Dear Mom,

 

Wow, this week went by so fast. I think what was craziest for me was realizing that this week I hit my two year mark of opening up my mission call and also going through the temple. Can you believe that it has already been that long? I am very pleased with how much my life has changed since March 4th, 2011. A lot has come down but today I can say that I am a whole lot closer to my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. Today, in a sense, I am a whole new person. I still have my goofy personality and what not and I still love to have fun and joke around but I am more now. My mission has converted me. The Jameson’s were in town this week for a little zone conference and Sister Jameson asked us to write down our conversion story. I like mine. It took 19 years but today I can truly say that I am converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My mission has been a miracle. I say that I am converted but I know that it is a life long process, but I know that I am on the right path.

 

Elder Nash and I set some pretty high goals this week and we achieved them! We taught 7 investigator lessons, all of which were in the presence of a member. I don’t think I have ever done that before on my mission,… taught all investigator lessons in the presence of a member. It has been difficult getting our branch missionaries to work with us because they are always at school. Well, this week there has been a strike and there hasn'’t been school so we took advantage of that and enjoyed working with Bonace, Daljus, and Bonnin. So, I know what you are probably thinking… “only 7 lessons to investigators?” Yes, that is true. Why? Because we have so many after baptism lessons that we need to teach. This week we totaled 25! I have never had a number that high before. Elder Nash and I were go go go and it was so awesome. I love being lost in the work.

 

We had a neat experience with two of our investigators that we teach together. Their names are Floger and Jules. They are relatively new investigators. We tried teaching the first lesson, which is the Restoration, and it went alright. They had so many questions and it was difficult for them to understand that God has a body of flesh and bone. So, we focused a lot on prayer and told them that if they had the faith that when they prayed the Lord would answer them and they would know that our message is true. We tried that once and they said that they didn't receive any answer. People here tend to wait for dreams to receive answers, so if they didn't have a dream the prayer wasn't answered. We then went to Galatians 5:22 and explained the fruit of the Spirit and we promised them that if they prayed that night they would receive that feeling of peace that so often accompanies the Holy Ghost. They committed and that night they both had some pretty neat experiences. Jules said that right after he had prayed he felt a fullness of joy and the next morning he went straight to Floger to tell him that he had received an answer. That same night, as Floger was praying, he received a confirmation that our message is true and then a voice came to him and told him to ask us what our goal was with Floger. So the next day they were both excited to report to us what went down and then Floger asked his question and that provided a perfect intro to baptism and we talked about baptism. It was a great week for Floger and Jules, and Floger came to church again and is progressing well. We look forward to teaching him this week.

 

Ever since last Sunday (8 days ago), I had a feeling that I needed to call one of my recent converts back in Yaoundé but I kept on putting off the impression saying to myself that the phone connection is horrible and that will cost a lot. The feeling kept on coming back... everyday. So finally as I was writing in my journal one night I got the same feeling again and actually acted on it and called. It was nice being able to hear and see how she is doing. She told me that Elder Lamb had called her that same week just a couple of days earlier. Now I haven't seen Elder Lamb in 435 days... 62 weeks... but I am pretty sure the Spirit encouraged us both to call her to check up on her. I don't know why, but I feel like it was needed. It's neat knowing that, in one sense, Elder Lamb and I are still on the same page. I miss that kid. He was the best trainer any missionary could ask for. I can't wait to see him again.

 

We have an investigator named Anaïs. Her mom is an inactive member and her grandfather is a strong member who was baptized back in 1970. Her grandfather lives in France but she is often over there visiting and it is through him that she has found such a big love for the gospel. She is only 9 years old but she is sooo smart! For example, we were over at her house the other night with her grandfather (he is visiting from France) and we planned on teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We got to baptism and I started talking about Jesus Christ and in my head I was thinking about why Christ was baptized, so I thought I would ask her that question. I assumed that she wouldn't know the reason I was wanting to get at so I asked it and was getting 2 Nephi 31 ready and she said, "He got baptized because he needed to show us the example!" I was blown away! I closed my book and said, "Well, there is no point in reading that! You already know!" Her french is gorgeous. Because she is in France so often, she has really picked up that accent. I love talking to her. There is a big difference between African french and french french. Well, with the accents there is.

 

I love you all so much and I am so glad that you are doing well. I'm sorry that Darian broke her arm. How long will the cast have to be on for? Tell her I love her! I am excited for Dallin to go to Mountain Man rendez-vous. I had so much fun on that trip. Are they making capotes? I am sending a letter today that is in a pink envelope. When you get it it goes to Bishop Hitchcock... I don't have his address. Thank you so much! Have a great week!

 

Je t'aime,

Elder Schmid