Bonjour,

So yesterday was incredible!!! I loved talking to you all so much! I honestly didn't even recognize Oma with her hair... and the camera was a little blurry. I was curious as to who that stranger was standing in the back. I can't believe that Bronson is already here! I am so stoked to have another little brother!! He looked so cute! It's weird to think that he will be 18 months old when I get back from the mission. That was the fastest 43 minutes of my life... I was so sad when it was over. I feel bad, I was telling everyone I loved them and I think I forgot to mention Ashlyn... So here is a little shout out to her: Ashlyn, I love you and everyone over here thinks you look like an angel :) I can't wait to see you again! I feel like I was barely able to say anything. I just couldn't believe that I was talking to you and seeing you! It was so awesome!

So, like I said last night, I went to the Gorilla Park today and it was AWESOME! We were like 5 feet away from these huge animals. We walked by the chimpanzees and they would run up and down a side of their huge cage and they would chuck their poop at you!! I got hit by a few chunks that was grated when it went through the chain link fence... it was so funny!! I got it on camera too!!! It was so fun running down the fence trying to get away from these stupid monkeys. This guy who helped drive us all there got nailed by some poop! NASTY! I got a picture in front of the HUGE tree. It was nuts... that thing is so ginormous.

So that was my day... right now I am sitting in a cyber burning up because the blinds here suck. Christmas was different not being with the family but I still loved it so much. Like I said yesterday, it has taken on a whole new meaning now being an official representative of Jesus Christ. What an incredible blessing. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary in Africa. I know the church is true!!

Je t'aime,
Elder Schmid

Hey Mom :)

Wow, I can't believe that CHRISTmas is in only 6 days. In 10 days, I will have been out on my mission for 6 months!! Time is going by so fast! I love being on a mission so much. My testimony is growing and growing each and every day. This has been the most incredible experience I have ever had. Every night I listen to Christmas music and it makes me think of home and of my friends and family. Every single memory I had was being with family and spending time together and what not. That's what I love most about this time... Well, of course it's a beautiful time to really focus on Christ, but it is also a time where we spend so much time together. I'm going to miss that so much this year... not being with you, but I know that I will be blessed because I am out here. I was thinking about the feast that you are going to have at the Van De Graaffs... lucky. I could use some of your potatoes and steak.

So, this week went by soooo fast! I seriously can't believe that it is Monday already. I don't really have that many cool stories... I have CRAZY ones. So yesterday, our power was out the whole morning and we had no water... I have taken 7 bucket showers since December 3rd... no fun. Anywho, we were walking to church and we saw all these fallen power lines. I thought to myself, "hmmm... no wonder we don't have power" and right as I said that a mercedes drove right over the fallen lines and somehow they got caught on the underneath of the car and it started dragging them and pulling more lines down. It was crazy! There were power lines flying all around us! Luckily we weren't hit.

Now, that story is nothing compared to this next one. So that same day we were walking back down to our apartment and as I was walking I heard this little girl scream so I looked over at where I heard the noise and I looked at a gate to a drive way (if you could even call it a drive way) and through the little crack I saw a white car going backwards. I thought to myself, "No way..." and then BAM this white mercedes nails this fence open and comes rolling out. There was a little kid in the front seat with the door open. I guess he was playing with the car and he undid the emergency brake. Words can't describe the terror that was on this kids face. So anywho, this car just comes rolling no more than 10 feet in front of me and it was heading towards a 10 foot drop into a patio just in front of the doors of this church. There was absolutely nothing I could do... I just stood there and watched this kid roll off the edge and fall 10 feet. I quickly ran to the edge and jumped down to help him... I didn't realize how far the drop was until I had already jumped... and then I thought "ah crap." but all was well. I ran up to the kid and kept on asking "ça va? ça va?" The kid got out of the car and put on his sandal that had fallen off and was in complete shock. The first thing he said was a silent "merde" (google translate that one) and then he put his hands on his head and started screaming that word. Then he said "Quest-ce que j'ai fait?!" (What have I done?) Once I realized that he was completely alright I kind of chuckled because I knew that this kid was SCREWED!! He kept on saying that he was going to kill himself...that was a little scary but I think he was just overwhelmed with the thought of what kind of whippin was in store for him. Women love whipping their children here. No more than two minutes after the accident there was a crowd all around the car. Elder Lamb and I just walked back to our apartment and then I took a picture. You will see that soon. Crazy, right?! Its nuts because it happened RIGHT in front of us. I love my mission.

So, as far as skype and what not, I have no clue what the schedule is. When I find out I will let you know. Don't worry, you will know before Christmas Eve. I can't wait to see all of your faces and hear all of your voices! So when did you guys get skype? Do you have a new computer or did you by a web cam? I'm pretty sure I will have more than 30 minutes but I'm not exactly sure. I am so stoked!!

So, when the heck is that baby going to come? I have gotten my hopes up the last 3 times I have gone to email, but each time I read the same news. I hope all is going well with that. I pray for you and my little brother every day.

The work is going very well over here. Elder Lamb and I have been pushing 30 lessons a week the past couple of weeks! It's awesome! We are finding (I guess I should say 'being blessed) with so much success. I love Ekounou 1 so much. That branch is so solid. So on Sunday, this little girl went up to give a talk and gave a solid talk and she's not even a member! We are teaching her grandmother and she has been coming to church for the past month or two. How cool is that?! I'm not sure with how legal that is but I thought it was awesome.

Well, I have to go. I love you :) I pray for you and the family every day. Bon chance avec the baby! (Good luck with the baby)

Je t'aime,
Elder Schmid

Hey hey hey!

Man, I can't believe that it has been another week. This week went by so fast and it was sooo awesome!! I love being a missionary so much! I have the privilege of seeing so many blessings and miracles every single day. This is the best job in the world.

So, something pretty funny happened last week. We went to go meet with one of our investigators but she wasn't there, and her husband wasn't either, so Elder Lamb and I just sat down on their front step and tried calling around for people that we could see. As we were sitting there, the grandmother walked up and started talking to us. I asked her how she was doing and she said that she wasn't doing too well. So, then I asked what was not going well. Haha, she told me that she has had diarrhea for the past two weeks and that she was throwing up and what not... I said, "wow, ça n'est pas bien!" (that's not good!) and she said "Oui! Je te dis!" (Yeah, I'm telling you!) haha it was pretty funny. Gross too.

Last Sunday, there was a man who came to church because a member in our branch introduced the church to him. So we set up a rendezvous with him this week and met him and his family and gave an awesome lesson. Well, he ended up telling us that he was Muslim and his kids were too... and as you all know, missionaries CAN NOT teach Muslims because of the problems that could come into their lives through converting to Christianity. We asked him if there would be any problems and he looked at us like we were stupid and basically said, "uh, no when you get old you can make your own decisions." So Elder Lamb and I are going to talk to President Jameson and see what we can do. His wife is catholic and was so excited that he was finally expressing interest in Jesus Christ and wanting to learn more. Their kids are pretty cool too! It was a little awkward at first. We had to wait at this huge catholic church for someone to come show us to their house and his 16 year old daughter came and she was dressed kind of sleazy... so it was weird walking in the dark with her. We got a lot of weird looks. I felt like such a creeper... and that wasn't the case at all!

We were teaching another one of our investigators with her granddaughter who is about 11 years old. Our investigator, Marthe, wasn't really understanding the stuff we were reading in 2 Nephi 31, and before we could explain it to her, her little granddaughter, who isn't even a member, started busting out the doctrine that is found in that chapter! It was so incredible. I felt like I was listening to a person who has been a member their whole life! A little later in the lesson she said something that opened my eyes a little... "Elle a dit," (You can't call anyone ugly). "We are created in the image of God and if you do you are insulting God." I felt like I was just slapped right across the face. I had never thought about this like that before. The day before that, I saw this french guy walking arm in arm with these 2 sleazy African women and I was telling Elder Lamb how he looked like a freak child predator and weird. And then this little girl said that little line and I was put in my place... figuratively speaking. It was a good chastisement.

So, on Sunday we went and met one of our investigators who was at church. We got there and started talking to her and she started talking about how she got back from work that morning at 6 in the morning and she didn't really want to go to church. But she had said to us that she would go. So she got down on her knees and started praying and said "Lord, if the Book of Mormon and this church are true, please give me the strength to get up and go to church." She said right at that moment she was overcome with joy and strength and she went to church! She told us how she knows now without a doubt in her mind that our message and that this church are true!! It was so awesome to hear that! And I understood all of it too! Elder Lamb didn't have to translate for me. I was so happy! Those are the kinds of things that I see every single day of my mission. I love this work so much!

