Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Menontin
Bonjour maman,
Comment ça va? ça va bien chez moi. Wow, i can't believe that Casey is already in the MTC. How crazy is that? I was thinking that maybe i should send the letters i would write to him to you and then you could send them to him through dearelder. I remember not having much time to email at the mtc. Would that work?
It sounds like your week was pretty crazy. I can't imagine trying to keep a missionary busy for 2 days. That would be pretty hard to do. That is great that casey can go to the temple. I would seriously give an arm and a leg to be able to go. He is pretty lucky.
It sounds like the beaver races went well too. Grandpa told me that there were quite a few people there this year for the 24th.
Yeah, i have to admit, i was kind of hoping that casey had written, but i'm sure his p-day is either today or tommorow. So hopefully we get a letter soon.
Ok, my week has been pretty good. Yeah, I'm still in Menontin. They ended up creating the Branch of Cococodji already. They even found a new building which includes an area that they can do their baptisms. So I'm sure they are really excited.
um, i know that we just got a new missionary. I guess he was a big football star back in the states, even signed with stanford, but i haven't got to talk with him. Elder Ringle told me that he seemed to be kind of in shock still. Elder Ringle is doing good too. We get along really well. He is pretty hilarous.
Transfers were this last week. So, i think the next transfers will probably be in September. There is probably a good chance that i will be transfered in Sept because i will have already spent 6 months here in Menontin and 12 missionaires are going home and 18 are coming. It is going to be a pretty crazy month haah.
Our amis are doing really well. We had our baptism on saturday which went well. That morning, we invite to a retirement party of a member of the church. He was the director of an Elementary school. He asked the church to come and do an hour long program. It was a great oppurtunity to give out some brouchures and book of mormons. It was pretty fun too because after our program the kids came out and danced for him. Afterward, I went with Elder Poll(the assistant), while my campanion went with Elder Owusu, to go pick up our baptismal candiates. The baptism went great. WE had a lot of people there to support our two candiates. But my camera ran out of battery, so another elder took our pictures and promised to send them to me. So it might be awhile before i can send those pictures. I did remember this week to send a picture of Renaud's baptism(which was like the 14.)
Also, we have been having good sucess with one of our amis. He actually is our tailor but one day we felt inclined to fix an appointment with him. He accepted. We have been teaching him for a month or so. He is so awesome. He comes to church every week and even invites other people to come to church. He reads the book of mormon even though french is pretty hard for him. He is really amazing.
Well, i hope you have a great week mom. I think that after i finish writing you, i'll write casey and send it to you.
I love you more than pie,
Elder Corey Kimzey
dad,
Life is going great here in Africa, hows life back in the states? How was dropping casey off? I remember when you dropped me off that it was so quick. I'm sure he is doing great. I can't wait either to get his first letter. I'm sorry to hear about CJ's campanion. That would be super hard.
yeah, your right it is kind of crazy the important of clothing in the scriptures. Like for instance when Potterfer's wife takes the clothes of joseph. There are a lot of instances that clothes are kind of important. I'd never thought of that before.
That is cool that you got to learn about George Parkinson. Grandpa told me that John Parkinson came who is kind of an expert in Geneolgy. It sounds like that must of be awesome. I always really liked hearing stories about him. I really hope some day to meet him.
Yeah, i think those quotes are great. I like the whole idea that repentance is a life-long process. That really we try everyday to become better. sometimes investigators struggle with that concept because they think that if they believe in christ they are automatically going to return to live with god. Bt i have seen a bunch of times when people start really repenting how much they can change thier lives. It reminds me of an ami who just got baptized. He told us straight up that he didn't respect all the commandments, but that he wanted to do what was right. It was amazing to see him change little by little. That why i like the verb for repentance in french "se repentir." It is a reflexive verb, so in essence to repents oneself. I think that is pretty cool.
How has your week been? My week was pretty great. We had a bunch of activity and stuff to do. We also did a split with the assistants. It was pretty fun. I went and spent some time with Elder Owusu. he is from Ghana. We had a lot of fun and taught a bunch of lessons. Also this Thursday we have zone conference. It should be pretty exciting. My campanion and I are going to teach a lesson on Chapter 9 of preach my gospel. Also Thursday is the independence day of Benin. They have already start to party for it. So this week should be pretty great.
Well, i love you a lot dad. I hope you have a great week.
