Hello!

 

It sounds like all is going well back home! I am very happy to hear that! I miss the piano so much. There is just a crappy broken keyboard here. I probably won't be very good when I get back, so I hope you don't get upset with me. I do miss it though, and I look forward to playing a real piano when I get back and improving that talent.

 

This week flew by so fast!! This had to have been one of the fastest weeks on the mission. Elder Lavering and I worked really hard this week and we were able to crank out 31 lessons! We have this 12 week program that we do because I am still training Elder Lavering and that program adds another hour to studies which means an hour less in the field teaching and all that. So, at the end of the week, when we did numbers, we were both super stoked to see all that we were able to accomplish! We are always teaching over here and I love it so much. We are finally getting to the point where I was in Yaoundé. All of the new investigators we have come from members so we don't have to contact anymore. That is how it should be because then those investigators will have friends in the church right away.

 

So I called Alex, our investigator, and told him that we would be meeting with him at 4:00 on a certain day and he promised that he would be there on time. Well, we were at the church until 4:30 and he had not yet come. I was pretty upset because he just doesn't get it... he doesn't care. So we left the church and as we were walking we saw him there on the side of the road with his moto. His clutch had broken so his moto was useless. I was upset and I showed him no sympathy. I went up to him and let him know that he was wasting our time and the Lords time and I told him that it is interesting that every time he decides to waste our time and not follow through with his commitments he gets into an accident or he gets into a big problem. I looked at him and said, "You can't play like that Alex." and then we walked away. I know that some of you are probably thinking "well he was late because his moto broke." and the answer to that is no. He was late because he always wants to work and take one more passenger.  So once he finally got close to the church his moto broke. He never learns his lesson and we will probably drop him this week. Can you tell he has gotten on my nerves this week?

 

Mmmmm...

My bed at the apartment is infested with termites. I have sprayed that bed with bug spray everyday but it just doesn't seem to be working. I kill tons of them but there seem to be thousands of them in my bed. It gets annoying when I am sitting there on my bed and then all of the sudden a few of them start crawling over my head and face. I would jump up and smack them (which probably looks ridiculous because I was basically slapping my face like a mad man) and then I looked at my bed and there would be a whole line of them coming from the wood. I would take my shirt off and whip it a few times then kill all of them that fell onto the floor. I miss home sometimes.

 

Children in our Primary

On Sunday, we had a primary program in Sacrament meeting and it was AWESOME!! The kids were up there reciting Articles of Faith and singing with all their strength. I love the Primaries here in Africa. There was one guy who has been a member for a very long time who would get up and take pictures and clap and everything. He was quickly reminded though of where he was. It made me laugh.

 

Beach at Limbe

Elder Lavering and myself at Limbe

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go to Limbe and it was great! We went to the Botanical Gardens over there and it was as humid as heck and we were all sweating like crazy. I got some sweet pictures though. We then went and saw this wildlife center where they had tons of gorillas and monkeys. Gorillas are so big! One would climb to the top of a telephone pole thing and jump off the top and pound his chest really fast and really hard and it sounded like that cupping noise you can make when you clap hands with someone. It was so cool! When we got there our tour guide was finishing up a tour with a bunch of JW's... It's funny that we were the very next group for him to give a tour to.

 

We got transfer info on Saturday and I am sure you are all anxiously waiting to see where I have been transferred to or if I have even been transferred at all. I have been transferred and on Friday at 1:30 in the afternoon I will be flying off to CONGO!!! I am so stoked!! I have been waiting for this moment since March 4th, 2011!! I can't wait to actually be IN Congo. My new companion will be Elder Davis. He is a missionary that is from Elder Thibaults generation. I will actually be in the same apartment as Elder Thibault! I am pretty bummed though, to be leaving Elder Lavering. I love that kid. We have worked so hard and we have done so much over here. He is such a hard worker and has helped me out so much. I love training because I feel like I learn just as much, if not more, just by working with the trainee. So it will be difficult leaving, but I am looking forward to being in Congo. I will be going to the area where there is actually a church building! I'm going to Mpaka. So there is the big news! I will be flying out with Elder Spens and Elder Addington.

 

I want to finish with a neat experience that I had with one of our less active members. I am going to copy down what I wrote in my journal that night. It was an incredible experience.