As far as the skype, I can skype but I have no clue what the schedule will be. When I do find out I will email you first thing. I can't wait to see you and talk to you!

I love you all so much and I hope all is going well. And thank you so much for your emails... they are so awesome. I'm sorry my emails suck... anywho, I love you! I can't wait to find out that you popped and that I have another little bro layin around at chez-moi!!

Oh, and as for the blog, you are doing AWESOME!! Thank you so much. It looks so good! You're the best :)

Je t'aime,
Elder Schmid

Hello Mom :)

I got your Thanksgiving card! Thank you so much for that! It was kinda weird getting that... because usually I sign that along with the family and we give it to someone, and now I am the recipient of it. I love it though :) I love the pictures, as well. Can you please send me some nice printed pictures that I can put in my photobook? I look at those all the time. Just like the ones you sent of our family pictures before we left. That would be awesome! It's good to hear that Caelan is doing well in choir. I am so bummed that I never did choir in high school. FORCE the kids to take it. Also I want to see some pictures of you being pregnant! I don't know why... I just do.

We had a lesson in Priesthood and it was about eternal marriage and then it somehow turned into a discussion about Heavenly Mother... It was very awkward... just the way they were talking about her and throwing out her title. Some of our members don't even believe in her and were debating... yikes! Elder Lamb had to basically bear testimony that yes, we do have Heavenly PARENTS and that there, in reality, is a Heavenly Mother. Elder Lamb is a stud.

We had three more baptisms this week! I am so blessed that the Lord is allowing me to experience all of this! We baptized an older lady named Paulette, and her two daughters, Laure and Isabelle. The two daughters are like 29 and 33. I was able to baptize Paulette and Isabelle. When I baptized Isabelle, before she was fully immersed she flew back out of the water... I don't know why. I always have the people who don't want to go down all the way. So we had to do it again and I shoved her down pretty far just in case she wanted to jump up again. After the baptism all of the missionaries in Yaoundé (10 including the Thompsons) went over to their house and we had a FEAST! There was sooo much food and it was so good! Well, some of it was. I ate chicken and cake bread :) I let the other missionaries eat the gumbo and fufu. That stuff is definitely not for me.

I finished writing in my first journal on December 2nd! It took me 157 days to complete it... and I wrote in it every single day. I am pretty proud of myself. It is so cool to look back and read about my life basically in the MTC and the first few months in Africa. You will have fun listening to some of my entries when I get back!

So, we got into a taxi one day to go over to an investigators house and we called "cent-cent" which is basically 40 cents. You can usually get a ride for that amount. Well because we are white the taxi men think they can get more money out of us. So we called our call and the taxi man hesitated for a little bit and then let us in and then he asked us "comment est-ce que vous connaissez 'cent-cent'?" (How is it that you know 'hundred-hundred'?) and I said "Par le pouvoir du Saint-Esprit vous pouvez connaitre la vérité de toutes choses!" ("By the power of the Holy Spirit you can know the truth of all things ! Moroni 10:5) It was pretty awesome. I felt pretty proud.

So we met this anglophone (able to speak english) lady the other day and her name is Désy (Daisy) and she is crazy! But she is so awesome! She was telling us that she used to visit with other missionaries, like a year ago, and she loved them so much. She said that they were best friends and that they would come over to her house and pray and talk about the gospel all the time. At one time, she said that the missionaries and her laid their hands on her sons head and she prayed and the next day he was speaking english! I couldn't believe that one... so we called the missionary who was with her that night and asked because we thought it was so funny and he was shocked that she said that... he said "WHAT?!?! No way! That didn't happen!" and then he said "yeah, we were spreading apostasy over there in Ekounou 1." haha it made for a good life. Well, anywho, Elder Lamb and I invited her to baptism at the end of the lesson and she thought about it and then she asked us if we were married and we said no, and then she asked us if we will ever get married, so then, I pulled out my picture book and showed her a picture of Alex and I and I told her that someday I hope that I will marry her. Well, she looked at Elder Lamb and I, and told us how happy she is that we will get married when we get back from our missions and she told me that she loves Alex so much because she is so pretty... then she accepted our invitation to baptism!! haha so, I need to thank Alex for helping one of our amis accept the commitment to be baptized :) She will probably be so embarassed when she reads this. I love you babe :)

So, that was my week. It was pretty good and I am very happy! I love this misson so much and I am so blessed that I am here right now. Everything is going so well. I hope all is well back at home. Enjoy the cold... it is so hot over here. I love you!

Avec amour,

Elder Schmid

A flower among two thorns :)

Bananas all along the sidewalks

Notice all the ants crawling over the hanging laundry

What can he possibly be making?

A piece of Arizona in Africa

Elder Schmid, Jimmy (Captain of the Cameroon Rugby team), Elder Lamb

Fixing a broken pipe at church

Leaving their home to find others to bring home

Mother, O Mother, I love you :)

This week was incredible. The mission is always incredible. So first off, you are such a punk... thanks for the cheese and crackers. I laughed out loud when I saw that. Don't worry about the mouse... it only got into a bag of cheezits. It made the rest of the package smell quite nice. I opened up your Christmas package as well... I just wasn't thinking and I just started opening. But, thank you so much! I love that little yo-yo and that nice banner thing you sent! Was that homemade? I know this Christmas will be such a happy one. I have been reading Jesus the Christ (the Beast) and everyday my testimony of Jesus Christ has grown so much. I am really excited to celebrate Christmas this year because for the first time I think I will have the true spirit of Christmas. I can't even begin to express in words how grateful I am for Jesus Christ... especially right now. He has been helping me out so much lately. I KNOW that he is there. I KNOW that he loves me and wants to help me.

So, this last Sunday there was a little primary program and it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Africans sing so loud, especially the kids. There was only like 30 kids but when they were done singing my ears were ringing. They sang "I love to See the Temple" one time and the spirit was so strong. I just wanted to cry... I knew that that little message the children were singing was true. Half of the kids in the program are non members. We are teaching them and their families right now. They all went up and were reciting scriptures and the Articles of Faith... even the non-members. I was so proud! They would get up on the stand, take the microphone, bow or curtsy (no clue how to spell that one), and then do whatever they needed to do, bow or curtsy encore, and sit down. It was awesome! I had to give a talk but this primary program was a surprise to some of the leaders so they postponed my talk... hopefully forgot about it too. We'll see :) So when I first started here in the beginning of September, about 70 people were attending sacrament meeting every week. Well, this past Sunday we had 120! The work is so crazy here! I am so blessed that the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to work here in Ekounou 1 WITH Elder Lamb. Elder Lamb is such a stud. I am so grateful that he is my trainer. I am learning so much from him. It's crazy to think that we are cousins too. Small world!

So, here is a cool story for you. Last week we received a contact from the missionaries who work in Bastos 2 and they said that this lady came to their church but lives in our area so we need to teach her. Her name is Rachelle. We finished a rendezvous and walked to a carrfour to get a taxi to Carrfour Essomba and as we were waiting, Elder Lamb went to close the taxi door for a lady that just got into the front seat and all of the sudden we heard "Elder Lamb!!" This lady in the back of the taxi was screaming his name and we were so confused because we had never seen her before. As she was driving away we realized that that was Rachelle! She quickly called us and we told her that "on arrive!" It took us like 10 minutes to get a stupid taxi though... It usually costs cent cent (basically 40 cents) to get wherever you need to go but because we are white, taxi guys think they can charge us more because we "have more money". We finally got to Essomba and met up with Rachelle and went to her little house. And when I say little house I mean her whole entire house is smaller than my room back home. I would say it was 8' x 8'. We started asking her what interests her in the church and then she started pulling out all these brochures she had and she even had un Livre de Mormon and a Prechez mon Evangile!! Elder Lamb and I were like "what the heck?!" We started going over the "How to Begin Teaching" Steps in Preach My Gospel chapter 10 and at one point she told us that her little daughter had passed away when she was about 2 years old. The awesome thing was that that morning Elder Lamb had read Moroni 8 (8. Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done away in me. 9. And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children. 10. Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children.) for personal study and we discussed it a little bit for comp study. So we looked at each other and jumped right into what we talked about. We shared verses 8 and 10 with her. I love verse 10. I told her that I honestly believe it was her little daughter that was prompting her to go to church and what not because she wants to live with her mom for eternity. It was such a powerful moment and I know without a doubt the spirit bore witness to Rachelle that the things I had just told her were true. She then got very emotional and told us how much that meant to her. She then told us that her father had passed away without hearing about the gospel... she then looked at us and asked, "Is he lost?" I was so happy to receive that question!! We talked about how we can do baptisms for the dead and when we do we are helping others who have passed on achieve their salvation. We told her that she could send his name to the temple and he could have the work done for him. She broke down again when she received this news. It was so awesome seeing the spirit work with her. We invited her to be baptized on the 7th of January and she accepted!! Awww yeah! We got a call from the Elder that gave us her contact and he told us that she wasn't married, and the guy who she lives with is a member and attends their branch. Don't ask me what happened... I have no clue. Things in Africa are a little crazy sometimes. But we will work it out!

