Another week in Benin

Bonsoir Maman
(ou bien bonjour, je ne suis pas sur.)(Good evening, or good day, not sure which one) Comment vas-tu? Thanks for the picture. The new pergola looks great. It must have taken a lot of work. Also the pavers look great too. I'm glad that you used the sand this time. I remember how hard it was last time pounding the pavers and digging to pack it fit just right...
 When are you leaving for the lake anyways? Wow, i can't believe casey has already gone through the temple. It is wierd to think that 2 years ago none of us kids were endowed and now 3 of 4 are endowed. I have to make sure and tell him congratulations.
 31 days? (until Corey's brother reports to the MTC and can't wait) Wow, that is great. Yeah, i remember how hard that is right before the mission. I remember one thing that helped me was to go to the temple. Remember the time that we went to do Intiantories together and i went through twice in the time you went through once. haha. So maybe if you invite to go to the temple with him that would help.
 Congrats, on the good lesson. I have had a lot of oppurtunities to give blessings. I'm really fortunate. I remember that we gave a blessing to a recent convert in Fidjrossé. He had been sick for a week or so and then after the blessing he was doing great. That was a pretty amazing, i thought.
 I didn't get to see the meeting. I did see the overview though. I can't believe that Missionaries are going to start using facebook. I don't think our mission will but that should be intresting to see if casey's mission will. This week has been pretty good. We have been spending a lot of time visting the members. One member family, the lokkossous, made us black pâte. It is pâte made from enyams that have been dried and then crushed into powder. It was really good. They are a great family and they help us out a lot.
 Also, on saturday we were having kind of a rough day, all of our rendez-vous were falling through and we ended up visting mostly members. But as we were visiting members, people kept stopping us on the street. It seemed like everyone was stopping us on the street that day. It was definetly a tender mercy because we invited almost all of those people to church and a bunch of them ended up coming to church the next day. So it just goes to prove that sometimes we have something planned that doesn't work out but God always will help us find people, or he will help the people to find us. haha.
 Well, i hope you are doing great.  I love you more than pie. Keep up the great work on the yard.
 Je t'aime,
 Elder Corey Kimzey

 Hey Dad,
How are things going? I'm doing great. My new campanion is doing great too. He really likes working and has a bunch of great ideas. I read about the worldwide leadership meeting. I like what Elder Perry said that many people use social media, so the church also is going to start using more social media.  Yeah, i think youre right that my mission won't change much but maybe casey's will. Yeah, the time in between the mission call and the mtc is really hard. It just hard to wait. Wow, i can't believe all the people who are putting in their papers. How many missionary do we have out now from our ward? and how many soon will be out?(16 is the answer) It is crazy to think how many have just recently left. I remember when we had only 3 or 4 missionaries in our ward. It is crazy how fast the work has grown.
 That is an amazing story that Pres. Buchanan told you. Can you imagine how excited that missionary was? It is crazy to think all the little and large miracles that God does every day. Wow, that is neat that you called Brother Hadlock to speak. I really like him. He is a nice guy and a great leader. Please say hi to him for me. I find it amazing all the little things that Heaven Father does for us. For a kind of chessy example, the other day i was hungary and was craving pâte, i don't know why but i just was. We didn't have any mangez-vous planned but one of the member suprized us by making pâte for us. haha. It was great. Or the other day, i was trying to figure out what i should teach in my zone meeting, but as i read about Captain Moroni, i realized i need to talk about those chapters in the book of mormon and how we have to prepare ourselves as missionaries. I love you dad, And hope you have a great week.
 Also make sure and watch the tour for me,
Elder Corey Kimzey

A Plug for Piano teachers and parents everywhere...

Bonjour maman et papa,

Comment Ca  va? Well, i don't have a tons of time to write because i need to go to a family home evening.  Well, like I said last week i got a new companion.  His name is Elder Gomun.  He is actually a pretty new missionary.  He has only been on his mission for 10 months.  It is great because he has a bunch of new ideas for our secteur. He is a really hard worker too.  

Also this week, i gave a talk in church about how to improve our personal prayers(a article in june's liahona.)  It went pretty well i think haha.  Also we have been having some good sucuess in our secteur.  We have been trying to visit all the members in our secteur.  Which has worked well and has helped us so that the members have more confiance in us.  

I totally know how shane feels.  Things are a little different than i excepted, but i'm sure he'll get used to it.  It just takes a little time.

Tell casey congrats.  It is crazy to think that he will be leaving so soon.   I'm really excited for him.  He is going to do great.  Tell him not to stress out too much, it helps too once he is going to be set apart.  

