Dear Mom,
Can you believe that it is already December? This time last year I was still with Elder Lamb and loving the work over there in Ekounou. I am always blown away by how fast the time goes by. It doesn't really feel like Christmas is just around the corner. The only thing that even hints that it is Christmas time is the kid that stands in the middle of the street over here trying to sell lit up Christmas lights that are all wrapped around his body. He doesn't find much success because he stands in the middle of the road and tries to sell them to people that are stuck in traffic. Don't ask me why... We have been listening to a lot of Christmas music in the apartment and it has been amazing. I love Christmas music so much. Josh Groban and Faith Hill sing a SWEET duo.
It sounds like you all had a fun time setting up lights :) Poor little innocent Ashlyn. I wish I could have been there with you all. What I love most about Christmas is the time we spent together as a family. I'm going to be honest though... that is a love I discovered after being away from the family. I was such a punk before the mission. I'm so sorry, Mom. But, with that said, you are still sooo lucky that you have... I'm not going to finish that sentence but you know exactly what I would say :)
This week was an awesome week and we had another 30+ lesson week. I know it's not all about numbers but it just feels good knowing that you are out there teaching as many people as you can and literally exhausting yourself doing the work that you have been called to do. There would be days where we would crank out 10 lessons. This transfer we totaled 185 lessons. We have had to drop a lot of people too due to lack of progression but I know that the Lord will help us find new amis who are ready to accept the gospel as long as we are diligent and obedient.
Délaur got baptized and the kid that baptized him almost went under himself. It was pretty funny to watch. He was so happy to be baptized!! We walked up to the church an hour and a half early and he was sitting there under a tree just studying his Book of Mormon. He had a huge smile on his face the whole entire time and it was so contagious. He asked me to confirm him and so I did and that went well. I know that he will be an awesome member over here in Pointe Noire. At the baptism one of the amies from another missionary companionship was there and some of the missionaries here have suffer a little from jungle fever and she was swarmed by missionaries and all the young men in the branch. But guess who was the only one who had the guts to get her number? Délaur! Atta kid!
Whenever we go out into the sector we are known to the Congolese community as Moudele. That means "white man" in their dialect. You will have a bunch of little kids running up to you screaming "moudele!! moudele!!" and then they will hug you or shake your hand or just talk to you. I learned how to say "I'm going to eat you!" in their dialect, "Mouke dia ngue" and so sometimes when they run up to me I get my scary voice going and I scream that and then they about crap their pants and do the fast 180 degree turn you will ever see and take off the other direction. I would then chase after them and pick them up and put them on my shoulders and just play with them for a little bit so they knew that I was just joking around. It is a lot of fun. I love the little children here. I will try to get a video of it one time. You would love it so much.
They have officially started building an outdoor basketball court at the church!! It is semi professional size too! I am so stoked for it to be finished. They are also repainting the whole building and fixing it up so it will look very nice. So in about two weeks the whole place will look brand new. Even the landscaping. The church building here is so beautiful. I would love for you to come here and see it. But what is more beautiful are the members who are in it. The Congolese people are such an incredible people. They are always so happy and they love... they just love. Yes of course there are the little problems here and there but those exist in every branch or ward of the church. But they just smile and everything is better. I love where I am and I love what I am experiencing. I am so blessed to be here in Africa. I love being able to grow with my brothers and sisters over here. Going on a mission you just realize that you have a family everywhere in the world. We are a part of something so magnificent.
I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know that out of His infinite love for us He volunteered Himself to come down here to earth to be sacrificed so that all the children of Heavenly Father can return and live with Him for eternity. C'est deja faite alors maintenant tous ce que nous devons faire et d'agir. Montrons a Dieu que nous l'aimons par notre obéissance and notre charité. J'aime l'évangile de Jésus-Christ et je sais que si nous le mettons on practique nous pouvouns recevoir la vie éternelle... don qui est le plus grand de tous les dons de Dieu. (It is already done, so now all what we need to do is to act. Show to God that we love Him by our obedience and our charity . I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that if we ? we will receive eternal life ... which is the greatest of all the gifts of God.)
