Au Fon?



Corey's companion Elder Makubu

Bonjour ma famille,
Well week was really quite awesome.  We have a lot of new amis. The ward missionaries decided they we were going to do contacting in our secteur.  They found so many people for us.  I guess it really helps that they contact in ewe.  Then they said that they were going to work with us more so that we can fit in all these new amis.  So I think we are going to be really busy this next week.  But I guess there is no rest for the wicked. 
We have a new ami who is really awesome named Joseph.  He is congolesse, so my campanion sometimes talks to him in Lingala.  He is really awesome.  We gave him 2 brouchures and he read them all.  He even came to church the next sunday.  And at church he started answering the questions. He answered all the questions right.  Even things we had never taught him.  It was almost shocking how prepared he is by God.  I hope he keeps progressing like this.  The only hard thing is we teach him on a really busy street, so its kind of hard to teach, but i think he is really going to keep progressing well.
Also this week we had a intresting half ewe half french lesson.  My campanion speaks quite a bit, so it helps a lot.  We were teaching this lesson to a lady, who had recieved a priesthood blessing a few weeks ago.  She doesn't really speak french.  We would read our bible in french and then she would read hers in Ewe.  It actually worked out really well.  I think she totally understood us even though we didn't know ewe.  It kind of crazy how that works.
So yeah I have had a pretty nice week.  Also today we played in another "soccer tournament."  We actually tied one of our three matches, which is pretty good for the missionaries because we always lose. It was a really fun time.  We borrowed soccer jersey and we just happened to be my favorite team Tottenham!  I thought Casey would like to know that we did play an Arsenal team.  We lost 1-0 but the goal shouldn't of counted because the ref blew the whistle and then they scored. But ca va aller(that's how it goes).  I attached a funny photo of my campanion from the baptism.  I really am loving my mission.  It isn't always easy but i love quoi meme (what even)  ( that seems to fit better than an english word haha.)  I really love sharing the gospel and just seeing how it can change people, especially myself.  Thank you all for everything you do. 
Je vous aime beaucoup sorry for the silly title it means ca va in ewe,
Elder Corey Kimzey

almost 1/2 a year

B onjour ma famille et mes amis,
So this week was a pretty awesome week. Nicole got baptized this week. She really awesome. She always teaching me words in cabiet although, i'm not very good at it. Her baptism was really nice. I was worried it was going to rain because it had been raining all day, but the storm cleared up. It was really great also because a recent convert baptized her. He had only been a convert for maybe 1 or 2 months.
Also that same day we had an activity for all the district of Lome. We were supposed to go sweep the streets in the grande marche. I was a little worried that we wouldn't have very people. When I showed up, there was tons. It was really cool to see everyone with the helping hands vest on sweeping the streets. Itwas really fun too. I hope it will help more people to know about the church too. We didn't quite get to finish because it started raining cats and dogs.
So also this week we have a few more amis. One of them is named Abemvi(not sure on the spelling.) We were walking and she was going out to the market to sell chalk. She stopped us and asking us what we were doing. We explained we were missionaries and ask if we could visit with her latter. She said that would be great. When we actually had the rendez-vous with her, she told us she had no idea why she stopped us. She just felt like she should. Each lesson has been going really well. She seems to have the answers before we even ask the question. I really hope that she continues like this.
Also this week we had another awesome lesson with Paul. I taught with Elder Burkhart(he is from georgia.) The nextdoor neighboor of paul came over too. His name is Romatique(i think.) We had given them some book of mormons. Romatique told us that it that it was really intresting and then recounted the story of Lehi to us. It was quite awesome. I hope that the two can really progress together.
Also this week i have heard some people saw a photo of me playing soccer. It was a stake activity where we played some wards. They pretty much slaughtered us. I think we lost each match(3-0, 2-0, 3-0.) It was quite funny. We played in this really deep sand. They all seemed to have played with each other for a long time and we seemed to be stuck in the sand. It wa really fun none the less. I heard that the missionaries though have never one a match, so maybe that will be or goal next time.
I'm trying to send two photos. The first is with Frere Abolo, me, Elder Burkhart, Nicole, Prenam. The other is a huge group picture of some of the missionaries and the baptismal canidates. My campanion is standing right next to me.
Thanks for Everything Je vous aime,
Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey

