Elder Christiaan Henri Charles Schmid

Dear Mom,

So Caelan is a genius!! Do you remember what I got when I took the ACT? Well, it definitely wasn't a 31. I am happy for her! She works her butt of so she deserves it. How on earth could Aiden and Ashlyn sleep through all that noise? That little story made me laugh. I'm glad you were able to get in. I'm sad to hear about Virginia Shimel... death is always hard to accept but that is one reason why I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. And as for the Moore's I believe their daughter was in Stake Youth Committee with me. She was partnered with Tanner LeBaron. It's crazy that Caleb Frost is already home! It feels like it was just last week that him and I were golfing together right before his mission.

I don't think this email will be that long. This week was just another week in the mission. Of course miracles happened...but they are the same miracles that have been happening since day one. Yaoundé was a blast and it was awesome being there for a few days. I miss the weather there so much. The drive to and from Yaoundé was gorgeous. I emailed you some pictures from that drive. It was cool realizing that you were driving through the jungles of Africa. I still can't believe sometimes that I am here in Africa. I love my mission!

I am starting to read Jesus the Christ again and it is such an amazing book. I have learned so much by reading that book. When I get back from my mission I want to buy every book that was written by James E. Talmage.

We have an investigator named Martin Joesph and he is awesome. This week, when we went to teach him, the first 5 minutes of the rendez-vous was him bearing his testimony about how he knows that the Church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Basically, he went on to say the very things that every single missionary in the world dreams of having their investigators say. We invited him to be baptized on October 20th and he said that he would need to pray about it because he doesn't want to be baptized when he is not ready because he doesn't want to mock God. He was at church yesterday and he had brought two other friends. We had 9 investigators at church yesterday. Martin Joseph knows that he will be baptized...the only question is when.

We received some coordonnées from the Church headquarters and one of them was a pastor. I was excited to call him and he was excited that we followed through with his request of the Book of Mormon. We had him come to the church on Saturday and we met with him and had such an awesome rendez-vous. We found out that he lives way out at PK 14... which translates to "Waaaaayyyy the heck out there." He was very sincere and was so happy to get the Book of Mormon. I would love to continue with him but we just have to time to go all the way out there so it will all depend on him. He will need to come to the church at least twice a week and we would prefer that he comes at least three times a week so that we are teaching him more than once throughout the week. So we will see what happens.

Last night, I got a random phone call from a man named Paglan, and he basically told me, "Look, I have been looking for you guys for a very long time. I have looked all over the internet and talked with your people over in Utah trying to learn more about your church. It was hard because they didn't speak french and I don't speak English. I finally got a hold of someone who spoke french and they gave me your number. I want to meet with you as soon as possible. I want to be one of you. What can I do to meet with you and learn about your message." So we fixed a rendez-vous with him today at the church and it was incredible! He is also from PK 14 so that may cause some problems but today we were able to present the message of the Restoration and we gave him the Book of Mormon. When he held onto the book for the first time he couldn't stop thanking us and thanking the Lord. At the end of the lesson he asked us how he could become an Elder in the church and how he could become a missionary and teach like we do and what he needs to do to get baptized. He asked us if there was a test he needs to take or anything. We explained to him all that he needs to do to get baptized and told him that first we need to make sure that he can come to church every week even though he lives out at PK 14. He was stoked and so anxious to learn more about our message. I really hope that he really commits himself to this message and this Gospel because it will change his life.

Here is a funny story. So remember last week when I told you about Alex and how he got in a moto accident because he wasn't at church like he promised? Well this week we fixed another rendez-vous with him at the church and as we were walking to the church to meet with him I said to Elder Lavering, "Watch, he will probably be running late and eventually not come because he will get into an accident." Well after sitting at the church for 30 minutes I called Alex to see what was up and he told us that he was working and was coming a little late to our rendez-vous and that he had gotten into an accident with another moto and now his moto doesn't even work. He was at the shop when I called him. He better learn his lesson now... Do you think the Lord is trying to tell him to follow through with his commitments? Alex makes me laugh sometimes.

So that was my week! It's crazy to think that I hit my 15 month mark two days ago. The time is going by so fast. Before I know it I will be home with all of you eating Nasi Goreng, and Ruffles will be right next to me begging. I love you so much and I hope that you have a great week!

I love you Mom :)

Elder Schmid