Dear Mom,

 

Hey, so I have something exciting to say! Remember when Mimi Cody came over to our house right before I left and told me to find her family whenever I made it down to Pointe Noire? Well, I was able to call her sister and her brother and I actually met with her sister, Helga, and presented her with a family brochure and Restoration brochure and invited her to come to church. She came late but she came! She stayed for some meetings in the branch after us. She came with her daughter. She was happy to be there and will be meeting with the missionaries this Thursday and we will give her a Book of Mormon. I was able to get some pictures that I will be giving to Mimi when I get back. I have only been able to talk to her brother on the phone. He lives way the heck out there but we might be able to meet somewhere in the middle sometime this week. So make sure you tell Mimi that. I’m sure she will be thrilled.

 

We have some awesome investigators who have really made a lot of progression this week. For about a month we have been teaching this guy named Jules. He is always there with Flogers. Up until this week, he hadn’t really made a lot of progression. We gave him a Book of Mormon and we would give him things to read and what not but it was so obvious that he didn’t read when we would bring it up at the next rendez-vous. Well, one day Flogers wasn’t there so we took that opportunity to do a little two on one with Jules and it made all the difference. We felt like we needed to talk about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it. Elder Nash shared a sweet scripture that I love so much. Mormon 7:8-9 (Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you.  For behold, this is written for the intent that ye may believe that; and if ye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.)  We had Jules read it and when he did he was smiling super big and nodding his head and at the end he looked at us and it looked like he was on the verge of tears. He said, “that is exactly what I needed to read.” He went on to tell us that he knows the Book of Mormon is true and that our message is true. It was neat because it is such a simple verse basically stating that the Book of Mormon and the Bible work hand in hand but for him that could have been a matter of conversion. He went on to tell us that he hasn’t been to church since he was a child (he is about 25 years old) and that he has always been hesitant because there are just so many and he doesn’t know where to go. He then said that he knows that our church is the church that he needs to go to and he promised that he would be at church. And he was! He finally came and he learned so much! It was awesome. I love watching the Spirit work with people. It is always a beautiful thing.

 

Whenever we go see Flogers and Jules, there are these two little boys who are probably three or four years old who love us. They will always run up to me with their arms open and I will pick them up and throw them into the air and then catch them. They will run off and play for a little bit and then find us again and just crawl up onto our laps and chill. One fell asleep on Elder Nash. It was pretty cute. I saw one coming to sit on my lap and I quickly noticed that this little kid had just peed his pants. They were all wet down the legs and before I could move to keep him away he was already crawling up. I figured that my pants were already super dirty so I just let him. Oh Africa. After you are here for a while you just don’t care. You just tell yourself “this is Africa.”

 

This week I finished reading “The Miracle of Forgiveness.” That is such a powerful book. I love how President Kimball wrote. He was so bold and made things so clear. No one can walk away from that book without a desire to be a better person. No one can read that book and not get their soul pricked either. But that is always good because if improvement is necessary then it would come through inner conviction telling you that you need to do better. That book is the perfect conduit for that. I am definitely going to read it again when I get back home. There is a chapter that I loved so much titled “As a Man Thinketh.” He talks a lot about what that one Allen guy talked about in his book also titled “As a Man Thinketh.” I will be reading a lot when I get back home.

 

So yesterday was Easter. I hope it was a happy day for you all. We are all so blessed to have the knowledge that Christ is a resurrected being, living, and guiding our Church today through a living prophet. I love bearing witness of that. Elder Lamb showed me one of his favorite scriptures and it has now become one of my favorite. Luke 24:5-6 (And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen:  remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,)  I love how our church doesn’t put so much focus on the cross. Why? Why worship something that thieves died on? Why worship something that was only partial to the plan. Christ said that he was going to die… well we all are, aren’t we?  But he also promised that he would live again just three days after! Our testimony to the world is that He wasn’t a liar. That He was true to His word. He lives. I know it. I have never seen Him, but I don’t need to see Him. The truth has been made manifest unto me by the power of the Holy Ghost.   I love telling people that.  No one can ever argue against my testimony.  It’s true.

 

So, I have some news for you all. I am being transferred. Next time I write you I will be back in Yaoundé. I will now be working in a sector called Bastos 2. But here is the really sweet news. I’m training!!! That makes number three and I couldn’t be any more excited! My happiest moments on the mission have been when I was involved in the training process. So far I have done seven transfers (42 weeks) and now I get to do two more. My new companion is Elder Johnston and I believe that he will be flying in from the States on Friday. So that means that we will be doing a white-wash. Neither of us will know anyone or anything about our sector. It will be interesting but it will be fun! Elder Thibault will also be white-washing and training. I am going to the sector he is in right now. On Friday he will be going down to Douala to work in Bonaberi. Elder Nash will be working with Elder LaFleur. Do you remember him? He and I were companions for about a week in the MTC when I was in that threesome. I am stoked to see the Gailey’s again. It will only be for a short time but I’m excited to talk to them for a bit. They are awesome. So, now I get to finish my mission doing what I love most. I am so grateful for that. I have had such an incredible mission.

 

So that’s my week for you! I hope all is going well for you guys back home. I pray for you everyday and whenever I read your emails I always see that Heavenly Father is answering my prayers. See ya!

 

Love,

Elder Schmid