Lately, we have been bringing Finding Faith in Christ with us to our rendezvous to watch with our amis and in that little video there is a scene where Jesus helps this man pick up some bread that he dropped. Well, the first time I watched it I must have put my head down for a second because when I looked up Jesus had a piece of bread and was walking away. I thought he straight up took the bread! I had to watch it again later just to see that scene again and the second time I realized that the old man gave it to him. I am so stupid! It provided a good laugh though when I told that to Elder Lamb.

Alex sent me a rockin package and she put Christmas lights in it! And they are awesome! So we are going to tape them to the wall in the shape of a Christmas tree and then we will hang that little banner thing up that you gave me. Then our apartment will be decorated! I love Christmas time! And, no, I didn't get your thanksgiving card.

The apartment is pretty nice... well nice compared to everyone else here in Yaoundé. We have a stupid mice problem, as you can tell by the beautiful pictures :) Did those make some stomachs stir? We have a butt load of cockroaches too... HUGE ones. We went to the American store the other week and bought some Raid and have been powning noobz with that stuff. Our kitchen table is infested with termites... there are ants all over the kitchen... we have mice running all around and hitting up our trash cans at night... we have stupid little spiders all over. Some might consider that a hell hole, but for me it's home :) I love my life in Africa so much! I am so glad that I am here right now. J'aime ma vie!! Et je t'aime ma mère!!

Avec amour,
Elder Schmid

Hello Mom,

I'm glad everyone is doing well! I am so stoked for Kamas! He is such a great guy. I can't believe that the holidays are already coming up. It doesn't feel like it at all... especially because it is so hot over here. Remember when I told you it felt like San Diego over here? Well, it doesn't anymore... it is so hot. I get nice and sweaty every single day. It's the dry season right now and it will stay that way until about April I think... Not exactly sure on that one. This morning I woke up to a lightning storm. It was so awesome! I woke up to this huge thunder and, just like the movies, it started pouring just after. It was pretty cool. About 10 minutes later, lightning struck right next to the apartment. I was laying in my bed with my eyes closed and everything would go blue when the lightning struck, and usually I would have to wait a couple of seconds to hear the thunder but there was one where the thunder came right with the light and it scared the crap out of me... my window was open and I jumped so much. I love thunder so much. I think that is my favorite thing about nature.

So, this week, for one of the days, I went on a split with one of the missionaries in my district, Elder Prince. We worked in his area which is Ekounou 2. We visited this one investigator who had just received a Book of Mormon just a couple days before and when we asked him about how the Book of Mormon was, he showed us that he was already in 3 Nephi!! This man is legit! It was pretty funny, we invited his wife to baptism and she shook her head no and then this man looked at us and said, "Don't worry, she WILL be baptized. I will make her because she is my wife." We had to quickly teach about free agency, but that made for a funny moment.

Elder Lamb and I did service at a members farm the other day. It is right by the big soccer stadium that is in Yaoundé. We used machetes to cut down the weeds and grass and stuff. My arms were pretty sore afterwards and I had blisters but it felt so good to go out and actually do some physical labor. The neighborhood people got a kick out of seeing two white boys working on the farm. It was pretty funny. We had no clue what we were doing. Frère Mabally, the owner of the farm, told me that he was very impressed that that was my first time using a machete. I guess I'm a natural :) Our new convert came and worked with us too. He was telling us about the farm that his family has out in his village. He told us that he would come across "savage" animals like lions, tigers, elephants, and what not! Legit!! He said about 5 years ago he was out working and he found a few baby tiger cubs so he took them and sold them! Good thing he didn't get caught...that's like 30 years in prison. I have some funny videos and pictures of the service. You will see them when I send home my next memory card.

So this week Elder Lamb and I were kind of running low on money...especially on Saturday and Sunday. Well, God, I guess, wanted to help us out because we got a free taxi ride all the way to the baptism in bastos which is usually pretty expensive (well, here in Cameroon it is, back in the US it would of cost a dollar), we got free drinks, and then we got fed an awesome meal at an investigators house! And then on Sunday, we were running very late and right when we left the apartment we said a prayer and asked the Lord to help us find a taxi very fast so we could get to church on time. Usually we have to walk for about 15 minutes until we can get a taxi, and church started in 13... well, right as we walked out of our apartment complex there was a taxi right there with the doors open! We asked the driver if he could take us and he said "Oui", and we were on our way and we were early to church! Talk about tender mercies! It was awesome!

So this week was great! I want to thank everyone for the prayers. I have really felt the Lords presence helping me. All is well with Elder Schmid :) I hope all is well back home. Good luck with everything next week. I pray for you so much. I love you :)

Avec amour,
Elder Schmid

PS - I don't know if I already told you or not but my name suggestion is Braylen.

Mom,

So this week has been the hardest week by far on my mission. But,
amongst the trial I have definitely come closer to my Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ. Grandpa has been with me a lot recently... with his
hands on my shoulders providing me with peace. Life is hard, but when
you do what is right and honestly do everything you need to do to gain
exaltation, it is worth it.

We received transfer info and Elder Lamb and I will be staying in
Ekounou 1 for another transfer. I am so excited to have the
opportunity to have yet another transfer with Elder Lamb. That man is
such a giant and I look up to him so much. I am so grateful that the
Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to be with him these past 12
weeks. I have grown so much because of him.

So yesterday, Elder Lamb and I were walking with a member in our
branch, Frère Odoumba, and we came across these two drunk old men. At
first, I didn't want to talk to them at all but because Elder Lamb is
such an awesome missionary and never misses an opportunity to spread
the gospel we spoke to them. This man had a little bag of gin that he
was chugging. He was so wasted. He was telling me how he loved me and
that he was going to wait for me to come back. He then offered his
women to me. He told me that he hated me because I am white and white
people cause all the problems. He told me that it was my fault that he
was drinking alcohol because the white people made it and produce it.
He just went on and on saying the craziest things. We got a good laugh
out of it. He told me that he was my father and I immediately said
that he wasn't and he didn't like that one bit. I told him that he is
my brother, and he was alright with that.

Elder Lamb and I cleaned the apartment today and we took out the
trash. Well, this trash had been sitting for over a week and there was
a bunch of rotting fruit and what not just chilling there. I touched
the bag to start pulling it out of the bin and a huge swarm of fruit
flies flew right into my face. It was so disgusting! The kitchen is
now spotless but that will probably only last for another 4 hours...

So, I remember you asking me how many baptisms I have because people were wondering... well, I have 12 and number 13 will be this Saturday. The
girl getting baptized this week is Claurice... she is 20 years old.
She is so solid. Up until a couple of weeks ago, she was struggling
with the law of chastity and Elder Lamb and I were having a hard time
getting her to commit to following that commandment... Elder Lamb and
I needed some Odoumba power... so we called Frère Odoumba and asked
him to come help us out with this issue. Well, he bore an incredible
testimony about the blessings of keeping this commandment and he
totally convinced her that she needed to change her ways. It was
incredible! Member missionaries are incredible! Well, the next day we
went to go see how Claurice was doing and she told us about an
experience she had the night before after we left her. She went to her
boyfriends house and he wanted to "faire l'amour" avec elle. She said
that she didn't want to do that anymore and he started talking about
the church and dissing the church telling her that she doesn't know
what kind of sect she is getting herself into. Then Claurice told him,
"In all of the churches I have been to, the pastor says basically 'do
what I say, not what I do,' but in our church, since the beginning
these missionaries have been asking me to do what they do and pray and
ask God if it is true." She said that she knows that this church isn't
a sect. He didn't like that and he started telling her that she had
some kind of demon spirit inside of her. So, then she said, "If a demon
spirit is helping me to stop doing stupid things, then I will keep my
demon spirit and you can stay with your 'holy' spirit. She totally shut
him up and left him that night and said that she is not coming back!
She then looked at Elder Lamb and I and said "My baptism WILL be the
on the 19th. She is so awesome!

I hope all is well at home. I hope you are doing well and the baby as
well. I can't believe that he will be coming so soon. I pray for you
everyday. I need your prayers too... more now than ever before. I love
you.