I like the pictures of the backyard it looks great.  Ican't wait to see how it turns out.  I like the idea of the pegola.  Well, i'm sorry that my letter is so short but we have been having problems with the connection. So i'm goingto send this off before the connection leaves.

  Je vous aime,

Elder Corey Kimzey

also did i tell you i wish i had kept with piano.  A member asked me the other day if i could play and i had to say that i knew only  a little.  He said that i would play the next week.  Luckly a missionary was transferred into our branche who knows how to play.  Thank heavens.  

Love you more than pie,

corey Kimzey

Splitting Zones and a New Companion

Bonjour maman,

Comment tu vas?  Moi, je vais bien. (I told corey that I've been brushing up on some french and told him that I learned how to say "what time is it?" and 90- which in french is 4 twenties and ten) Bon, maintenant  il est 16h48. (it is 4:48 pm)  Yeah, the whole quatre-vingt dix-neuf thing is pretty rough.  But if you want to talk like the conglesse or beligans you can say nonante-neuf.  haha.  

Wow, youth conference sounded like it was kind of intresting but isn't it always.  It sounds like the talks were really great and the devotionals.

Wow, 2 and a half hours of testimonies. That had to be great.  We did one and we were limited to 45 seconds, which was nice because people kept it short and sweet.

My week was pretty good.  We found out that Elder Mundu is getting transfered.  He is opening up a new zone(calive.)  I will be staying here and training a new chef de zone named Elder Gomun.  He is from Côte d'ivoire.  I think he has been on his mission for 8 or 9 months.  I don't know him that well but it should be great.  I'm definetly going to miss Elder Mundu but at least he will still be in Benin so we will see each other every once in a while.  

Also today, we had an activity as a mission.  So all the missionary of Benin came together at this really nice hotel.  The hotel had tennis courts, a par three golf course, and a soccer field.  I was sad that i didn't have my tennis raquet haha but i played soccer instead.  It was a great time.  Afterward we eat some real african cusine: hamburgers and french fries.   It was really fun and it was nice to hang out as missionaries.

Well, we had a few great lessons this week but one really stood out to me.  Well, for a little background we have been reading with one of our recent converts the book of mormon.  She was baptized only a few weeks ago, so we thought it would be good to read a chapter or two with her every visit.  At first, it was a little rough because there are a lot of new names like néphi and lèhi.  But after a while she really started to like it.  She would read a chapter and explain to us all the things she had learned.  It was great.  So last saturday we went to visit her again and this time one of her friends was there.  We gave him a copy of the book of mormon without explaining it because  we had already started the chapter.  As we go along usually we stop frequently and talk about what we learned.  As we stopped, my recent convert started to explain to her friend the things she had learned.  I have to admit i was way proud of her.  Then he had some questions at the end, and she answered most of them in Fon.  He seemed really intrested and set up another appointment with us.  I thought it was pretty amazing that she has read much of the book of mormon but she knows that it is true.  It has been crazy to see her change.  Before she didn't like to read,explain, testify, or even to pray and now she testifying about the book of mormon.  It was good to know that we helped make a difference in the life of this lady.  

Well, there isn't much going on here.  My new campanion is coming on thursday.  My zone is getting split too.  So know i will have 12 missionaries in our zone.  Also they have decided to change one of the elders apartment in our zone to a sister apartment.  So now we will have 8 elders and 4 sisters.  Also most of the sisters will be new.  It should be a pretty great zone.  

Also my campanion just told me that you have jury duty. Like we say in French, bonne chance. haha.  I cant believe casey is turning 18 and is getting the priesthood of Melchizedek.  That is amazing.  I wish i could be there to see it and go through the temple with him, but i guess after the mission we will have plenty of time to go through the temple together.  Well, I love you more than pie.  I definetly make my push now considering we all know that the 6th lap makes or breaks a race. (Corey always said that in track, the 6th lap was the most important- I told him he was coming up on his mission's sixth lap)

 Mére, je t'aime,

Elder Corey Kimzey

hey dad,

I think the coolest elder in africa is doing pretty good. haha  Yeah, i'm doing great.  Hows the  best dad doing?  I heard that youth conference was great from many people.  It sounds like there was a lot of good activities and good devitonals.  How did your talk go?  What did you talk on?  

That is crazy that the youth lined up three rows deep.  I remember when we did a meeting similar when i was a youth we may of filled up one possibly two.  I think that is maybe because of all the great youth activities they are doing know like "come follow me"(that what it is called in english right?)  I'm sure they will be better missionaries because of it.  Wow, i can't believe how time flies: casey recieving the priesthood of Melchizedek and going through the temple.  That is so great.  I can't believe that Shane is leaving already.  I'm sure he will love Ghana and the Ghana Mtc.  I heard the Ghana MTC president is really great and that they are often visited by the area presidency.  Also I heard the Ghana Temple is gorgegous.  So that is a plus too.  He will have to say hi to all the missionaries coming here.  I'm sure he'll love it.  

