HOLY CRAP!!! The MTC is nuts!! My first full day (Thursday) I was teaching an 'investigator' completely in French. Well I wasn't. I had no clue what was going on but my two companions can speak French pretty well so they pretty much carried the whole conversation. I am a part of this new Pilot program that the church is about to start using throughout all the MTC's in the world. Full submersion in the language. It is so hard. This is going to be sooo much harder than what I thought it would be like.

So my first day I asked Aunt DeAnn to drop me off early. I was with this early arrival group and we had lunch and a little introduction to what will be happening and stuff. I sat next to this kid from Chico, CA who knew Clayton Reidhead... random. I was then taken to my room and all my books and stuff were given to me and I met my companions. Elder LaFeur and Elder Addington. They are both way cool. My district is way cool. It has only been a week and I feel like I have known these guys for so long. Elder Arnold is in my district. He was in my EFY group 3 years ago when I was with Elder Allred. So it is cool being with him again. The days here are crazy. We sit in classrooms for HOURS. The first few days were soooo long but now it is just becoming routine. French is coming very slowly. I just look at the Elders who have been here 6 weeks and are speaking French and think to myself "that will be me in 6 weeks." Telling that to myself makes me feel better. Satan has been trying harder than ever to make me want to go home, but like before, every time he gets into my head I just say a prayer to our Heavenly Father asking to feel his love and his comfort and I can just sense him grabbing Satan by the neck and throwing him out. It is so awesome. I have never had such a desire to pray all day, everyday. I look forward to getting on my knees at night and thanking the Lord for the amazing experience that I am having right now. I am so grateful for so much. I have the most incredible family in the world and the best friends in the world. Anyways. So there are 5 guys including myself in my district that are going to Congo. Elder Hoiland, Nash, LaFleur, Addington, and moi. It will be awesome having people to travel across the world with. The rest of the Elders are going to France and one is going to the West Indies. Our teacher, Frère Parsons, went to the DRC mission. He was actually companions with Elder Palmer for a while. He was with Elder Palmer when that infamous pick pocket incident occurred. We sat in our classroom for about an hour yesterday and he was just telling us stories. It gets me so excited to go to Africa and to teach the Lords children!!

I hope all is well at home. I haven't really gotten homesick yet, but I am sure I will experience a little bit soon.. I just love you so much and I know that this is where I am supposed to be. The Church is true! Jesus Christ lived, died, and lives again! My testimony is growing by leaps and bounds everyday! It's incredible. Well I received like 20 emails and I only have 9 minutes left before it kicks me off. Expect a letter soon answering more questions. I put all the thank you notes in a couple envelopes and sent them home yesterday. You're in my prayers every night. I love you!

Je t'aime,
Elder Schmid