Frenglish

Bonsoir tout le monde,
So my life is going pretty well.  I kind of had a interesting week with the transfers because my companion came Tuesday but Elder Owusu's didn't come till Friday.  My companion's name is Elder Makubu.  He is from the Kingshasha, Congo.  He is our District leader right now. Also Elder Owusu got a new companion named Elder Burkhart from Georgia.  Elder Makubu is really funny. He love asking questions, so we get a lot of interaction with our amis.  Also he loves OVB<contacting> , especially with Law of Chasity brochures.  At first i thought he was just joking, but after we run out of restoration brochures usually he gives them law of chasity bouchures.  He is really bold, great missionary.
We didn't have any baptisms this last week, but we have 1 planned for this week and a few planned for the week after.  One is we teach a niece of a member.  She speaks cabada(don't know how to spell that)  So I try to learn some words here and there.  She always laugh because I'm not very good.  There is a few languages here so I've been trying to pick a word or two but wow it is really difficult.  The main language is ewe though.
Also i had a language in Frenglish, which is actually my favorite language.  It was with our investigator named Paul.  He is this huge awesome ami who does Judo. He is really interested in the gospel.  I guess his dad is from Ghana or something so he knows some english.  I don't know why but he kept randomly adding English words while he was speaking french.  For example, he said" j'ai une rendez-vous à five o'clock"  He said it like it was totally natural.  So I really hope that Frenglish because an official language because that would be awesome. The lesson went really well though.  He seems to be really interested.
Also this week we had a few lessons with our ami named Chalome.  We talked a lot about the plan of salvation.  She asked some great questions.  She has even committed to prepare to get baptized.  Having a member with us each lesson helps a lot, especially if she has a question the member can answer it in ewe or french. 
Also we our branch building got chair instead of benches.  We were all really excited because the branch building looks really nice now. 
So I'm sorry the letter is so small this week.  It just been a pretty simple week.  Thanks for all the emails.  I glad to here everyone is doing well.
Je vous aime,
Elder Corey Kimzey

Here is a part of the email to me from corey...
My interview with Pres weed went really well.  He is really amazing.  I don't know if I've ever told you the story of us getting off the plane.  We got off the plane and it was crazy humid and hot, even though it was 9 oclock at night.  We didn't really understand what was going on.  Then trying to get our bags was really hard.  Everyone is just randomly grabbing bags.  This bag guy was trying to ask me if he could help me, but it took 4 times till i understood him.  Then we had to go through security.  Which they randomly pick people to search.  They just happened to pick me.  It took me maybe an hour and half to get through everything.  Then I saw Pres. Weed and Sister weed.  And everything just instantly became better.  He is really nice and he cares about us a lot.  Sister weed is hilarious.  She is always cracking jokes. 

I'm Stayig in Doumassesse

Bonsoir,
So yesterday, we got our transfer call yesterday.  I'm staying in Doumassesse, but Elder Noumbolibona is going to Tokoin and he is going to be the Zone Leader over my Zone.  I kind of figured it was going to happen but i'm excited to work with my new campanion Elder Makobo.  He comes here tommorow. 
This week was pretty good week for us though.  We got a referal from a member that i'm really excited about.  Her name is Justine.  We went and taught her a few times already.  She seems really intrested.  We gave her one chapter to read in the Book of Mormon and she read a few.  Then she even came to church.  She seems to be progress really well.  She asked a bunch of good questions which i always think is a good sign of someone becoming truly converted.
Also this week, we are probably going to have some baptisms this week and next week.  It crazy but most of them are refferals from members.  So we are hoping all of that goes well. 
Also this week we got a new ami named Emmanuel.  He is really awesome.  He is a contact from the missionaries of Tokoin.  He brought his little sister a long, but she fell asleep within the first few minutes.  He seemed really intrested, but we'll see how it goes.
Also we had a lesson with this guy who is from france.  I was kind of nervous because obviously he speaks really good french.  At the beginning i kind of stubble to find the right words.  He then said," you can just talk in English is you want."  I didn't, though, and my french improved just as i kept confident.  It was actual one of the better lessons i have taught.  So it is good to remember to just trust in the spirit and in yourself.
Also today, we went to the Grande Marche.  It was crazy as usual especially since everyone is hissing at you to come buy there stuff.  It was pretty fun though.  It really funny though because no prices are fixed.  So everyone is negotiating all the time.  Also there are just tons of people selling things from plates on top of their heads.  Sometimes they will have 8 to 10 suitcases on top of their head. 
  So everything is going well.  We had an awesome Mangez-vous yesterday with a member, but i forgot to take a picutre of it.  It was enyams and some chicken/rice sauce.  I hope everything going well for everyone.
Avec Amour,
Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey

Almost 5 months!

