Tuesday, September 24, 2013

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

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Still not much rain...

Maman!!
Bonsoir, comment ça va?  That is great that you are going to Atlanta. We have a missionary from there, he loves it.  It seems like a pretty great town.
I'm glad that it has rained so much there.  Here, it hasn't rained much at all.  But it did rain some yesterday, so that was a plus.
That is great that you got to talk to Elder Casey.  Yeah, i think
every missionary kind of feels that way.  Especially because at the MTC, they talk about talking to everyone, and then you get to the airport and there seems to be a million people. haha.  It can be kind of an adjustment at first.  I'm sure he'll adjust well once it gets started with his trainer.  I wonder how he is going to do with the cold considering it is probably pretty cold there right now.  I can't wait to here from him.  Could you send me his letter?  I don't know if he'll have a lot of time au cyber(i don't know how you say that in

english, a lot of time on the computer?) I'm sure he'll be pretty nervous for the first couple days but i'm sure he'll get into the rythmn of things.
No, i never did run the bloomington hills course.  It sounds like a pretty tough one.  She seems to improving a lot though.  I think that is what xc is all about.
That is great that Serena won again.  How many times has she won that?
Also she is getting older for a tennis player and she keeps winning, that is pretty crazy.  Novak and Nadel should be a good one too.
My week was great.  We had a zone council meeting with President Weed on tuesday.  During the meeting i got to talk to Soeur Weed.  She told me that her son is a bishop in Wisconsin and that there is an Elder Kimzey in her sons ward.  What a small world?  How crazy is that?
haha.  I thought that was pretty cool.
This week, my campanion starting saying good bye to all of our amis.
It is crazy to think that he is going home in 3 days.  I love him a lot.  He is a great guy.  He works hard and is a great teacher.  My new companion comes on Thursday.  His name is Elder Raveljoana.  He is from Madagascar.  We were in the same apartement at Menontin.  He is one of my favorite missionaries so i'm really excited to work with him.  But that was the only change in our apartement. There was a bunch of changes in our mission though.  Since we will lose 12 missionaries a few secteurs  got combined.  So now my zone is down to 10 missionaries.  But in october our mission get 21 new missionaries, so i'm sure the changes will only be temporary.
We had some great lessons with one of our ami.  He loves the Book of Mormon.  This week we started talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He really liked it.  We spent one whole day talking about baptism.  At the end of the lesson he told us, that that was the explantion of baptism(that he was searching.)  We then asked him if he wanted to get baptized, before we even finished the question he said
yes. haha.  So now we are hoping to fix a baptismal date with him the next time.
Also we started teaching the restoration with another ami.  It was cool how even though he didn't have much religous background, the restoration made total sense to him.  He is a really nice guy.  For instance, while we were at store teaching him, a car came by and hit his motorcycle.  I looked at him thinking that he would start yelling at the guy. But, he just slowly got up and started calmly talking with the guy.  I thought that was pretty christ-like.
That was kind of what happened for my week.  I got your email about my debit card.  I might take out some money soon. 
 Well, i hope you have a great week mom.  I love you so much.  Sorry that this letter is a little early but its because latter we have a bunch of rendezvous so that my companion can say bye to everyone. 
 Je t'aime plus que la tarte,
Elder Corey Kimzey

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

No internet connection last week...

Maman,
Bonjour!!!  Comment ça va?  Like we say in Benin it feels like we haven't seen each other for 2 days(or or in other words for a really long 
time.)  Last week, we didn't have internet connection in all of Cotonou, so none of the missionaries got to write, but thankfully this week there is.
Wow, the yard looks great.  I don't think i have ever seen our yard look that good.  I really liked you sign too.  That is cool that Cotonou is the furthest away.
I can't believe Casey flies out already. What day does he fly out?  I have talked to him a few times.  He seems to be doing great.  He seems to be adjusting well.  I'm sure he'll do great.

reponse à vos question:

1.  what are the names of the elders in your apartment?   There is Elder Mukenga, Elder Poll, Elder Gomun, and me
2.  (for your companion)  what is elder kimzey's best missionary quality?.he says that i'm nice and servable, and i'm too loving.

