Dear Mom,

Half of what I pulled out of the bank stayed with me, the other half went to Elder McGrath. The last time I had pulled out money was 18 weeks earlier right before I left Douala. I payed a lot for my baggage because they weighed more than what TAC wanted. So no worries on the money. What I have now in my wallet will definitely last me until the end of my mission. I may take some money out a few weeks before I leave because I will be wanting to buy some sweet African things for everyone to have when I get home. Start telling me what you would like to have because you know how good I am at choosing out gifts.

Please tell the Porter family that I love them, that I miss them, and that I will pray for them.

This week was awesome. I say that so much. My vocabulary stinks. The highlight of the week was the baptisms and confirmations of Henriette and Fugain. They were both baptized by Jean Joseph and they were all smiles that day. Right before the service began, Elder Nash and I snuck into the clerks office and closed the door and said a quick little prayer asking Heavenly Father to help Jean Joseph as he performed the baptisms so that he only had to do it once, and to be with Henriette and Fugain so that they can facilitate the process. The prayer of two simple missionaries was answered! Why did we pray for that? Because at the last two baptisms there were a total of 17 "dunkings" ... for only two people! We wanted it to be done correctly the first time.

Henriette is an incredible woman who just loves the Gospel. When we teach her we have to go pretty slow to make sure that she understands everything, but whenever she talks you know that the Spirit touched her and testified to her of the truthfulness of whatever we taught her. I know that her and Jean Joseph will go to the temple to get sealed.  Jean Joseph was already planning it before we had even started teaching Henriette. I am so grateful to have been able to work with them and I thank God that I am still here helping them come closer to Him. I love this work.

Fugain is quiet but dedicated. He loves this message so much. I am pretty sure I already told you how he came into contact with the Church. He has only missed one Sunday since walking in that one day, following what he thought was his natural curiosity, but we all know what it really was... the Spirit. He will be receiving the Priesthood this next Sunday.

Last Sunday, we met a man for the first time named Didier. A member of the church invited him to come to church and he committed and was there the next Sunday. We spoke with him and got his contact information and told him that we would see him throughout the week. On Tuesday, we were planning our day and we were having a difficult time finding people who were available. The thought popped into my mind to go and see Didier. I sat there for a moment thinking about the possibility but then pushed it aside reasoning that it was too far out of the way. Now fast forward a few hours. We were walking and we had two rendez-vous fall through in a row and it was super hot (seriously...I'm like three shades darker. And I'm already tan.) and we were a little discouraged. We started walking in a random direction and then I heard "Schmid! Schmid!" and I looked over to see Didier waving at us and walking towards us. My first thought was, "Ah crud... I know I should have called him!" It was neat. I recognized immediately that the Lord wanted us to see him. I told him that we are available and he said that he was as well so we started the long walk towards his house. We had a powerful, spirit-filled lesson on the Restoration and I KNOW that we planted a seed. He is not married but living with his girlfriend and they have a few kids together. In situations like that we are counseled to not separate the family but have them understand what God expects of them and push them for marriage. That will take a very long time so I am almost positive I won't see any fruit from the seed we planted that day but that doesn't matter. I left that rendez-vous, my shirt completely soaked and the top part of my pants as well because we were in a sauna shack, knowing with all my heart that we had done our duty for him and presented to him what the Lord wanted him to hear.

I was on splits with Elder Spens and we were walking in a quartier called Loussala and as we were walking we had a group of young teenagers call us over. Usually when they call us they make fun of us in their native language or mock us so I didn't really want to go over but we did anyway. One of the kids said, "So we just talked to a man who was walking down the road whom we recognized as a religious leader so we asked him a question. We asked him if hell existed and he said 'yes.' What do you believe?" Elder Spens and I just looked at each other then back at the kid and said, "yes." The kid thanked us and said that that was all he wanted to know. Then Elder Spens said, "Do you believe us?" and the kid said no and went on to explain how God is love and couldn't possibly send one of His children whom He loves to a place as horrible as hell. He said that everyone goes to heaven. I looked at him and asked, "Where is Satan? Is he with God? No, he is not. Why not? Oh, because he rebelled against our Heavenly Father, right? and because of that he was chased out because nothing dwell in the presence of God, right?" At every question I would give the kid an opportunity to answer and then I would throw another question his way.  After about a minute the kid understood the truth through the basic answers he was giving me. I have never been confounded before men on my mission. It's such a neat promise.

Here are some funny experiences of the week. We were over by the church at a boutique getting a fanta and drinking it outside when this guy walked up to us and started speaking very good english. Turns out he lived in the States for four years and got his masters and then returned back to Congo to work. I told him where I am from and he only had three words to say to me... "hot as hell." Yep.

We went to teach Anna who is a recent convert and we had planned on teaching her about eternal marriage. We have been wanting to teach this lesson for so long so that we could mark it off on her sheet but things just haven't worked out like we wanted them to. So, we were set on teaching it to her that day. We got there and she was there with a young woman friend who already was interested in us because of our skin. We sat down and she sat down right next to me... it was a bit awkward and smelly. Some young woman have BO that can kill you if you are not careful. Disinfectant spray can't even get rid of the smell. I looked at Elder Nash and through eye contact we asked the question to each other, "do we go ahead with the lesson?" and after a couple of seconds we gave the head nod signifying, "why not!" and we taught about marriage. That new girl was all smiles. That is as close as she will get.

One thing I have learned recently is a truth found in Mosiah 21:13-15.  I find myself on my knees sometimes asking the Lord to take certain burdens off of my shoulders... help me not have to worry about it anymore. Elder Nash and I were planning for a certain family and he expressed a desire to share that scripture with them but I think he was actually inspired to share that scripture with me. How can I prepare myself to meet my Heavenly Father if I have nothing to prepare myself with? Why do we have trials, weaknesses, and shortcomings? So that we can overcome them and attain the level of faith necessary to achieve exaltation. I was having some pretty profound thoughts that night. I love my mission.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Smile and let everyone know that you love God.

Je vous aime,
Elder Schmid