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