, Elder Poll is assistant, Montross is coming to Benin for the first time, and there are a bunch of other missionaries coming in too. Excited to meet all of them! (elder Layton)

Good to know that corey's smile lives on in Africa...

HAPPY HUMP DAY!

Bonjour tout le monde,
 Comment ça va? Je vais bien. This week has been pretty fun. We spent a lot of time helping 2 of our amis who are going to be baptized this week. It really helps that they both knew the church before hand and that we often get to teach them with members. One of them told us the other day that he has been looking for the true path. He told us the other day that he believes he has found it. It was definitely a cool moment. Also i'm really excited for the other ami too because she has been talking with the missionaries for a really long time, but now has decided to be baptized. I have to admit I'm loving this branch. We really have tried to work well with the members because there is around 25 recent converts in my area. Which is pretty fun because we get to hear all of their great stories about how they met the missionaries. Also this week, I started teaching English Class this week with the Elder Baker. So I'm hoping that we help me relearn English. (insert mom and dad laughing!)We have a bunch of people who want to learn, so i'm hoping we can help them a little so that they can learn english.
 Also I found out that next week for p-day we are going to ouidah. It is a kind of touristy village near togo. I guess one of there main attractions is a snake house. I guess they have a bunch of huge (non poisonous) snakes that you can wrap around yourself and take a bunch of pictures. So I'm pretty scared and excited for that haha. It actually should be really fun.
 Well, Je vous aime tous,
 Elder Corey Kimzey

 Bonjour maman,
 Comment tu vas? Wow, it sounds like you had a pretty great week. I really like your ideas for your lessons. It sounds like it went well.
 You mean to tell me carli is competitive? I don't know if i can believe that. haha Just kidding. That is pretty cool that they get to go to region. It seems like they win at every sport.
 That is too bad that casey didn't get to run. Although, Hurricane never really was a good meet. No one every qualifies there. That is good that Carli won her soccer game. She seemed pretty excited when she told me about it.
 (We have a friend who's son is going to Ghana, so I asked corey what he know about it.)
Well, i know a few elders from ghana and a few people who live here who are from there. I have seen a few pictures too. It looks quite a bit more developped than Benin or Togo. Especially in Accra. Also i heard in accra most people speak really good english. Also i heard the Ghana Mtc is pretty cool. Also i think in Ghana they eat a lot of Enyams, so i'm sure shane will like that.
(Corey's good running friend from HS is getting married this week and I asked if he wanted to write something for the card)
yes, i will send you an email just after this one that you can put in the card...
(are you planning on Utah State after your mission?)
I think i still going to go to Utah State. There is actually tons of missionaries in this mission who went there before the mission and plan on going there after. I'm not sure about running. The probably is that i pretty fat now. haha.
(Carli didn't get a letter last week- do you think it got lost?)
I swear i wrote carli but maybe i forgot or maybe in got lost. I'm not sure.
 Well, This week has been a pretty great one. I cant believe how fast it has gone by either. I love you a lot. Oui même plus que la tarte,
 Elder Corey

Casey's mission call

Bonjour Mamman,

Comment tu vas?  Thanks for the video, although, i kind of cheated.  Because it took 30 minutes for it to load and i couldn't wait that long.  haha.  What!!! that is so cool!!  I know tons of people in that mission.  I think also that means that in our family  we should just speak french all the time.  haha.  Carli told me she is going to learn french too, so i guess it will totally work out.  That is cool that casey won best legs too.  I like the photo.  That is crazy that Shean is going to Japan like his sister.  Although, it kind of makes sense because they both speak japanesse.  I can't believe Shane is coming to Africa.  I heard the Ghana MTC is pretty intresting.  Also since he'll be in Accra he will probably learn some Ewe(which is the same language of Togo)  

Yeah, i heard there french (canadian french) is kind of different and even sometimes they speak frenglish. haha.  Although, i'm going to have to tell the canadian family here.  They are actually from montreal but now they live in Ontario.  But still i think they grew up there.  

Holy cow that is so crazy cold.  That is crazy considering we have been burning here in Benin.  I heard that Montreal is way pretty.  My mtc teacher served his mission in montreal.  Also i know that they also have had a lot of missionaries go home, so they have had a bunch of new missionaries in that mission.  I will defintely come and translate for you.  Also i know there are tons of Africans there also.  

Answers:

1.  what is the name of your new missionary from the US?

The new missionary is named Elder Baker.  He is from Spanish Fork.
2.  do you have a great story to tell us?

Well this week was pretty great.  One of our ami decided that he is ready to be baptism.  He just stopped us on the street and told us that he was ready. 
3.  I heard it's been crazy hot?  When does rainy season start?

It has been way hot.  I think that the rainy season starts around April or May.  
4.  did you have anyone in the MTC going to Quebec?  Did they learn french with you or separate?

Yeah i know tons of missionary going to the Montreal mission.  I remember one was even from st george.  I think his name was Truman.  He went to dixie and played soccer there.  They were all in the same branch with me.  So probably some of them might even remember me.  They are usually in the class just next to us.  
5. What is your favorite food in Benin?

That is hard to pick my favorite Benin food.  I really like Enyams.  Also i like pâte with mayock.  
6.  We got an email from the Semkins- do you see them much?

That is so cool you got a letter from the semkens.  They actually work with us every sunday because we teach an english speaking family.  I love them a lot.  They are a great couple.  
7.  How is your greenie doing?  How long has he been on his mission?

Elder Kogani is doing pretty good.  He is hilarous.  He is definetly one of my favorite campanions.  He has now been on his mission for 1 month.  

Excerpt from dad's email...

Dad,

 I'm really loving this area.  It is one of my favorite areas.  sometimes i think that you guys should just move here because it is so awesome.  This week has been so great.  We found out this week that one of our amis is getting married the 23rd.  So we are really excited for them.  They even invited us to their wedding.  They are a really great couple.  I will definetly send you some pictures.  I really do hope that someday i will be able to come back here.  I have so many friends here now.  Maybe we all will come someday.  Well, i love you dad.  I hope all your bishop stuff  keeps going well...

 

Je t'aime maman plus que la tarte,

Elder Corey