Mom!

I love your emails so much. It's like I can hear you speaking through
the way you write. There really isn't a difference. I miss you! So
questions, my weekend was awesome! I will tell you more about it
throughout the email. It was awesome having President and Sister
Jameson with us. We are so blessed that we have a district here now.
Before we would have to wait for President to come down and fulfill
responsibilities that only he could do but now that we have a District
President the progress of the church can go a little smoother and
quicker. So we are very happy to have a district here now. Members
have been waiting for almost 19 years... the first branch was created
here when I was just a little baby... and they finally became a
district. Its cool knowing that the church here has grown up with me.
I am feeling a whole lot better. I am almost 100% now. I still have a
little bit of gunk in my throat but its all good. I am just glad that
I can sing again. I love to sing. Elder Pister and I might sing in
church this Sunday because this will be my last Sunday here in Ekounou
1. Yep, I will be transferred on the 22nd down to Douala. This will be
the first time I have to pack up my bags in over 6 months. It will be
kind of bitter sweet. I love it so much here in Ekounou but I am ready
to try something new and meet new challenges in a new atmosphere. The
only time I have been to Douala was when I landed here in Africa and
the very first thing I noticed was the humidity. It is so hot over
there. When I got to the senior couples house in Douala I was sweating
through my suit coat that I had. So I am curious to see how I handle
the heat. I love heat... but I only grew up with dry heat. This is a
whole new thing.

So I will tell you a little about the new district presidency. I know
that it will probably mean nothing to you because you won't know any of
them... but here it goes anyway. The first District President here in
Cameroon is President Bala. He was one of the four branch presidents
that are here in Yaoundé. His first counselor was President Tchapnda.
President Tchapnda was the first counselor in my branch. Elder Pister
and I were surprised when he was announced as the first counselor
because just the Sunday before he was telling the priesthood body in
Ekounou that in order to give a blessing you HAVE to call the branch
president in order to get permission because he is the appointed judge
of Israel in that area... he said that you have to have his
authorization. He said that if you don't call him you can still do the
blessing but the doors of heaven that let the blessings through won't
be completely open. Ummm NO! He also taught that there NEEDS to be 2
or 3 people in the circle when you do the blessing... He then asked
the group of men why and Elder Pister and I were so confused. We had
no clue what he was talking about. One man eventually said that they
were there to stand as witnesses and he went on to teach that there
has to be witnesses with every blessing. So yeah, THAT man was just
called to be the 1st counselor in the district presidency. The 2nd
counselor is President Olinga. He worked with President and Sister
Jameson when they were in the Lubumbashi mission. He is a very young
guy... he told me that he was 25. He is so successful though. He went
from absolutely nothing to being one of the most successful members
here in Yaoundé. I love that man. I am so excited for him to be where
he is at. So yeah, that is the new district presidency!

So this past weekend we had our zone conference and it was AWESOME. We
went to the Thompsons on Sunday and President Jameson interviewed us
all and it was great. It stinks having him so far away. You really
cherish the little one on one time that you have with him. So when
interviews come around all of us are so excited to be with him. I
don't think I have ever been so excited for an interview in my life. I
have so much respect for President Jameson. That man is so wise. I
love receiving counsel and advice from him. He truly is helping me
become a better missionary and son of God. I am so lucky that he lives
only 10 minutes from us back in Arizona. It will be fun visiting with him
every once and a while after the mission. The day after we did
interviews, we had our actual zone conference. It was really laid back
and chill. We received some sad news. One of the North American elders
serving here had to be sent home. He was Elder Lambs companion over
there in Congo. I feel bad for Elder Lamb, he has been through so much
lately. President really spoke from the heart and basically pleaded
for us to follow the white handbook with exactness. It really is a
book of protection. There were also 4 other missionaries from
Madagascar who were serving in Kinshasa that went home on their own
will because the conditions were too hard for them. President tried
his best to help them change their prospective and what not with
transfers and companions and what not, but in the end they said they
wanted to go. Its a sad thing whenever something like this happens...
President also went on to tell us about a HUGE explosion that happened
in Brazzaville. I guess there is an ammunition dump and whenever they
receive ammunition they have to destroy it immediately. Well instead,
the smart people over there decided to not do anything and let it sit
and pile up. Well something happened and it all exploded and leveled
the area all around it. The media says that over 200 were killed but
after talking with the members and people over there they say that
over 1000 were killed and hundreds more injured. So Brazzaville is the
capital of the Republic of Congo and is on the Congo river and
Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is directly
across on the other side of the river. So they are pretty close to
each other... but the river is HUGE. Anywho, Kinshasa thought that
Brazzaville was trying to start something so they sent their armies to
the beach and started firing their weapons across the river over at
Brazzaville, and then Brazzaville realized what they were doing and
they went to their beach and started doing the same thing. They aren't
really smart though... the river is so big that none of their bullets
could reach the other side. Then they all realized that is was an
accident and it kind of cooled down a little. A few big windows on the
floor just above the mission offices were blown out due to the
explosion... so that testifies on the intensity of the explosion.
Crazy stuff. I want to go over there so bad! President then went on to
give us a little lesson and we read and studied John 13-16. Those
chapters are so awesome. I can't wait to go in a study in detail those
chapters for my self. After zone conference, President announced the
transfer information. Everything is getting switched up over here in
Yaoundé. I am going to Douala and Elder Kasaka is replacing me. We are
receiving three Africans. I am really looking forward to working in
Douala. It will be fun experiencing a new environment and work area...
even if I will be sweating bullets every minute throughout the day.
The Thompsons will be going home this Friday! I can't believe it...
that is so soon. It will be sad to see them leave. It has been so much
fun having them here. They have taken such good care of us. I am
really looking forward to working with the Nuttals. They are the
senior couple down in Douala. Elder Pister only has good things to say
about them... he is always telling me how much I am going to love
them. Speaking of senior couples... Yaoundé has still not been
assigned a senior couple yet but there will be a couple coming in on
June 1st to finish there mission here. They will be here for 3 months.
They are currently working in the Lubumbashi mission right now and
have accepted to come over and help with the vacancy here in Yaoundé.
So that will be nice. Tell the Bradfords that they should sign up for
a mission and express desire to serve here in Yaoundé :) So that was
my weekend with the Jamesons. Awesome.

The missionary work is going fine over here. We are working hard every
day and we are always finding success. I love being a part of the work
here in this part of Africa. There is so much work to be done here...
and only 8 missionaries. It is hard but it is so rewarding. I love you! Thank you so much for the awesome emails. I hope everyone gets better... I hate being sick. Tell Isaiah congratulations for me! I am so excited for him! What a neat opportunity for Dennis. Keep me updated with all my friends getting married and what not! I love to hear about everyone. I love you all so much and you are always in my prayers.

Je t'aime,
Elder Schmid