October 10th, 2012

 

We were able to go and meet with frère Evina today and we had such an incredible experience together. Our goal in going there was to find out what his biggest trial was at the moment and to help him so that he could have the strength and desire to overcome it. So, as we were sitting there we asked him that question and we sat there for a little bit waiting for him to answer but in the end he said, "I don't know... I have so many trials. I have no clue which one is my hardest."

 

So, at this point I'm thinking, "Crud... what do we do now? We have nothing to work with." But I forgot the key component when teaching a lesson the Lord's way - the Spirit. For me personally, the Spirit works with me by placing thoughts in my head... thoughts that, at the time, seem to come from no where. Throughout my mission, I have learned to recognize special enlightenment like this.

 

As I was sitting there thinking about what we could do, a certain word "conveniently" popped into my head... and that word was 'faith.' So I acted and told Evina, "Okay we are going to read in Ether. Go to Ether 12." I was thinking of going and reading verse 6 because that is a powerful verse on faith and right before I told him to read verse 6 a certain number "conveniently" popped into my head... and that number was 27. So instead, I told him to read verse 27. As he read that verse, the Lord placed in my head almost word for word what I needed to explain to Evina. And so I did.

 

After Evina finished reading that verse I began to tell him what the Lord wanted me to tell him. I said, "Now, Evina I think that a problem, or trial, that you have is that you think you can only do the little things and that you can't do the big things. You want to do the big things but you feel like you would never be able to."

 

I then went on to incorporate verse 27 with what I was telling him and then I asked him to read that same verse again, which he did, but much more slowly... trying to find the significance. And he found it! He then looked up at me and said, "I understand... I understand now." He continued, "Who told you to tell that to me? That is EXACTLY what my problem is...my biggest trial! I suffer that in almost ever aspect of my life. When you asked me that question earlier, I knew what the answer was, but I didn't want to say..." He was silent for a few moments and then he softly said, "it's like you can see into my life."

 

Elder Lavering is awesome!  He is doing a service while we wait for Evina.

 

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

 

Love,

Elder Schmid

 

 

 Bonaberi with a recent convert named Gregoire

Gorgeous sunset

Marius and his family. He is a returned missionary and I am so
grateful that he is here in this branch. I don't know what this branch
would do without him.

Oscar and I. You should remember Oscar from a crazy story a month ago.

Our DMB Samuel and his family. His daughter has beautiful eyes.

The only way to our investigators house. Not as deep as Ngangue though...

Bonjour tout le monde (Hello everyone)!
 

It sounds like you all had a great week! You have awesome emails, Mom... I know that I have told you that but I am so grateful for your emails. You and Dad always get me laughing and I am always having to share things here and there with Elder Lavering. So that Titanium song is now big over in the States?? Save it for me so that I can get it the minute I get home! I love it! Is the subwoofer still in the truck? I miss that thing... it's my little baby. I miss good speakers.

 

My greatest memories I have of the family are just being WITH the family. To be honest... I can't really remember the specifics of what went down on our family vacations, but I will always remember that I loved spending time with my family. I took so much for granted before my mission, and now looking back, and after having been away from you all for over 15 months, I am starting to realize what was crucial... what was important. And that was the family. So I guess with the last year with Caelan, just be with her and have her be with you. It breaks my heart when I see families here in Cameroon because they are so isolated and separated. Yeah, maybe they are all together at by the end of the night but that's it... they are only physically together. What we have is so blessed... we are spiritually together. We are sealed by love and commitment. We are united. We are bound by the bounteous blessings of our loving Heavenly Father. I regret not understanding that earlier.

 

This week went by so fast and it was full of awesomeness. I am going to start off by talking about our ami de l'église Martin Joseph. He is solid. I don't know where to begin with him. We just got out of a rendez-vous with him and it was incredible. For almost half of the lesson he was teaching us and bearing testimony to us of the things he had studied and learned in the scriptures and brochures that we had given him. He has said many times, "I KNOW that I have found the one true church of Jesus Christ...THE ONE TRUE CHURCH... and I will NEVER turn back." He tells that to us every time we see him. Today we taught him about the law of chastity and the Atonement of Jesus Christ and it was so easy to teach him because he is already putting them into practice. He is so happy and he knows that the happiness that he has only comes from his desire to come into the fold of God. He is always inviting new friends to the rendez-vous and telling some of his other friends off and telling them to get lost because we are not here to give money (That is a huge problem we have here... we will have awesome investigators but as soon as they realize we won't be paying for their hospital bills and medicines and beers, they ditch us). I love Martin Joseph. He is a great man.

