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.