Love,
Elder Schmid

Hey Mother :)

How are you doing? How is the little baby growing inside of you? I
can't believe that I will have another little brother within a month
or so. I keep on telling my investigators and people that I run into
around here. I am so excited! I need to start off and apologize for
last weeks email. I know it sucked. I was all over the place. I
promise this one will be better. So, I am going to tell you some funny
things that happened to me this week and then I will tell you about a
spiritual experience or two.

So, I show my little photo book to every investigator when I bear
testimony of eternal families and I showed one investigator the other
day and she saw Dad and she said that he looked like Thomas S. Monson!
I laughed out loud at that one. She must think that all white people
look alike. I am finally starting to notice the difference in the
faces and what not here. So those white shirts that you see on the
Jamesons blog are mine. I take good care of all of my clothes. You
would be so surprised to see how clean I am here :) Oh, and one more
thing... The Thompsons just told me that the couple in Douala just
received a package for me and the mice got into it. I guess there was
candy or something in it and so the mice smelled it and got to it. The
lady at the post office said that if you send packages with any kind
of food or candy to write "CHOCOLATE" on the package so that they know
to put the package in a mice free storage room. And the package is
only 2000 cfa which is equivalent to $4, so, way to be small!! (and I
don't mean that to complain). There are Elders here that have to pay
36000 to receive some of their packages.

Alright so this week was interesting. I am going to start with this
Saturday, which was baptism day. We had 3 investigators that were
baptized... Jimmy, Francois, and Nadeje. We were all down in the
changing room waiting for the investigators to come down and change
and one was not showing up. We had no clue where he was so we just sat
there waiting. The service was supposed to start at 1:00 pm and we
ended up starting at 1:30. The investigator was found sitting in the
relief society room where we have the service. He was sitting there
all quiet and to himself! haha No one told him to come down to the
changing room, so this whole time we thought that he was super late! So,
we finally got him changed and we started the service. I had to give a
talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost and I feel it went really well.
Afterwards, Elder Thompson came up to me and told me how well I did and
that really made me feel good. I could tell it wasn't just one of
those "hey, you did good" compliments. I love Elder Thompson. So the
actual baptism was pretty interesting. The elders who live in Bastos
were in charge of filling up the font because the chapel we do the
baptisms in is in Bastos. Well, they turned on the water the night
before and the water, for some reason, was shut off in the middle of the
night so the font was super low in the morning... Like probably to my
knees. So Elder Wagman and LaFleur were hustling and trying to fill it
up more using buckets. By the time people were entering the water it
was probably just below mid thigh.... So yeah, pretty low. The first
elder almost went down in the font with his investigator when he
baptized her... poor guy. Next was Elder Lamb. He had to baptize
Jimmy. Now let me remind you who Jimmy is. Jimmy was the captain on
the Cameroonian rugby team. He owns a garage and a gym. This guy is
HUGE!!! His forearm is bigger than my flexed bicep. Now I know there
are probably some of you reading this and saying "well, that isn't
saying much" but really, this guy is so big. Elder Lamb was nervous
cause he didn't want to fall down in the water with him. Well, Jimmy
did everything he was supposed to do perfectly...bending his knees and
kinda squatting and what not so it went really well. Elder Lamb
baptized two others and then it was Nadeje's turn. She had a member in
the branch baptize her. When she was dunked she totally let go of the
man baptizing her and he had to pull her up all awkwardly. It seemed
like she almost passed out when she went under... but she did go
completely under so that was good. He pulled her up and held her and
she regained her composure. After about 30 seconds she started to walk
out of the font and she stopped on the stairs and sat there for a
while and put her face in her hands. We had no clue what was going on.
I thought she was just really touched or something and then all of the
sudden she passes out and falls backward into the font!! Luckily the
man in the font was able to catch her. He started to carry her out and
then she regained her composure again and was escorted out and into
the changing room... It was so bizarre! Only in Africa. So that is my
interesting story about the baptism.

So, on Sunday I was able to confirm Francois a member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it was incredible. Right before
the confirmation I was so nervous and I was shaking like crazy so I
said a little prayer and right when I set my hands on his head my
whole body became still and I was completely calm. It was incredible.
I KNOW that the Lord answers our prayers. The blessing went well!
After church we were supposed to meet this woman who wanted to see us.
We went to Jimmy's garage but she never showed up. As we were waiting
this man that always chills around Jimmy's garage showed up and
started talking to us. He was an anglophone (English speaking) so I was actually talking
to him haha. Well, we told him that Jimmy and Abraham (another worker
at Jimmy's garage) were just baptized and he couldn't believe what he
was hearing. He was so happy to hear that and he started to walk up
and down saying "Jesus! Jesus! Wow! Jesus!" This man was so happy!! I
then had the prompting to ask him what he knew about the Atonement of
Jesus Christ and one thing lead to another he ended up saying how
there are so many churches in the world today and he just doesn't know
which one is true... Elder Lamb and I looked at each other and were
like "RESTORATION!!" in our minds. So I went into the restoration and
we talked about Joseph Smiths story and the First Vision and the whole
time we were talking this man, Rodger, was smiling so big. I asked him
when we finished how he was feeling and he said that he felt soooo
good inside! The best he has ever felt! We told him that that was the
Spirit of the Lord witnessing to him that the things we were saying
were true. We then started talking about prophets and I showed him a
picture of Thomas S. Monson and he looked at it and looked at me and
said "I know that this is the prophet of God." It was so incredible to
hear him say that. He then said something sooo amazing. He said, "Now,
there is one thing that I LOVE about your church...one point, and that
is that you focus on families." Elder Lamb and I couldn't believe what
we were hearing. We busted out the Family proclamation and read to him
the third paragraph and he told us that he knew that that was true and
then he told us that he knew that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. He
said, "How could a man lie like that? He can't! I know that this is
true!" It was so incredible!! We talked about temples too and how
families can be together forever and we showed him a Liahona that was
completely dedicated to temples. So we were showing him pictures of
the temples and he was in such awe. He saw the Ghana temple and told
us that that was the prettiest temple in Africa. We told him that he
could go to the temple a year after he was baptized and he got so
excited when he heard that! We then invited him to baptism and he
accepted so he is set for December 3rd I believe. Man, that experience
was so incredible. Experiences like that make this whole mission
experience so incredible. I love my life!

I hope all is well. I love you so much. I need your prayers right now.

Love,
Elder Schmid

Hey Mom :)

I just want to start off by telling you how much I love you and how
grateful I am for your awesome emails. I am so happy for Kamas and
Brie! Kamas is such a stud. I was laughing so hard when I read your
little comment about DJ. I have so much respect for him. Even if he
sends me questionable gifts. I look up to him so much. He has been
on my mind a lot lately... and now I think I know why. I am so happy for
Dallin!! It sounds like he is doing great! I sent him a little letter
today along with my memory cards. I copied all of my photos over on
another memory card in case these get "misplaced" but I doubt they
will. It sounds like you have already seen a lot of pictures from the
Thompsons and Jamesons blog so you will probably be seeing the same
pictures a couple of times. I'm sorry I can't email that many
pictures home. I am to obstinate to take pictures with a lower quality
setting so it takes forever to load. But if this mailing thing works out
that will be great. There are two memory cards in this envelope. When you
send them back try sending one in a letter to me and send another
one in a package. I'm curious to see if the one in the envelope will get
to me. Ashlyn is such a cutie. I was smiling when you were telling
me her little award that she received. I love my family so much. I hope
you know that. Have you received my letter yet?