Elder Corey Kimzey
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Weme valley and Claystone...yum!
Maman,
Bonjour, Coment vas-tu? This week has been awesome. My companion says that he is doing well but that he doesn't like all the motocyles here. haha. It hasn't rained here as much as usual. Although, it still has rained more here in a week than it probably does the whole year in St. George. Like for example, today we went to the valley of Weneé (or Ouimee).
It happens to be a one of two valley in the whole world. (huh???) It was super pretty. I took a bunch of pictures with the help of my campanion. It was goregous. So we decided to do some wondering around. As we were wondering around we happened to end up at a small
village. They were excited to see us. So they showed us around their little village. They live on the river bed and they said that when it rains a ton water is up to their chests. And the water even goes into their houses so they have to build pathways in their houses. Talk about amazing huh? Then they took us to the huge river right next to their village. They said that there are prianhas, crocodiles, and all sorts of aquatic animals in the river. So obviously we didn't get in haha. It was amazing. We took tons of pictures.
Normally i would send them to you today, but i coming to the cyber i my camera at the house. I will definetly send those pictures next week.
Also this week, we had a baptism this week. It was pretty great. His name is Renaul. He has been an investigator for a long time because he has been so busy, it was hard to have a rendez-vous that held through. But everything worked out. Even, the day after his confirmation he offered to visit people with us. How great is that?
Also i forgot to tell you all about what happened a few weeks ago. I was on a split with Elder Montross who is from Michigan. We were visting a recent convert, when a lady passing was eating something that looked something similar to a gray sandstone like rock. My recent convert asked if we had ever eaten it before. We said no, so she gave us some. We were curious to see what it tasted like considering it looked more or less like a rock. Turns out that totally what it was. It was claystone. As we were eating it, i kept thinking this taste a lot like sand, turns out that is exactly what it was haha. I guess it is a tradition here that eating claystone is good for pregnant women and for health in general. haha. It was a funny experience.
I have never heard of miracle fruit. Maybe it is here i just don't know how they call it here. It sounds pretty cool. We don't really eat a lot of desert here, just because people here don't tend to eat a lot of sugar. Although, we do have something called Fan Ice which is pretty good. It is kind of like ice cream that they sell in little pouches. It is pretty good. But i think for the most part it is fruit for desert.
Wow, i can't believe Murray won Wimbledon. I'm sure all the brits were ecstatic. Wow, Bartoli won also. That is crazy. It has been a long time sense a french person has won a major well since Meresmo. The tour sounds pretty exciting too. Wouldn't that be great to see one day? Whos winning?
Well, thanks for righting me mom. I love you more than pie and i'll make sure to write casey.
Je t'aime, Elder Corey
Hey Dad,
Thing are going great here in Africa. How is life back in America? Wow, how luck are you to be able to go to Lake Powell twice in one week? Yeah, i bet going sleeping on the sand was a little different than sleeping on a house boat. But i'm sue it was way fun nevertheless. That is great that Reann is leaving already. How long does she have to stay in the MTC? That is cool casey's fireside is coming up. Who is going to be the missionary from canda who is going to come? That is awesome that the Domans moved back into our ward. They are really great. I like him a lot. He helped me a lot to prepare for my mission. That is great that Ashton got her call. That is quite wierd that she isn't going to the Mexico MTC. I heard even Madi Kimzey is going to the Mexico mtc even though she is serving in America. But who knows how all that works?
I have to admit, that i have never heard of Miracle fruit. I'll have to ask my companion. He probably knows it. It sounds pretty sweet though. haha. Yeah, i see that often. Some people seem to make everything harder because of their attitude and some people make evferything easier becaus eof thei attitude. That is so cool that Brother Thomas went on his mission having the faith simple that he could feel that same spirit again.
ok, on a more worldly note haha, how is the tour de france? I heard from mom that it has been pretty intresting. Who is winning right now? Also, This week have been reading all the conference talks(because we just got the talks last week.) There were some amazing talks. I love Elder Hollands talk. Also there were tons on missionary work and what we have to do to have real growth in the church. Also I liked President Monson talks also.