Bonjour tout le monde,
I'm doing really good here.(sorry jojo- we'll blame this on losing his english!)  I have had a really good week.  We have a new investigator that i think is really progressing well.  Her name is chantal.  A recent member from another branch gave her number to us.  I guess they are boyfriend and girlfriend.  She is really nice, but kind of quiet.  I didn't realize it at first.  When i introduced myself and even when i talked about the book of mormon, she was really quiet so i thought maybe i was explaining it wrong or something.  No, she was understanding she just really quiet, but you can really tell she is really paying attention and thinking about what we are saying.  She, even, came to church and accepted a baptism date.  It was pretty cool to see.
Also this week, we had a very intresting lesson with Akakpo. He has been out of town so we haven't really been able to have a lesson with him.  We finally were able to this week.  He is very accepting and always asks a lot of really good questions.  We had a great discussion on what happens to all the people of Togo who had never heard of Christ according to our church.  He then explained to us how he has actually been part of many religions.  He said for a year he was muslim and for a while he was christian, so he says he really likes to accept everyone.  He also reads a ton.  He usually reads what we give him and thinks about it a lot.
Also we had an awesome lesson with our ami named Boris.  He also has been out of town.  He always seems to teach us, I think, more than we teach him.  He told us how he has seen the importance of repent and make restitution( i think because of his job as a dective.)  It reminded me that really i learn more here or my mission than i really teach.
This week also we have had a ton of mangez-vous which is awesome!  I sent a picture of one of them we had the other day.  Also i thought Nanny Jo would appreciate this story.  So we recieved this contact from Sister Jolie in our ward.  We went over to her house and had this great lesson with her neighboor named Chalome.  It helped so much that Sr Jolie bore her testimony a few times, you could tell it really made a difference for Chalome.  So hopefully good things will come from that.  This is the part i thought Nanny jo would like: afterward Sister Jolie invited us to stay and eat.  It happens quite often.  While we were waiting for the food, my campanion noticed that there were some mice in the house.  I didn't see it though.  Then i saw it and was so startled i jumped out of my chair.  My campanion was laughing so hard, sister Jolie came back in to see what was going on.  We told here that there was a mouse.  She said like ," oh yeah, it is pretty normal in Togo to have a few mice in the house everyonce in awhile.  Sometimes i wake up to find a few on the floor running around." She didn't really think anything of it. I guess since it has been so cold lately the mice tried to find some warmth.  I thought it was pretty funny.
So this week has been pretty awesome.  I had a lot of rendez vous.  It was also great to see people in the ward helping out so much.  It really makes all the difference. 

I sent a few pictures too.  I resent two from the baptism because i didn't know if they sent and also one with one of the little girls in our ward named badga.
Je vous aime,
Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey

Bonjour from Togo

Bonjour tout le monde,
well, this week was pretty great. We had the oppurtunity to teach a lot which always makes the week fly by.  I have to admit it feels like the yesterday was monday.  We had some real progress with some of the amis lately.  We had a great lesson with Micheal this week.  I was with Elder Owusu because we were on an exchange that day.  We were having a pretty deep lesson on where do trials and temptations come from.  During the lesson though I noticed something, he kept mention the Book of Mormon as the word of God.  He kept saying how much he liked it too.  It really proved to me how much the Book of Mormon can help.
Also this week we got a contact?(i'm not sure what the word is in english i know in french its cordonnée.)  His name is Paul.  We had the hardest time find his house.  He said he lived near the boarder of Ghana.  We kept searching but we couldn't find him.  Elder Noumbolibona was about to call him again for the third or fourth time when we look around and there is Paul just a few feet away.  He is this huge guy who does Judo and swims.  I swear if he wanted to he could kill him in 5 seconds flat.  He is really funny too because whenever he agress with something or someone reads a scripture he says Hallejuah.  It is pretty awesome. 
This week also we have had a lot of help from the ward.  They have really stepped it up.  At church a bunch of members brought there friends.  Also even the recent converts are telling people about the church.  Antoine who just got baptized a week ago told us he been telling his neighboor about the Book of Mormon.
Also a funny thing that kept happening this week was I had a few offers of marriage. haha.  None of them really were serious, but it was funny still. 
I'm trying to think if I ate anything bizzare this week.  I'm not sure anymore because the food here has just become normal.  One food that I really love here is called ah demai or something like that.  It is made by with some plant in ewe is called ah demai.  I thought it was french(à demain like tommorow but i guess not.)  I usually eat it with pate  and maybe some smoked fish.  It is really good. Also i have love enyams.  They are awesome too.
This week in general has been pretty great. 
Happy pioneer day and i love you more than pie
Elder Corey Samuel Kimzey
 Corey's mom- It seems like Corey is adjusting well- his English is starting to change and the food is "normal"!

Late Photo of Corey's baptism

Kinda weird- we got another copy of the email corey sent earlier in the day, but with the attachment of this photo.  He must of forgotten to attach and then it didn't send until the middle of the night togo time (it was 7 pm our time).  Doesn't matter-he looks happy!