So, this next paragraph is going to be all over the place. I wrote down things I wanted to tell you on a little piece of paper so everything that I am about to tell you will go in no order at all. Sorry :) So, this week I saw a silver mini cooper! It was so random but cool! It got me excited for when I get home cause I will be getting opas :) Elder Lamb and I went to this mans house to teach him the first lesson and when we got to the door there was this lady changing a child's
diaper on her lap and we asked her if the man was there and she said
that he just left, and then she looked at me and said "vous êtes mignon." (You're so cute) I didn't really know what she said so I said "quoi?" and I looked at Elder Lamb and he just gave a little smile and said "merci, votre bébé est mignon aussi." (Thanks, you're baby is cute too) When he said that I realized what she said. If was nice to hear someone say that I was cute but it was
totally weird at the same time. One of our investigators, Jimmy, introduced us to one of his customers at his garage and his name is Francois. Francois is so legit! We sat down with him for 15 minutes and talked to him about our missionary purpose and why we are here in
Cameroon and we invited him to baptism on December 3rd and he said
that he will be baptized! He told us that he wanted to be with us...
to have what we have. He is so awesome. On Sunday, we had a lesson with
all of our amis (friends) about the spirit world, taught by one of the branch
missionaries, and then it somehow turned into a discussion about
baptisms for the dead. Well, at the end, Francois turned to me and
explained how that lesson was so incredible and how it was an answer
to his prayers. Evidently, he had a son that passed away and he was
always nervous for him and he told me that all of his questions are
now answered and that he didn't worry anymore. I saw true happiness
and it was so incredible. We had a rendez-vous with this ami named
Nadaje and it was a very powerful lesson and at the end we asked if we
could sing a cantique (hymn), and as she was looking for a cantique to sing I
felt inspired to ask her to sing Cantique 65 "Va, ne crais pas" (Be
Still My Soul) and so we did and at the very end I watched Nadeje sing
the very last line and she sat there and and looked at that sentence
and then just started crying. I would try to translate it for you but
I am to lazy to get out my little cantique book and do it... sorry. It
was such a sweet moment and I know without a doubt that the Lord
inspired me to request that song. So, I was in a rendez-vous with Jimmy
and in the middle of the lesson he looked at my sandal and pointed out
that it was ripped so he told one of his employees to come over and he
took off my sandal and went and got it fixed and brought it back in
like 10 minutes. He didn't make me pay for it or anything. Jimmy is so
awesome. He is getting baptized on Saturday. He was the captain on
Cameroons rugby team. He is such a beast. His arm is like the size of
my neck...maybe even bigger. He could tear me apart if he wanted. He
is such a gentle giant. It is so incredible to see the change in his
life that has come because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was
walking to a rendez-vous with Elder Lamb one night and these two girls
ran up to us and started walking with us. One of the girls was one of
the people that we were going to go teach and she was with here
friend. Well, her friend told me that her name was Natascha and I was
like "hey, that's my aunts name!" and I showed her a picture that I
have in my photobook of Tasha and I, and then she got really weird
after that. She started "brushing up" against me and tried to hold my
hand. It was super awkward. I started walking with my hands on my
backpack straps or on my head. So, here in Africa we have a problem...
We ask people to pray to know if what we are telling them is true and
they look at us and say, "I already know it is true! I don't need to
pray!" We have a hard time explaining to them why they really need to
pray. It is so cool to sit back and think about that problem. That is
such a cool problem to have! People here are so faithful. One
morning one of our amis called us and told us that they couldn't see
us so we spent 45 minutes calling around trying to fill that open slot
up but everyone was busy. We eventually gave up and just said, "God
will provide" and left it at that. Well, God definitely provided. We
went to Jimmy's garage to teach Jimmy but he wasn't there, but Francois
was, so, we decided to teach him and we had an incredible lesson with him.
His progression is on fire! By the way this man is progressing, he will
be a branch president in just a couple of weeks! So, one day I was
walking by this gas station and this little beggar kid came up to me
and started holding my hand and he held out his free hand in a cupping
shape begging for money. Well, it is against the rules as missionaries
to give money, so I told him no and kept on walking. He ran up to
me again and latched onto my legs and wouldn't let go, so I picked him
up and set him down and forcefully said no and ran across a busy
street with Elder Lamb to get a taxi. All the "tough" moto guys were
all giving me crap for not giving him money, but hey I can't break the
rules! Well, the next morning I was at Mosiah 4 in my personal study
and that chapter is all about giving to the poor and needy. I felt
like crap after reading that... Benjamin chastized me a little bit. I
mentally changed vs 24 to "I give not because I can not, but if I
could I would." That made me feel a little bit better. Hey, remember
when I was little you would comb my hair all nice and tell me how GQ I
look?? Well, I am sporting that look again :) I don't know why... I
just am. I am not cutting my hair until Christmas so it is going to
get nice and long. It is actually pretty long right now. So this lady
fed me one day and she kept on loading all these noodles onto my plate
and I easily had like 7 servings on my plate and when she finished
putting all that food on my plate I said under my breath "holy cow"
and right when I said that she looked at me and said "my last baby
could eat all of that!" If that is true, than her baby is a monster
cause that was so much food.

Well, that was all I wanted to tell you. Sorry it was so scattered. I
can't believe that it has been 11 years since Grandpa has passed away.
He may physically be gone but spiritually he is with me every day. I
have felt his presence so much. He is helping me so much out here :)

I want you to send me a lot of pictures and a MEAD 5 star notebook
with 8.5x11 paper. I need more letter paper and the paper here
sucks. If you are ever curious with what to send, send me ties. Also, Don't
worry about Christmas and my birthday. Just put money or something in
my account so I will have a little for when I get home so I can have
some for school and what not.

My ankle is still swollen and it pops every time I move it a certain
way. Is that alright? It doesn't hurt at all.

Well, I hope all is well. I love you so much. Thanks for being so
great. I pray for you and the family every day. I love you mom :)

Avec amour,
Elder Schmid

Yaounde 10/24/11

Hey Mom :)

So I just want to let you know that I wrote you such a good letter
and it will be in the mail tomorrow :) If this letter doesn't make you
cry... then I have failed. This letter is legit. I loved writing this
letter. I love you so much :) There is one for Dad, too. I miss you all
so much!

So this past week was pretty good! It has been the slowest week out of
my stay here in Africa but it was still great! Elder Lamb and I have
such awesome investigators. We seriously bear testimony and people
just believe us. We left this one family with a commitment to read 3
Nephi 11 and they failed to do so, so we read it with them in our next
rendez-vous, and while we were reading it and explaining it, the Spirit
was so strong. And it was all in English :) At the end, we asked them
if they believed what they had just read and they looked at us like we
were stupid and said basically, "Yes! Of course we believe it! It's the
word of God!" Yup... only in Africa.

On Wednesday, we were at the church waiting for coordination meeting to start and we were talking to this young man named Junior and he was telling us how he was super
stressed with work and school and stuff and he asked us to give him a
blessing. He asked me to give the blessing, and I did. I have such
a firm testimony now that if you trust the Lord, He WILL put the words
in your head that you need to say. It felt so good. I love feeling the
Lords help so much. I love having the spirit!! I love my life!!! Oh,
and I met a guy named Carlos on Wednesday... that was random. We have
this awesome investigator named Nadeje and every time we leave her
with something to read, she reads all of it and when we meet with her
again she explains everything she read to us and gives us a very
detailed summary of what she read. She has so much faith and desire.
She is set to be baptized on November 5th. That is when we have our
next baptismal service. We have 3 set for that date and we have 5 set
for November 19th and we plan on adding 5 more for November 19th. Of
course, things never go as planned here, but we tend to stick to what
we have planned. I love this work so much!! On Saturday, we had our
"General Conference." Everyone went to the church and we watched the
Saturday sessions and then the men watched Priesthood. It was all in
French with no subtitles, so I understood barely anything. Aaand it
was in French French...not African French so that made it even more
difficult. So I just decided to write you and Dad letters. We get the
Liahona in a few weeks with all the talks and the Thompson's have it
downloaded on their computers so I am going to go over there and put
it on my iPod. The Thompson's are so awesome. They are such a blessing
to the missionaries here. I am soooo grateful for all that they do.
They really feel like my mom and dad out here. When MoTab was singing
everyone else would sing and it was pretty bad cause they totally sang
at different tempos... so the people here would finish one song and
the choir would still have like 2 measures left. And then there were
some key changes... that made things pretty funny. It was great
though! The people here have such an incredible spirit.

I saw some pretty crazy things on Saturday. We were driving home and we pulled up
into traffic and I was watching this lady walk by the car with this
huge bowl on her head when a car slammed into a parked car right next
to us! That lady was almost nailed! The car that was hit flew under a
truck and lifted the truck up... and I was right there! I was less
than 20 feet away! It was crazy! Right as I heard the noise I looked
at the car that crashed and I saw the guy bouncing around a little bit
in his front seat. Sucks for him. Then I saw a man walking down the
road and he had nothing on but a cloth covering his crotch... his butt
was in plain view. Oh Cameroon. And then we saw a man standing in a
sewer peeing... at least he didn't miss. And then Elder Lamb saw this
man changing and was completely naked. The guy thought he would change
behind a door...well the door had a fat window in it so the privacy
thing didn't work out too well.

On Sunday, we watched the Sunday sessions of Conference. It was great. I just finished your letter and the letter for Dad. We then went and taught this lady named Soeur Marthe. We actually call here Mama Marthe. She is so awesome. We were
so thirsty so we asked for some water because she has filtered water and
she didn't have any at the moment so she called for her daughter and
told her to go buy some. Elder Lamb tried to fight it and tell her to
not worry about it and to not buy things on Sunday and she turned to
him and said "I'm not baptized yet! I can buy water." It was pretty
funny. I quietly laughed... he then looked at me to back him up and I
said "Sorry bud, I am so thirsty right now" and then I smiled :) That
water was so refreshing. So that was my week!

