Dear Mom,

 

I am finally here in Congo and it is great! We just got done playing basketball and I am super rusty. It was a nice court though. There is so much I could tell you but we only have an hour to email over here, so my emails probably won't be as long.

 

It was difficult saying goodbye to everyone over in Douala. I was really close to the branch and I loved them so much. I was able to see everyone I wanted to see before heading out so that was good. I got your package the day before I left, thank goodness. It had been in the post office for a month but they never gave the Gailey's a slip. I gave Marius his ring and he was so happy.

 

I got some comments this week about how I reacted with Alex when he showed up late again. Just know that it was done with love and he got the picture. It is next to impossible to explain our relationship but I don't want anyone thinking I was just blowing him off. Elder Lavering and I had been talking about how we needed to handle the situation and that is how we decided we would handle it... so he would get the picture. And he did. I was able to say goodbye to him and we actually had a really powerful rendez-vous and at the end he was in tears. He knows that our message is true and that he needs it, but he just needs to act on that testimony. He knows that he needs to change but he also knows that that will be difficult. But don't worry, it all ended well. I love that kid.

 

It was difficult saying goodbye to Elder Lavering. I love that kid so much. I was hoping that we would get a third transfer together but the Lord had a different idea. I am so grateful for the 12 weeks that I had to work with him. He is such a solid missionary and will do so many good things throughout his mission and after. He helped me improve with my missionary skills as well. I loved training him and I really hope that I will be able to see him again before I head home.

 

I love the Gailey's. I will miss them so much. I feel like the Gailey's and I got really close and I am so grateful for our relationship. I would of loved to have stayed in Douala just to work with the Gailey's for the rest of the mission. I am really excited, though, to work with the Wheatley's. They seem like such an awesome couple who work really hard.

 

The flight to Congo was annoying. There was hardly any space, and for a guy that's 6'3 it gets annoying really fast. Especially when you have a punk get in front of you and crank his seat backwards so he can relax...because the metal beams in the chair were in my knees. The flight attendant tried to wake him up but he was out cold. He was even shaken but he didn't wake up. Everyone around him were just laughing... AND he snored. Oh well...it was a short flight so it wasn't that bad. We stopped in Gabon to drop some people off and pick others up. It looked very beautiful over there, and it still looked like Africa. Once we landed in Congo we walked off of the plane and across the tarmac to the baggage claim and the darn thing was broken, so we sat there for 40 minutes waiting to get our bags. We finally got moving and got out of there, and we saw Elder Wheatley and Elder Davis, my companion. Sister Wheatley was out at the truck and she had cinnamon rolls!!! Welcome to Congo, here are some cinnamon rolls! I was in heaven.

 

So I am in Pointe Noire, but my sector is called MPaka. Yes, it is spelled like that. We are Northeast of the airport. Sometimes we get to walk across the runway. When we were landing, there were people all around the runway. It's awesome. It is less humid than Douala but you still get pretty sticky when you go out. Yaoundé has the best climate by far. It is flat and it is a city built on sand so when it rains it gets very muddy very fast.

 

Elder Davis is awesome and I am excited to work with him. He is in Elder Thibault's generation so he is in his 8th month, I think. He has been here in Congo his whole mission so far, but he is in his second area. The kid is a basketball master. He schooled us all today, but it was so much fun. We were playing on a wet court so we were sliding and falling all over the place. Don't worry, I had my ankle braces on. I look forward to working with him.

 

The apartment is huge and cold. We have AC and Elder Davis likes to put it on 16 degrees celsius (60.8 degrees fahrenheit)... I'm FREEZING!! It is nice, though, having the dry air. We have it so nice over in the States. We sleep on a bunk bed and I am stuck on top and I sleep on a box spring mattress... yay. Although I am so tired at night it doesn't even bother me. Unfortunately, I had to leave my pillow over in Douala because I didn't have enough room for it in my bags. We were only allowed to fly over with 30 kg of check in luggage... I definitely went over and I had to pay 21,000 cfa which is about $42. That is why I withdrew some money from the bank a few days ago. Sorry about that.

 

The fufu over here is soooo good! Way better than the fufu in Cameroon. I ate some last night with beans and I was lovin it. I will definitely make some when I get back. I will have some interesting dishes for you to eat when I get back :) Maybe some porcupine heads and eyeballs! It's not the best, it is definitely an acquired taste.

 

Well, that's about it for this week. Next week I will let you know a little more about our investigators. We have so many over here. OHHH I almost forgot... the church building over here is INCREDIBLE! It is the one built by the church, and the only church building actually built by the church in our mission outside of Kinshasa. It felt so weird walking into it because I actually felt like I was in a real church. However, the best part was the piano... I seriously almost cried as I went up to the piano and played "The Luckiest" for the first time on a real piano in about 14 months. I miss the piano so much. I want to get better when I get back. I don't know if I can send pictures or not. We'll find out as time moves on.

 

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week!

 

Je vous aime,

Elder Schmid