Well, I just typed up a whole entire email and I went to copy it and I erased it and right before I could get it back my time went out... so it is gone. I'll see what I can do with the extra time that I have.

 

I honestly don't think the rules are that more strict over here. Email is a little shorter, but I will be changing that soon. We only have an hour here and I don't agree with that at all. President Jameson has told us that we can do what we feel is needed, but not to just sit and waste valuable time. So after that, we went to two hours in Cameroon and it was perfect. We don't write letters and send them home because the post offices and everything are so unreliable, so this is the only "mail" that goes out. We are allowed to write letters on pday but because we don't really write letters here, I feel it is perfectly fine and acceptable to spend a little more time on email because that is our only way of communication. That's how I feel about it.

 

As long as you don't shave your head over here you're fine. I'll be buzzing my head with a number two here pretty soon because it is getting pretty long. No, no one has lice. It is super easy to take care of and then you don't have a wet mop on your head when you get all sweaty, which is everyday.

Do you like it mom?

 

Way to go Dallin on that talk! I love Preach My Gospel so much. That book is golden and it is so crucial to study it as a missionary. That is how the Lord wants his work done and it is so obvious when you see missionaries who don't work according to the principles that are found in its pages.

 

Saturday night it rained super hard and everywhere was flooded. The roads that we would normally take to get to church were under water and there was crazy traffic, so we decided to walk all the way to church. When we were over by the airport, we found a truck that was stuck in a deep muddy water puddle and there were some guys around trying to get it out and it was obvious that they needed help. So we took off our shoes and socks and rolled up our pants and got in the water and helped them get it out. It took us about 15 minutes and my white shirt was filthy afterward but it felt good to help them out. They really appreciated it. We attracted a large crowd. That will be something that I'm sure they will never see again... four young white guys dressed in white shirt and tie getting in muddy water to get a truck unstuck. It was fun!
 

Look close and you can see Elder McGrath and Elder Schmid

And they are standing in the shallow part...

 

Elder Davis and I have been dropping a lot of old investigators and the Lord has been blessing us with new ones who are really interested. We were talking with one of our branch missionaries named Sidney and we asked him if he knew anybody that was interested in our message. He introduced us to his neighbor, Belly, and she invited us in and we were able to teach the Restoration and she loved it. Later in the week we stopped by to say hi and she invited us in because she wanted to introduce us to her husband. We taught him the Restoration and he loved it. He told us that he isn't in any church and he asked us what he needed to do so that he could get baptized in our church. I love that question :) What makes them an even better contact is that they have already gone through the ugly messy 'pay for you wife' stuff for the marriage so it will be easy to progress with them. I look forward to teaching them.

 

On a more personal note... throughout my mission I have really come to understand the importance of prayer. Before my mission my prayers were pathetic. I had my basically memorized prayer that I would say every night and every morning and it was never something that I looked forward to. My attitude toward prayer has completely changed and I am so grateful for that. I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with this wonderful conduit through which we can communicate with Him. Whenever my prayers are lackadaisical, my days just don't go as smoothly. It is interesting how that always works out. It's the same principle with scripture study. I love the opportunity I have now to get on my knees and pour out my soul to my Heavenly Father. I love what President Monson has said... "a man is never taller than when he is upon his knees." Some of my most spiritual experiences that I have had on my mission where when I was on my knees.

 

President Jameson is coming into town today and I am so excited. He will be doing interviews with us tomorrow. Being interviewed by President Jameson is one of my favorite things about the mission. I love President Jameson. He will have mail for me that went to Douala after I left so I am really looking forward to that too :) I love mail!

 

Well, I don't have any time left. I hope I was able to shoot out a good email. I did that in about 20 minutes. I love you so much and I hope that you have a great Thanksgiving. I think we will be getting together on Sunday to have a big dinner together. Honestly, holidays don't really feel like holidays when you are on a mission. It is just not the same when you are not with the family. I miss you guys but I know I am where I need to be. Have a great week!

 

I love you,

Elder Schmid