I'm going to try to answer your questions. We had transfers 2 weeks
ago but nothing changed. All the new missionaries and their trainers
are on this new 12 week program that the big guys up top have come up
with. So I will definitely be with Elder Lamb my first two transfers
and hopefully for more. I love Elder Lamb so much. It is so easy for
me to open up with him and be myself. I am so blessed to have him as
my companion. No, no one has tried to pick pocket me yet. I don't
think I will run into problems with that. I don't carry my wallet on
me anyways or anything of great importance. Except for the Word of
God! And that will definitely benefit whomever steals it. So no worries
there.

I am so glad that Justin and Janalyn's baby is doing better. Poor
thing. They were in my prayers and still are. I hope Kurt feels
better. I'm scared to give advice because I don't want people thinking
"well you have it so much easier than he does because people just flock
to you in Africa." Whoever thinks that is wrong. No matter where you are you have so many struggles. They will all vary but we ALL have them. My advice for Kurt would be to always fall on
his testimony. The thing that picks me up when I am down is when I
think of eternal families. I always look at our family photos and that
always picks me up. I love bearing testimony that families can be
together forever. I haven't had the opportunity to read Kurt's email,
but that is what I would tell him. I'll see if I can shoot him a quick
email. I am so glad that he and I are out here together. I respect
him so much and really look up to him.

I can't wait to get the packages! I will probably wait to open them on
Christmas so I can actually have gifts! I can't believe that that is
two months away. Time goes by so fast! You should all send me letters
too :) Well that is about it for this week! I love you so much and I
pray for you everyday!

Love,
Elder Schmid

Yaounde 10/17/11

Hi Mom :)

This past week was so incredible! We had an awesome rendez-vous and
everything! We also had 3 baptisms! I haven't even been here a month
and a half and I already have 9 baptisms. The work here is so crazy. I
will probably never have the chance to go out and actually knock
doors. My entire day, besides morning studies, consists of lesson after
lesson. The only time we have to talk to people, who are not our
investigators, is when they call us over when we are walking down the
street. Many of them just say "Hey! I want you to preach to me!" So we
do... and we give them a Restoration brochure and bear our
testimonies. It is so incredible how much work there is here and how
busy we are. I am loving every single minute of it.

Something really special happened for me on Saturday. So, remember from
my first email when I told you about my very first baptismal
invitation? It was on my very first day that I worked... I believe it
was 9.08.2011. Well anywho, the young man who I extended the
invitation to is named Franky. Well, when I invited him to be baptized
he basically said "yes, this is something I have been waiting for my
whole life." So, I was just blown away... because that was my first day!
Well, we found out that he wasn't in our area... like 100 yards into
another sector, so we had to hand him over and we weren't able to
teach him. Well, he was baptized on Saturday and he asked me to
baptize him! It was so awesome! Right as he got out of his interviews
he came to me and said "Because I was the first person you invited to
baptism, I want you to baptize me." I was so touched that he
recognized that. He knew how much it meant to me. I am so blessed that
I had the opportunity to baptize him. It was incredible.

So, this weekend we had a surprise trip from the Jamesons! They came
Thursday night and they stayed until today! It was so awesome! We had a
zone conference at the Thompsons on Friday morning and it was great.
We went over this new program that all the new missionaries around the
world are using. We all have portable DVD players and we watch
training materials. We discussed how it was helping the companionships
with the work. I love it so much. We had tuna fish sandwiches with
cheese for lunch... and guess what? I ate it! My stomach is definitely
adjusting. The other day I was craving fish... that was a little
weird. That is something that has never occured in my life. So anywho,
the Jamesons... so yeah, they were here and Sister Jameson was able to
come to the baptism. We had 7 people baptized out of our zone on
Saturday. The next day we confirmed them in church and I confirmed
this young man we baptized whose name is Aimé. I was scared out of my
mind. I felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest and
land on his head as I was performing the ordinance. The Lord really
helped me out though with the French. I was actually really surprised
with how I did. The Lord has really blessed me this past week
with the language. I walked up to this man the other day and started
to have a strait up legit conversation about the spirit... and it was
all in French and I was basically understanding almost everything he
was saying! It was so incredible. President and Sister Jameson came up
to me after sacrament meeting and told me how impressed they were with
my French and they couldn't believe that that was my first
confirmation in French. It was all the Lord. This morning, President
came to our apartment to do interviews... I don't think our apartment
has ever gotten so clean so fast. I have so much respect for President
Jameson. He is such a spiritual giant.

Alright, so I am going to try my best to answer all of your questions.
Sorry this email is so scattered... I get so stressed when I email
cause I have such little time and I have so much to tell you. I have
received both of Natascha's packages. The first one only cost me 1000
cfa and the second one didn't cost me anything. Elder Prince, who
lives in my apartment, has received 3 of those flat rate boxes that
you would send and 3 of those boxes cost him 18,000. So those
envelopes are the way to go. You can send me a lot :) I get mail
whenever the couple in Douala sends the packages and mail in a bus up
to Yaoundé or if they travel up here. So I have been lucky lately
because they sent a box, and then the Jamesons brought up a box with
them when they came. Yes, people just never smile when they are in
pictures. I don't know why... Yes, I have used my debit card here.
Only one though and that was when I went to the bank last Monday to
take out some money. I took out 40,000 cfa. I don't want to go to the
bank all the time because it is out of the way, so I pulled it out and I
keep it in my suitcase at the apartment. And about the stuff I want in
packages. Just send me whatever. I will eat anything... any kind of
food that is from America is better than anything I can buy here.

Well, I hope all is well. I am very excited for the baby! I can't
believe that you will be having the baby so soon! Holy cow! I really
hope you have it before Christmas so I can see him when I skype you. I
think I will be able to skype... I still have over two months to
figure that one out. Have you thought of any names? Well, time is up.
I pray for you every day. I hope every one is doing well. I love you
Mom :)

Avec amour,
Elder Schmid

Baptism in Yaounde 10/1/11

Christiaan with Prince (left) and Junior (right)
All got baptized on October 1, 2011

10/10/2011

Hey mom!

The internet at the Thompsons is not working right now so I am typing this up in Word and hopefully the internet will be on by the time I finish so I can send it to you. I can’t believe that it is already P-Day. Time goes by so fast. You are ALWAYS busy as a missionary so I guess that helps with having the time go by faster.

So I saw something crazy as I was walking over to the Thompsons. I heard all this squeaking like birds and I looked up and there were thousands of bats flying right above me. There were soooo many. There was like a river of bats stretching over this little part of town. It was just like those things you see on the geography channel. It was pretty cool. Tons of them were landing in this tree right next to me and hanging upside down. That is probably the wildest thing that I have seen here in Africa. Well, I also saw one of those tiny monkeys tied to a rope like on my first day here. Other than that I have seen nothing... just a lot of goats and dogs that look like they are about to die. It is the saddest thing. Haha wow, speaking of dogs... I totally forgot about Ruffles! How is that stupid dog doing? Is she ever going to have babies?

So this past week was a great week! Miracles are happening every day over here in Yaoundé. I am so blessed that the Lord has allowed me to be a part of his work over here at this time. The missionary work here in Africa is so incredible. We are always sooo busy. Our biggest problem is not having enough time to see all of our investigators. That is a good problem to have though I guess.

Monday was interesting. We had one of our investigators confess their love for Elder Lamb. That has been the culprit of many jokes this past week. All is well though. She is moving to Douala right after she will get baptized so we won't have to really worry about anything. We just don't teach her anymore. We gave here to some other missionaries because of the rules.

We have this family that we are trying so hard to get baptized and they were making good progress until they saw this stupid special on TV and it was all about polygamy and how Joseph Smith had more than one wife and how the Mormon church has two prophets right now... one of them being Warren Jeffs. That really made for an interesting rendez-vous. I had no clue what to say... Elder Lamb is such a stud. He can handle any situation. I am seriously so blessed to have him as my companion. I won't totally be down if I was the one to kill him (I know you probably don't know what that means. To kill a missionary means to be his last companion before he goes home). It is so neat that we are cousins too. We are such a solid companionship. I truly believe that Pres. Jameson received divine inspiration with putting us two together :) Elder Lamb is awesome. Well anywho, I had no clue what to say at that one rendez-vous so I started bearing my testimony of how families can be together forever and I busted out this photo book that I always carry with me with pictures of the family and friends. The mood totally changed that she loved hearing that families can be together forever. I love that so much about our gospel... that we have the knowledge that we will be together forever :) I love my family so much!