3.  what do you love most about your companion?  My campanion is great.  The thing i love most about him is how he is just so nice.  He is probably one of the nicest persons i know.
4.  How many missionaries are assigned to your branch? We have 8 missionares in our branch. 4 from our apartment and 4 from cococdji.
5.How is the drought?  It did rain a little bit the other day.  But in general it has been pretty dry.
6.  Are you having more problems with power?For the most part we have been ok.  The hard thing is that the President of the country decided to dismiss his whole campanion (cabinet??) and then the next few days we had some power outages so people were kind of mad.  But things have calmed down and people are ok with him again.here is a link to a news article about the President of Benin)http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/09/uk-benin-government-idUKBRE9780G220130809
7. How did your talk for zone conference go? My lesson went ok.  I talked about how missionaries can either be a burden or a blessing for their branch president.  We talked about how a missionary could be a blessing and how he could be a burden.  It was interesting to see how the missionaries answered.  They talked about how we have to be their to serve and not critical the little things.  Also Dad gave me some thoughts about that so that helped. 
Speaking of our branch, i love my branch here at Cococodji.  It is awesome.  We don't have very many members who have been in the church for more than a couple month but in general the branch works well.
Our branch presidency is awesome too. At cococodji, so of the investigators are having a hard time getting married.  So the branch presidency said that they will totally help them out.  Also sundays are pretty great.
This sunday was pretty good.  We had a lot of people come bear their testimonies.  Some of them were in Fon so i didn't understand those haha, but the ones that i did understand were great.  Even one of our investigators bore his testimony.  It was his first time coming to church even.  He was sitting next to me and then he asked if he could
bear his testimony too. I told him that he could if he wanted to. Then to my suprise, he gets up and starts bearing his testimony.  I have to admit, i was a little nervous because we haven't been teaching him very long.  He got up and bore a great testimony about how the book of mormon is true and how we have to love one another.  I was so suprised.  He is a great guy.  He actually goes to Jeohvah's witness church but started to take the lesson nevertheless.  It realy likes
our teaching and absoultly loves the book of mormon.  One day he was having a hard time understand how the fall of adam and eve were part of the plan of god.  We read a bunch of scriptures in the book of mormon.  Then my campanion gave him one and after reading he looked up at us and said, The book of mormon is filled with wisdom of god(something along those lines)  It definetly reinforced my testimony of the Book of Mormon.
Also lately,  we have found a lot of people who are earnestly seeking the truth.  They are kind of sick of how there are so many church, and they just want to know which one is true.  So teaching has been going well.  The other day a bad thing did happen, we were walking to our appointment and when we got there we didn't have our phone.  We called
it and it turns out that someone had stolen it(we think that it might have fallen out of my pocket and then someone picked it up.)  So the mission is working on getting us a new phone but we have been working like the ancient missionaries this last week. haha It is all good though because it gives a good excuse to randomly show up to fix appointments haha.
Can you believe that i only have 6 months left?  It is pretty crazy.

My campanion goes home in 10 days.
  I love you a lot mom.

hey mom,
I almost forgot.  Guess who got a package?  I did!  Thanks for the package! Our apartement has been partying it up this last week with the things which are in it.  Also i gave the dedorant to Elder Mundu. HE was really thankful.  And told me to say hi to you guys and that he love you. Also i got the debit card, but did you activate it or would you like me to activate it?  Also i don't know the pin number or is it the same as my old card?  

I love you a lot,
Elder Corey Kimzey


Hey dad,
Things are going great here, how are things going there?  yeah last week, there wasn't internet connection in most of Cotonou, but thats ok.  Mom sent me some pictures of the yard.  It looks great.  I'm really excited to see it when i get home.  I think it is the prettiest i have ever seen our yard.

I like the new primary theme.  I think it is so intresting that God never just ask for a little of our strength,or a little of our heart, but he asked our whole heart.  Our mission president often shares Omni 1:26 or 25 which talkes about how we have to consecrate ourselves to God and give our whole heart to him.  That we can't keep a little bit for ourselves and give the rest to God but we have to give it all. Ok,This we has beeen a good one in general we have been teaching some
amazing people.  Although, one thing was pretty heart breaking.  We had an investigator who was really progressing but then was pushed by some members of her family to commit a horrible sin.  It was pretty hard on us.  We did a lot of praying, and we even fast on fast sunday for her.  But i learned an important lesson.  That even if we pray with all our heart God can't infringe on someone's ablitiy to choose.
The spirit really testified to me that God really was helping her but that it was her own decision to not follow the commandements.  So it was definetly pretty sobering but i learned a lot from. We to help her repent, so that she can find some peace in her life. 
But the rest of the week was really great except we lost our phone.  I still can't believe that it fell out of my pocket.  Hopefully we will get a new one. 
 Also i wanted to tell you that my lesson in our Zone
Meeting went well. I did a lesson on how a missionary can either be a burden or a blessing for his bishop/branch president.  I even told the missionaries how you said that the best thing a thing a missionary could do was help the recent converts have a tesitmony and to help them respect the commandements.  They appreciated that a lot.  Also we
have been teaching a great new investiagator.  He has been looking for a new church.  He told us that our doctrine makes sense to him and that it helps him to apply the gospel in his life.  He told us that a lot of people have passed by to teach him but he never seems to understand their doctrine becuse it is too complicated.  It made me think about how uncomplicated the missionary lessons are and how they
focus on the basic.  It also made me think how i needed to make sure and keep my lessons simple and to the point.  Those are the things that people really want to hear.
I'm doing well.  I can't believe that Utah state lost.  That is too
bad.  

I can't believe that we have 19 missionaries in our ward.  That is great.  I heard that casey is leaving tommorow.  It feels like he just got into the MTC.  I'm sure that he'll do great.  If you get a chance to talk to him say hi and tell him that i love him.
My investigators are doing really well.  We have a few are progressing well.  Also we have started to teach some families which is always great.
How is the Ward doing back home?  How are Brother and Sister Demille doing?  Also could you say hi to Brother Griffiths for me.  He is a great guy, i love him a lot.
Also today(sorry that this letter has been a little random and
speratic) we went and played soccer.  It was a ton of fun.  We played missionaries against missionaries.  We tied 5 to 5.  It was pretty fun.  Although, i think i'm going to be pretty sore tommorow.  I'm defiently not in shape like i used to be.  Also it is good to hear that your running is going so well.  When are you going to run a 5k? 

Well, i love you a lot dad.  I hope you have a great week.
Elder Corey Kimzey