Also this week i have been reading in Helaman and 3 nephi. Helaman was intresting to see how the lamanites chased away the Gadianton Robbers while the Nephites embraced them. After that i read in 3 nephi. It is so amazing to see the way that Christ admistered among the nephites. I loved comparing the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. It is quite intresting to see the difference. I wonder if it is just because of the translation of the bible that some of those are different or if it because the nephites needed those things. What do you think? Also this week we started English Class. We put up banners to annouce it. We had tons of people promise to come. 3 people showed up haha. But it was good because 2 of them were non members who had no idea about the church. So hopefully, it will keep growing and it will lead to people accepting the gospel. Although, i need to brush up on my english because there are some people in that class who are really strong in English. (insert mom laughing!!!)Sometimes they ask pretty hard questions. Well, Thanks dad.
I love you and hope everything keeps going well there,
Love,
Elder Corey Kimzey
It happens to be a one of two valley in the whole world. (huh???) It was super pretty. I took a bunch of pictures with the help of my campanion. It was goregous. So we decided to do some wondering around. As we were wondering around we happened to end up at a small
village. They were excited to see us. So they showed us around their little village. They live on the river bed and they said that when it rains a ton water is up to their chests. And the water even goes into their houses so they have to build pathways in their houses. Talk about amazing huh? Then they took us to the huge river right next to their village. They said that there are prianhas, crocodiles, and all sorts of aquatic animals in the river. So obviously we didn't get in haha. It was amazing. We took tons of pictures. |
| Thanks for the Semkens for this photo! |
Normally i would send them to you today, but i coming to the cyber i my camera at the house. I will definetly send those pictures next week.
Also this week, we had a baptism this week. It was pretty great. His name is Renaul. He has been an investigator for a long time because he has been so busy, it was hard to have a rendez-vous that held through. But everything worked out. Even, the day after his confirmation he offered to visit people with us. How great is that?
Also i forgot to tell you all about what happened a few weeks ago. I was on a split with Elder Montross who is from Michigan. We were visting a recent convert, when a lady passing was eating something that looked something similar to a gray sandstone like rock. My recent convert asked if we had ever eaten it before. We said no, so she gave us some. We were curious to see what it tasted like considering it looked more or less like a rock. Turns out that totally what it was. It was claystone. As we were eating it, i kept thinking this taste a lot like sand, turns out that is exactly what it was haha. I guess it is a tradition here that eating claystone is good for pregnant women and for health in general. haha. It was a funny experience.
I have never heard of miracle fruit. Maybe it is here i just don't know how they call it here. It sounds pretty cool. We don't really eat a lot of desert here, just because people here don't tend to eat a lot of sugar. Although, we do have something called Fan Ice which is pretty good. It is kind of like ice cream that they sell in little pouches. It is pretty good. But i think for the most part it is fruit for desert.
Wow, i can't believe Murray won Wimbledon. I'm sure all the brits were ecstatic. Wow, Bartoli won also. That is crazy. It has been a long time sense a french person has won a major well since Meresmo. The tour sounds pretty exciting too. Wouldn't that be great to see one day? Whos winning?
Well, thanks for righting me mom. I love you more than pie and i'll make sure to write casey.
Je t'aime, Elder Corey
Hey Dad,
Thing are going great here in Africa. How is life back in America? Wow, how luck are you to be able to go to Lake Powell twice in one week? Yeah, i bet going sleeping on the sand was a little different than sleeping on a house boat. But i'm sue it was way fun nevertheless. That is great that Reann is leaving already. How long does she have to stay in the MTC? That is cool casey's fireside is coming up. Who is going to be the missionary from canda who is going to come? That is awesome that the Domans moved back into our ward. They are really great. I like him a lot. He helped me a lot to prepare for my mission. That is great that Ashton got her call. That is quite wierd that she isn't going to the Mexico MTC. I heard even Madi Kimzey is going to the Mexico mtc even though she is serving in America. But who knows how all that works?
I have to admit, that i have never heard of Miracle fruit. I'll have to ask my companion. He probably knows it. It sounds pretty sweet though. haha. Yeah, i see that often. Some people seem to make everything harder because of their attitude and some people make evferything easier becaus eof thei attitude. That is so cool that Brother Thomas went on his mission having the faith simple that he could feel that same spirit again.
ok, on a more worldly note haha, how is the tour de france? I heard from mom that it has been pretty intresting. Who is winning right now? Also, This week have been reading all the conference talks(because we just got the talks last week.) There were some amazing talks. I love Elder Hollands talk. Also there were tons on missionary work and what we have to do to have real growth in the church. Also I liked President Monson talks also.