Thanks for the quotes on the temple. Sometimes i use them in lessons.  They help a lot.  I personally like the second one a lot.  I miss the temple.  It is definetly something that i would like to do within two or three days of being back. 

Wow, i can't believe that Serena won the French open.  I think she has only done that one other time(when she did her serena slam.)  That crazy that Nadal won again.  He seems to be unstoppable on clay.  

I can't believe Pres Bangerter got engaged after 2 dates.  But i guess when you find the right person why wait.  When president dickson was here he told us that him and his wife got married 35 days after his mission.  He said that they hadn't even played on getting married.  I thought that was crazy.  Just think if i got married 35 days after i got home. haha. ok we all know that that isn't going to happen.  Well, i love you dad and i pray for you too. Also i tried to upload a picture of my last baptism.  I hope it goes through.

Elder Corey Kimzey

9 months to go!

Bonjour maman,
C'est moi qui a 9 mois qui rest haha. (It's me who has nine months rest??? Quoi Elder kimzey- oh left!!!)
 Yeah we had Elder Dickson come into town.  He is a pretty amazing General autority.  He came and shook everyone of our hand and told us how he felt about us.  Talk about someone who has the pure love of christ.  So we had a zone conference with all the missionaries in Benin.  They asked me to give a short talk on the importance of the area book. It went pretty well i thought. After that a few other zone leaders talked and the assistants
and sister weed did too.  Afterward President gave a great lesson on being converted and applying the gospel of Jesus Christ as missionaries.  After that Sister Dickson gave a nice lesson on knowing who we are.  After that President Dickson talk to us about how we can help the church be strong and big in west africa, not weak and
big.  He talked a lot about Priesthood and keys.  He quoted President Faust in saying that if a man doesn't recieve the priesthood within 3 weeks of his baptism most likely he will never recieve it in this life.  I thought that was powerful but very true.  He also talked about how we need to make sure people are living the commandments especially tithing.  He said that he has found that if people pay tithing they stay in the church but if they don't they usually leave the church.  It was pretty amazing lesson.  Afterward we had a short testimony meeting.  It was a great meeting.  One of the better ones i have been too.  Other than that our week hasn't been that exciting.  They did open a new secteur up in Calive.  It used to be a part of my secteur.  It is pretty far away but it is great to see that the church is growing. I can't believe that you will be able to fit a car in there again.  I can't remember the last time we had a car in the garage. haha.  It sounds like you play tons of pickleball.  I'm sure you all are going to dominate me when i get back. haha.
That is cool that the Accra mission is similar to mine.  Did i tell you that the other day i found out that Elder Weaver was at the mtc at the same time with my companion.  What a small world.  Ok i keep my fingers cross i'm sure that the package will come.  I love you a lot mom.  I'm trying to send a photo that we took the other day in our appartment.  No pictures attached.  I thought you would think it was pretty funny. haha 
 I love you more than pie.  Elder Corey Kimzey

Hey dad,
Life is going great in Africa.  A seventy visited us this week.  His name is Elder Dickson.  He is our area president.  He has been a General Authority for 21 years.  He told us that he has preside over
460 stake conferences.  He told us that this was is last Zone Conference because he will be getting released in October.  He is a pretty amazing person.  He lost his right arm when he was nineteen because of Cancer but still went on a mission 10 months later.  He talked to us about how we can help the church in West Africa be strong and not just big.  He talked to us about how we need Melcheizedick priesthood holders and keys of the priesthood so that the church isn't big and weak but big and strong here in our area.  He told us also we need to make sure that people pay their tithing also.  It was really useful and inspiring.  We had a testimony meeting at the end.  It was pretty great to hear the testimonies of 50 or so missionaries.  Then on sunday we had a great testimony meeting at church.  Almost all the members of our branch bore their testimonies.  It was pretty great.
Wow, i can't believe how much work you have done on the backyard.  I'm sure that it is going to be amazing when i get home.  That is cool that you had two more missionary devotionals.  We have a missionary from accra here right now.  I think that in Ghana also that they eat a lot of Inyams so i'm sure that he will like them a lot.
I know that some people have talked about saving their money that they usually use for breakfast to be able to go to the temple.  I thought that was a pretty big sacrifice.
Thanks for the scriptures dad.  Also that is great that  Serena and Nadel are playing well.  We see if they can actually win though.  Well thanks for writing dad. 
  Have a good week 
Elder Corey KImzey