On Tuesday morning Elder Lamb and I didn't know what to do for study for companionship study so I started flipping through my Preach My Gospel (for all you soon to be missionaries... STUDY PREACH MY GOSPEL!!) and I was thinking in my head "hmmm... what does the Lord want me to learn today?" and I randomly stopped on a page and it was the page about family history. So we studied that section and man was I blown away. I can't believe how lazy I was before my mission. I am just starting to scratch the surface of why temple work is so important. I am finally realizing what the Spirit of Elijah is and why it is so important. I had some in depth studies of D& C 138 too... and after studying those I was so embarrassed... I was so lazy growing up. Our ancestors' salvation hangs in the balance... they are waiting for us to complete their work cause they don't have bodies. THEIR SALVATION!! I treasure the temple so much more now... It's sad to think that I won't be able to go visit one for another 21 months. I guess I will be that much more grateful for it though when I get back. So anyway... we studied the family history part and decided we were going to use it when we had a chance to contact. We prayed for the opportunity to share what we had learned and the Lord answered our prayer just about 3 hours later. We were walking down the street and this Anglophone man called us over and said "Hey come preach to me!" So we did. Elder Lamb right away started talking about family history and genealogy and then we started talking about eternal families. We asked this man "Did you know that you can be with your family forever? Even after death?" And when we said that he went "Really?! That is so
amazing!!" He was soooo excited to hear that! I have never seen so much excitement coming out of someone after hearing something like that. It was so incredible and sweet. He began to tell us how much he loves his family and how he wants to be with them forever. We went on to tell him how he can and we gave him a brochure on the Plan du Salut and we bore our testimonies and went on our way. It was so incredible. That man was a civil engineer by the way. He was working on the sewers that lined the road we were walking on.

So when it rains in Africa, it POURS. And it always rains when we don't have an umbrella. Whenever we think it will rain, it doesn't. There was one night were I was walking through a river of muddy water in my sandals. I was sooo wet. But we made it to our rendez-vous and taught an awesome lesson! And then went right back out into the rain. The sewers on the sides of the roads turn into raging rivers whenever it rains. It is actually pretty cool.

Well this week I was able to go on splits with a couple of missionaries. Do you remember when you mentioned how Elder Palmers last companion always sang "In Our Lovely Deseret?" Well, that is Elder Wagman and we are in the same apartment. I mentioned that to him and right away he started singing it in French. He is an awesome guy. I went on a split with him and then right after I went on another
split with Elder Tingey. He works over in Bastos... over by the palace. Elder Tingey is so awesome. I had the most amazing personal study over at the Bastos apartment where I slept over. I had a D&C study manual and I used that and studied D& C 137-138. Those sections are so full of incredible doctrine. I love studying the scriptures so much!! Elder Tingey has a great uncle who lives in the same ward as
Pres. and Sis. Jameson over in Tempe... Would we know him? I believe his name is Sherman Tingey. Not quite sure. I wrote it down in my other planner and forgot to bring it with me.

On Sunday Cameroon had their elections... or "come and vote, and no matter who you vote for Paul Biya will be president" day. All the missionaries were told to not proselyte so I studied a whole lot and wrote a much needed letter. It was a very nice and relaxing day.

Well that is about it. I love my life. There is nowhere else I would rather be right now... well maybe the Celestial Kingdom. That would be pretty cool. I love you and I hope you are having fun up at Mt. Graham. I love you Mom :)

Love,
Elder Schmid

Yaounde 10/3/11

So I have no time to read what you put in this email and there is so much I want to tell you so I have just been taking pictures of everybody's emails and I will read them tonight when I am back at the apartment.

So...TEMPLE COMING TO KINSHASA!!! I am so excited for those people!! That actually doesn't affect anyone here in Cameroon. It will be cheaper for them to go the the temple in Nigeria... the only problem there is that it is an English temple. But none the less, I am so stoked! Everyone started screaming when they announced it! I actually missed the announcement. Elder Lamb and I were at this families house. We had just baptized the Mom and two sons and they invited us over for some food and we felt like we should be there, so we went.

So, this past week it seems like every woman has decided to expose themselves and feed their kids. Up until this week I was fortunate enough to have not been around that... then BAM!! It hit... It is so disgusting... and awkward... and weird... It was weird when I was around ladies in the states and they had a blanket over them. Over here they just pull down their shirt and let it hang.

There was also one day where Elder Lamb and I got in a taxi and it was just us and then, one by one, people kept on getting in until there were 9 of us stuffed into this little taxi. It was so cramped! I took a little picture. I'll see if I can send it home when I get the next opportunity.

Alright, so we had four baptisms this week! We baptized this man named Yves and this Mother (Soeur Kemlé) and her two children, Junior and Prince. It was so awesome! I was able to baptize Yves and Soeur Kemlé. I wasn't originally planning on baptizing her until the day of, when she came to me and said that I was going to baptize her. She then went on to tell me about a dream she had had about a year ago of her baptism and she said that I was the one baptizing her. Cool huh?! She is a very large lady... So I was kind nervous about the baptism. I didn't want to look like a fool. The Lord definitely helped me out though. I guess she is super scared of water. The first time I went to dunk her she shot right out of the water before her head went under... so then I did it again and she shot out again... so on the third time I totally shoved her under water because my arms were getting tired. It worked! She shot right out again but it was after she was completely immersed! Oh, and her full name has like 6 names... it was ridiculous. So that was my interesting baptism. Yves went down with out a hitch which was nice.

I finished reading "Our Search for Happiness" this week in personal study and after reading that I am so much more grateful for the power of the priesthood. Looking back in life, some of my happiest moments have been with the family. I am so grateful that we are all sealed together for all time and eternity. I really wish I could say more but I am so rushed with this email... one hour isn't enough for me. I have started reading "Jesus the Christ". I read the first page and that man made me feel like I don't know English. He uses very big words... haha. I love it though. I love the doctrines that he talks about and the detail he goes into.

So after the Kemlé's baptisms they invited us over to their house for some dinner. We felt like we needed to be there so we decided to go, even though we knew that we would miss the beginning of Conference. Well, I was very lucky cause they served........ fish. Whole fish. With the eyeballs. I ate it though... but it was hard. They have this super super super spicy stuff here called Pima and she put a huge spoon full on my plate (this stuff is spicier than sambal). I picked up a fried plantain off of my plate and checked it to make sure there wasn't that much pima on it and I shoved it in my mouth. Well, stupid me forgot to check the bottom. The whole bottom was covered in pima. Like enough pima for 3 people... and I ate it in one bite. After that bite I was done with dinner. It felt like my mouth was literally on fire... and they didn't have any water. So it was pretty bad. But, I just want you to know that I haven't refused any food here. I have eaten everything. Be proud :)

I just want you to know that I love you so much and I am so grateful for all that you do and for all your prayers. I really need them, and I have really been noticing answers to my prayers and yours. I hope all is well. I can't wait to read this whole email tonight!

Je t'aime,
Elder Schmid

PS - so I was scrolling down the email and I saw that you were saying something about Grandpa. I haven't read what you wrote but I just want you to know that I have been listening to "Onward Christian Soldiers" every single night and every time that song comes on I stop what I am doing and close my eyes and listen... and every time I do I can honestly feel Grandpas presence and a feeling that he is proud of me. There are some nights where I honestly believe that he is there with his hands on my shoulders. It is so incredible. I KNOW that he has helped me out so much out here.

10/01/2011 Temple in Kinshasa

In the first session of the October 2011 General Conference, President Monson announced new temples to be built around the world...with on of them to be built in Kinshasa, DR Congo! I can only imagine how exciting this news is to the members in that area; I can only imagine the excitement of the missionaries as they heard this news! We were told the missionaries will be at the senior couples apartments to see the first two sessions of conference, I really hope that was the case, that they were able to hear this direct from President Monson...what a tremendous spiritual boost to the church and missionary work there! We will post Elder Schmid's email when we receive it. Can't wait to hear about the reaction in Africa!