Also this week i have been reading in Helaman and 3 nephi. Helaman was intresting to see how the lamanites chased away the Gadianton Robbers while the Nephites embraced them. After that i read in 3 nephi. It is so amazing to see the way that Christ admistered among the nephites. I loved comparing the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. It is quite intresting to see the difference. I wonder if it is just because of the translation of the bible that some of those are different or if it because the nephites needed those things. What do you think? Also this week we started English Class. We put up banners to annouce it. We had tons of people promise to come. 3 people showed up haha. But it was good because 2 of them were non members who had no idea about the church. So hopefully, it will keep growing and it will lead to people accepting the gospel. Although, i need to brush up on my english because there are some people in that class who are really strong in English. (insert mom laughing!!!)Sometimes they ask pretty hard questions. Well, Thanks dad.
I love you and hope everything keeps going well there,
Love,
Elder Corey Kimzey
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Catching a bus
Bonjour Mamman,
Comment vas-tu? How was the lake(considering you'll probably off of it when you read this?) Did you catch some big air?
(told elder kimzey i was going to start a new scripture study and asked how he marked his scriptures)I have heard that idea before and i hope to try it when i get back. Well, i bought some scriptures crayons when i was at the mtc. It came in 6 different colors. Five of which corresponded with the five missionary lesson ie blue for the first lesson, and there is a red crayon left over that i use to mark scriptures that i like or i think apply to missionary work. It seems to work for me. That is great that you have been getting a bunch of missionary reports. Cj's mom sent me his report. It was kind of fun to see the differences. So my week was a pretty great one. We hosted a basketball activity.
It was a lot of fun even though i'm pretty sure we lost. haha. Ok the best story of the week was probably when we were teaching one of our amis. He has a hard time speaking french but we bring along a members so it usually works out well. Well, a few lessons ago we talked about the importance to forgive others. We challenged him to try and
forgive others but afterward i kind of forgot about it. This week he told us how he has started to forgive others around him and how it has changed his life. He told us that his wife has even noticed a difference in him. It was so cool to see how the application of a lesson changed this mans life. He thanked us a million times. It was really great.
The funniest part was probably when we did a split on Wednesday. I was with Elder Montross who is from Michigan. We were trying to catch a bus. well, we weren't having much luck. We were able to call down our first bus easily, but the second bus was diffucult because all the buses were full. I probably should explain that there are two types
of buses here. There is the big bus of Benafrique and the smaller "buses" which are more like vans. The big bus is 300 fcfa and the small ones are only 200 fcfa. But to get on the little ones you have to yell out where you are going and if they are going there they will stop and pick you up but if not they just continue on their way. So we were at Etoile Rouge which is probably the biggest intersection in Benin trying to call down buses right around rush hour. I have
actually have a lot of practice doing this but we weren't having much luck that day. Finally an older lady came over and started calling down buses for us. It was awesome, she would call out for us before calling out for herself. Eventually we ended up finding a bus, it was super nice of her. One of the more spiritual experiences was that we have been teaching two guys who seem intrested and seem to progress well. My campanion asked them a simple question along the lines of What have you done this week to grow nearer to god. The two explained to us how they actually have been having committing some serious sins but that they want to change their lives. We asked them how we could help. they
told us that they just wanted us to continue to help them understand the word of God. It was amazing to me to see how much faith they had in the simple fact of hearing the word of God could change their lives. they seemed to be really progressing. It made me kind of think about why we are really here. It is to help people change their lives through the gospel and ordannces. It was a great experience. Well, i'm sorry if my letter is a little long this week. It has been
a great week. Not much has change in our neck of the woods. No one is leaving in our district even. I hope you had a great week. I can't believe casey only has 2 weeks. I love you more than pie.
Thank you for everything mom. Je t'aime,
Elder Corey Kimzey
Hey dad,
I just wrote you a long letter and i hope it go to you but i don't think it did. so I'll try to write as much as i remember.
How was your week at Lake powell? It sounds like you guys had a blast. Yeah, we had another great week this week. I tried to put some of the details in mom's letter. The thing that i really noticed this week is how blessed i am. The fact that i'm able to recieve an education, that i recieved the gospel, and that i have a family that loves me.