Je t'aime Maman,
Elder Schmid
Can you believe that it is already December? This time last year I was still with Elder Lamb and loving the work over there in Ekounou. I am always blown away by how fast the time goes by. It doesn't really feel like Christmas is just around the corner. The only thing that even hints that it is Christmas time is the kid that stands in the middle of the street over here trying to sell lit up Christmas lights that are all wrapped around his body. He doesn't find much success because he stands in the middle of the road and tries to sell them to people that are stuck in traffic. Don't ask me why... We have been listening to a lot of Christmas music in the apartment and it has been amazing. I love Christmas music so much. Josh Groban and Faith Hill sing a SWEET duo.
It sounds like you all had a fun time setting up lights :) Poor little innocent Ashlyn. I wish I could have been there with you all. What I love most about Christmas is the time we spent together as a family. I'm going to be honest though... that is a love I discovered after being away from the family. I was such a punk before the mission. I'm so sorry, Mom. But, with that said, you are still sooo lucky that you have... I'm not going to finish that sentence but you know exactly what I would say :)
This week was an awesome week and we had another 30+ lesson week. I know it's not all about numbers but it just feels good knowing that you are out there teaching as many people as you can and literally exhausting yourself doing the work that you have been called to do. There would be days where we would crank out 10 lessons. This transfer we totaled 185 lessons. We have had to drop a lot of people too due to lack of progression but I know that the Lord will help us find new amis who are ready to accept the gospel as long as we are diligent and obedient.
Délaur got baptized and the kid that baptized him almost went under himself. It was pretty funny to watch. He was so happy to be baptized!! We walked up to the church an hour and a half early and he was sitting there under a tree just studying his Book of Mormon. He had a huge smile on his face the whole entire time and it was so contagious. He asked me to confirm him and so I did and that went well. I know that he will be an awesome member over here in Pointe Noire. At the baptism one of the amies from another missionary companionship was there and some of the missionaries here have suffer a little from jungle fever and she was swarmed by missionaries and all the young men in the branch. But guess who was the only one who had the guts to get her number? Délaur! Atta kid!
Whenever we go out into the sector we are known to the Congolese community as Moudele. That means "white man" in their dialect. You will have a bunch of little kids running up to you screaming "moudele!! moudele!!" and then they will hug you or shake your hand or just talk to you. I learned how to say "I'm going to eat you!" in their dialect, "Mouke dia ngue" and so sometimes when they run up to me I get my scary voice going and I scream that and then they about crap their pants and do the fast 180 degree turn you will ever see and take off the other direction. I would then chase after them and pick them up and put them on my shoulders and just play with them for a little bit so they knew that I was just joking around. It is a lot of fun. I love the little children here. I will try to get a video of it one time. You would love it so much.
They have officially started building an outdoor basketball court at the church!! It is semi professional size too! I am so stoked for it to be finished. They are also repainting the whole building and fixing it up so it will look very nice. So in about two weeks the whole place will look brand new. Even the landscaping. The church building here is so beautiful. I would love for you to come here and see it. But what is more beautiful are the members who are in it. The Congolese people are such an incredible people. They are always so happy and they love... they just love. Yes of course there are the little problems here and there but those exist in every branch or ward of the church. But they just smile and everything is better. I love where I am and I love what I am experiencing. I am so blessed to be here in Africa. I love being able to grow with my brothers and sisters over here. Going on a mission you just realize that you have a family everywhere in the world. We are a part of something so magnificent.
I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know that out of His infinite love for us He volunteered Himself to come down here to earth to be sacrificed so that all the children of Heavenly Father can return and live with Him for eternity. C'est deja faite alors maintenant tous ce que nous devons faire et d'agir. Montrons a Dieu que nous l'aimons par notre obéissance and notre charité. J'aime l'évangile de Jésus-Christ et je sais que si nous le mettons on practique nous pouvouns recevoir la vie éternelle... don qui est le plus grand de tous les dons de Dieu. (It is already done, so now all what we need to do is to act. Show to God that we love Him by our obedience and our charity . I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that if we ? we will receive eternal life ... which is the greatest of all the gifts of God.)
Je t'aime Maman,
Elder Schmid
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