Emile Schmid (dad)

Yaounde 9/26/11

Hi Mom :)

Alright, questions... I am doing great! I am super tired because the work is NUTS, but I am loving every minute of it. At the moment Elder Lamb and I have 18 baptismal candidates. We had 15 investigators at church. Missionary work is so different here than anywhere else in the world. The things I am experiencing right now are so much different from the stories I heard from all my friends that went on missions or from friends on missions right now. Africa is just different. There is no other way to put it. So we do baptisms on the first and third Saturday of every month, and this Saturday we are planning on having 4 investigators baptised. We are baptising this members son who has been taking the lessons for almost a year. He will be getting baptised like 3 days from his year mark. So it is cool to be a part of that. His name is Yves and he has such a solid testimony and his mom is so grateful for Elder Lamb and I. It wasn't us though... it was the Spirit and the Lord! The Lord is just blessing Elder Lamb and I with a front row seat :) We are also baptising this lady, Soeur Kamlé, and her two sons, Junior and Prince. Her husband is already a member so he will be doing the baptisms. She told us about this CRAZY dream that she had once while she was attending another church a few years ago. She said that she walked into a building and went into this room and realized that it was a baptismal service. She saw two men dressed in exquisite white clothes and they beckoned her to come over and they asked her what size she needed (for baptismal clothes) and she told them that she wasn't getting baptized, then they said "have faith and you will be baptized". She then went down the hall and opened every door and every door she opened she said that there were two Book of Mormon prophets in the room. She said that she saw Nephi and Lehi and many others. And she said that she recognized every single one. Elder Lamb and I were just in shock that we were hearing this. We asked her so many questions like "what did Nephi look like?" and "What did they say to you?". I asked her to type up her dream for me so that I could put it in my journal. I am in such a hurry... sorry. I didn't do that dream justice. It was so incredible though! Working with Elder Lamb is awesome. I love that guy so much. He is helping me so much. I was really nervous about who my trainer would be. I really wanted to connect with him and just be myself with him. Well, I can totally be myself with Elder Lamb. We are awesome friends. He is awesome. I don't know what more I can say about him. I am so blessed to have him as my companion. For conference we are going over to the Thompsons at 5 at night to watch the morning session. And then we will go back to the apartment and come back the next day to watch the Priesthood session. Its a bummer that we can't watch them all, but we will be able to in like 3 weeks. As for the food, I guess it has been getting better. I haven't been fed anything crazy so that was good :) Sister Thompson is an amazing cook. Our district was at the Thompsons last night for dinner for a district meeting and she made home made pizza and it was sooo good. I ate so much... like 8 or 9 pieces. Mmmm :) Alright so I think I got all of your questions.

Alright here are some things that I wrote down in my daily planner that I wanted to tell you...

1) So I met this lady named Paulette and she asked me what my name was so I told her that my name was Elder Schmid and she went "Oh okay, Elder Schitt!" and she kept on calling me Elder Schitt the whole rendez-vous. It was pretty funny! We corrected her at the end of the lesson. I wish I could of recorded her saying it... priceless.

2) Elder Lambs mom grew up in Safford. Her maiden name is Curtis. Her parents names are Merna Hooper Curtis and Brooks Curtis. Does Grandma know them? Also, there is an elder in my zone, Elder Tingey, and he has family in Safford/Thatcher, as well. The Udalls and the Curtis's, as well. So email me a more detailed genealogy thing so I can see if we are all related! Like 6 or 7 generations back.

3) I was walking through some slum area and this kid was wearing a Phoenix Suns jersey. That was weird to see at first.

4) I was teaching a lesson and this lady had a crying child and I knew immediately what was going to happen once she picked up the child... she exposed herself and started feeding the kid. Yeah... kinda awkward. That lesson was interesting.

Alright so those were the things that I wanted to tell you. I just want to let you know how much I love you and how grateful I am for everything that you did for me. I know that I am where I am supposed to be right now and that is all because of you and dad. I am so grateful for the examples that you are to me. I hope all is well! I love you :)

Elder Schmid

Random pictures in Yaounde

Elder Lamb, Ernestine and myself. My first baptism in Africa.

A random little boy and myself standing by a little creek during a rainfall.

Elder Lamb and myself. My first companion in the field!

Fufu, the white stuff, and I'm not sure about the other. My first African meal.

Life in Yaounde 9/19/11

Alright, I'm going to start off by trying my best to answer all of the small questions that you asked. In Yaounde, the weather is amazing!! Sooo much better than the weather in Douala. I feel like I am in San Diego... no joke. This week I was formally introduced to the African rainstorm. Lets just say I don't need to go out and teach in another one again. Imagine our monsoons at their worst and it just continues and continues and continues. I was drenched AND I had an umbrella. I took some pictures but they don't even come close to giving it justice. When it does get humid though, my asthma acts up a little but nothing to bad. I always have an inhaler with me just in case but I normally just use it right before I go running in the morning or play bball on pday. I think I am adjusting just fine. Things that were so crazy when I first got here are just normal now. Its weird how fast that all changed. One thing was pretty funny though. Elder Lamb and I were waiting by a gate of someones house and I looked across the street and I saw someone going to the bathroom in the sewer. I turned to Elder Lamb and said "haha, look at that man taking a crap," and then he said, "Are you sure that is a man?" And right as he said that, IT stood up and pulled down its dress and started walking. I totally saw a woman strait up let it all out on the side of the road!! SICK!! I'd be completely fine if I didn't have to ever see that again.

So those jokes that Ashlyn said are awesome. I miss her so much. I miss all of you. Tell Caelan that she will get that letter I owe here. I seriously have such little time to write letters. Life here is sooo busy. Way busier than the MTC. I am trying my best though. I heard that my letters take 2-3 weeks to get from here to over there so tell Caelan to expect one in at most, 2 months... haha sorry, but I am trying my best. As for looking at my blog, that wasn't me. The Thompson's said that they checked it out. I am going to look at it just after I finish emailing. Yes, it is allowed.

Alright, so I have so much I could tell you but I don't have nearly enough time. This week has been so crazy. I am going to first off tell you about the baptism that we had on Saturday! I was able to baptize a lady named Ernestine! I wasn't even here 10 days and I was able to baptize one of the Lords children here in Africa! It was so incredible. The water was freezing but thankfully I am tall enough so it didn't reach a certain point... if you know what I mean. I was so focused on memorizing the baptismal prayer in French that when I started I totally forgot to say her name so one of the witnesses, Elder Tingey, loudly whispered "name! name!" So I thought, ah crap! I then started asking her for her full name and then I realized that I was speaking english and she had no clue what I was saying, so I quickly started "parler"ing the french and asked her what her name was. She had the craziest longest name but I was just like "alright, here we go!" And I started over and recited her name, the best I could, and said the prayer perfectly and baptized her. I am 110% positive I totally butchered her full name but its okay. I am sure in the eyes of the Lord all was well. So yeah, that was my first baptismal experience in Africa! It was great!

Right now, Elder Lamb and I have 10 candidates for baptism for October 1, 5 for October 15, and 1 for November 5. Some of those investigators are going to go to the other group of Elders in my area because they live in their sector, but still... missionary work is thriving here in Africa. Remember when we were reading in Elder Palmer's blog about how their zone had like 18-19 baptisms? Well I think it is very possible to beat that record. If we are just obedient and do all that we can, that goal is so plausible. I am so stoked to be a part of all this.

Like you already know, people here in Africa have many dreams and visions. People have told me about their dreams and visions almost every day. I want to tell you all about one. I don't have my journal with me so its not going to be exact but you will still get the point. So last week, Elder Lamb and I went to teach this part member family. We were focusing on the mother and two children. The whole family was there during the lesson, though, and we taught about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it. Well, we came back and visited with them two days ago and the father told us about a dream/vision that his oldest daughter had right after we left on our last meeting. She said that an old woman came to her door and kept on asking "Where is the Book of Mormon? Where is the Book of Mormon?" She continued to ask that and walked into the house and started searching for the book. She was looking in all the drawers and in every single little spot that it could be. She finally looked on top of the TV cabinet and found it. She picked up the book and started chastising the family saying "Do you realize what you have? This book is such a treasure and yet you neglect it!" So, continued to chastise and that was that. So, because of that girls vision they have all become diligent readers of the Book of Mormon. The Lord works such great miracles.

So lately, I have had those feelings or desires of wanting to see you again and I have gotten a little homesick... not too bad but I experienced some. Well, whenever I do, I just think of walking off of the plane in Phoenix and seeing all of your faces again. That image that I have at that moment of seeing you again pulls me through any homesickness I have. I love you all so much and I can't wait to see you all and hug you all again. I pray for you everyday and I want to tell you that your prayers for me have definitely been noticeable in my life. I can't wait to come home and go through my journal with you all so you can see all the miracles that are happening in my life every single day. I know that this gospel is true and that it is a gospel of happiness!! I love telling that to my investigators. We are so blessed. ALWAYS count your many blessings. I love you mom :)

Elder Schmid