It is crazy to see how hard working people are here. Many of the kinds do odd jobs to be able to pay for their schooling and if they can't go to school they pick up an aprentissage like mechanics, tailors,or barbers. I bet the saint george pioneers were similar in many ways. for example, that people here are more concentrated on things that are important like family more than other things. I wish sometimes that you could just stay here for a week. I'm sure that you
would love the people. I love you a lot dad.
well. Say hi to all the priest for me and Brother Hadlock.
I love you,
Elder Corey Kimzey
Comment vas-tu? How was the lake(considering you'll probably off of it when you read this?) Did you catch some big air?
(told elder kimzey i was going to start a new scripture study and asked how he marked his scriptures)I have heard that idea before and i hope to try it when i get back. Well, i bought some scriptures crayons when i was at the mtc. It came in 6 different colors. Five of which corresponded with the five missionary lesson ie blue for the first lesson, and there is a red crayon left over that i use to mark scriptures that i like or i think apply to missionary work. It seems to work for me. That is great that you have been getting a bunch of missionary reports. Cj's mom sent me his report. It was kind of fun to see the differences. So my week was a pretty great one. We hosted a basketball activity.
It was a lot of fun even though i'm pretty sure we lost. haha. Ok the best story of the week was probably when we were teaching one of our amis. He has a hard time speaking french but we bring along a members so it usually works out well. Well, a few lessons ago we talked about the importance to forgive others. We challenged him to try and
forgive others but afterward i kind of forgot about it. This week he told us how he has started to forgive others around him and how it has changed his life. He told us that his wife has even noticed a difference in him. It was so cool to see how the application of a lesson changed this mans life. He thanked us a million times. It was really great.
The funniest part was probably when we did a split on Wednesday. I was with Elder Montross who is from Michigan. We were trying to catch a bus. well, we weren't having much luck. We were able to call down our first bus easily, but the second bus was diffucult because all the buses were full. I probably should explain that there are two types
of buses here. There is the big bus of Benafrique and the smaller "buses" which are more like vans. The big bus is 300 fcfa and the small ones are only 200 fcfa. But to get on the little ones you have to yell out where you are going and if they are going there they will stop and pick you up but if not they just continue on their way. So we were at Etoile Rouge which is probably the biggest intersection in Benin trying to call down buses right around rush hour. I have
actually have a lot of practice doing this but we weren't having much luck that day. Finally an older lady came over and started calling down buses for us. It was awesome, she would call out for us before calling out for herself. Eventually we ended up finding a bus, it was super nice of her. One of the more spiritual experiences was that we have been teaching two guys who seem intrested and seem to progress well. My campanion asked them a simple question along the lines of What have you done this week to grow nearer to god. The two explained to us how they actually have been having committing some serious sins but that they want to change their lives. We asked them how we could help. they
told us that they just wanted us to continue to help them understand the word of God. It was amazing to me to see how much faith they had in the simple fact of hearing the word of God could change their lives. they seemed to be really progressing. It made me kind of think about why we are really here. It is to help people change their lives through the gospel and ordannces. It was a great experience. Well, i'm sorry if my letter is a little long this week. It has been
a great week. Not much has change in our neck of the woods. No one is leaving in our district even. I hope you had a great week. I can't believe casey only has 2 weeks. I love you more than pie.
Thank you for everything mom. Je t'aime,
Elder Corey Kimzey
Hey dad,
I just wrote you a long letter and i hope it go to you but i don't think it did. so I'll try to write as much as i remember.
How was your week at Lake powell? It sounds like you guys had a blast. Yeah, we had another great week this week. I tried to put some of the details in mom's letter. The thing that i really noticed this week is how blessed i am. The fact that i'm able to recieve an education, that i recieved the gospel, and that i have a family that loves me.
It is crazy to see how hard working people are here. Many of the kinds do odd jobs to be able to pay for their schooling and if they can't go to school they pick up an aprentissage like mechanics, tailors,or barbers. I bet the saint george pioneers were similar in many ways. for example, that people here are more concentrated on things that are important like family more than other things. I wish sometimes that you could just stay here for a week. I'm sure that you
would love the people. I love you a lot dad.
well. Say hi to all the priest for me and Brother Hadlock.
I love you,
Elder Corey Kimzey
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
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
(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
Thursday, June 20, 2013
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.
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 KimzeyTuesday, June 11, 2013
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
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
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
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
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