 

I was with a woman named Bernadette, and she has kind of been partially inactive so we have stopped by her place about once a week for the past 5 weeks. Last Tuesday, she asked me a pretty bizarre question. She took us into Genesis 6 where it talks about the giants and then she went on to explain that "the bible tells us that angels came from heaven and fornicated with very beautiful women and the offspring of these two parties were the giants." She then asked me to explain to her the geneology of the giants. Now, this woman has been a member for over 10 years... I had to bite my tongue and not laugh. The whole 'angels from heaven fornicating with women' doctrine comes from the JW's over here and for some reason people still hang onto JW doctrine over here. From what I understand, the reason why the JW's believe that is because of what we read in Peter when he says that Christ went and taught the spirits in prison. Well the JW's don't believe that there is a spirit world so in order to explain this scripture they say that Christ went and preached to the angels who fornicated with the women and were chased from heaven. Hmmm... interesting. Now that comes from a JW source here in my mission and I have found that many many people over here don't even understand the doctrines of their own church. I have had opportunities to teach Catholics what they "believe" in because they just didn't know... they just claimed to be catholic. Wow, I kind of went all over in this paragraph. Moving on.

 

You know Alex... our investigator? Well, he has now gotten into moto accident #3. I mean KNOWN moto accident #3. He just doesn't get the picture that he should never sit himself on something that has two wheels. Let alone any wheels.

 

We went and taught Catherine 4 times this week and for one rendez-vous we wanted to watch the little movie called "Finding Faith in Christ". We got over there and got everything set up and I just had to change the language from English to French but the remote didn't have any batteries and there were no buttons on the DVD player. So I said, "Sorry, it looks like we will have to do this another night." But they all insisted that we just watch it in English. I said okay but didn't think that it would be that edifying for them. Well, I think I was pretty wrong in assuming that. Throughout the whole movie Catherine was able to follow, and by what she saw she knew exactly what they were saying. She would be quoting the scriptures as Christ in the video would be saying them. It was pretty neat and at one point Catherine was in tears. The Spirit was there and it bore testimony that night... The language of the Spirit is never curtailed by the language of man.

 

This week we gave Catherine 3 Books of Mormon after we met with her and we got into the truck with Elder Gailey and right before he put the truck into first gear Catherine was there pounding on the window telling us to stop. She had already handed out her three books and was asking for more. She handed out 7 this week and she has been giving us awesome coordonnées. She loves missionary work!

 

Conference was AMAZING!!! I was only able to watch the first Saturday session and the Priesthood session. I got goosebumps when President Monson announced the new age requirement for Elders and Sisters. That is so awesome! When I got home I thought of Turley and Threet (two boys in our ward, just waiting to turn 19 so that they can go on their mission) and I wondered what they were thinking. I loved the press conference between the two sessions. "That is your third question, Peggy." Elder Holland is awesome. I loved it when Elder Nelson introduced himself... Hello, I am Russell M. Nelson and I am one of the twelve apostles. That would be a sweet sentence to associate your name with. I was really touched by President Christofferson's talk in Priesthood. Just be men! I learned so much from the 12 talks I was able to listen to. My appreciation for conference has grown so much since being out on the mission. I was glued to the screen during the four hours that we watched conference. I can't wait to get the conference Ensign to further study what was said. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful blessing.

 

I love my life over here and life is loving on me. The Lord has really blessed me and I am so grateful that I still have 9 months to experience living in a miracle 24/7. I am working my hardest and still overcoming weaknesses and shortcomings but I know that the Lord is helping me become a better Priesthood holder. One who does his duty. I love you!

 

Je t'aime maman :)

Elder 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

 

 

A huge river we pass over twice from Douala to Yaounde

A typical home in a village in the jungle



Wanna ride?

A sunset I have come to love in Cameroon.  I really enjoy the formation of the clouds.

 

Do you think I can out run him?

What does Ruffles and Christiaan have in common?  They both like to hang their heads out the window.



Jimmy, Aime and Frere Odoumba...my friends from Yaounde!

Must be a rough school!



An awesome waterfall on our drive to Yaounde.

Dear Mom,

 

So, right now I am currently chilling in Yaoundé! Elder Lavering had to come up here to work out some visa paperwork and get his carte de séjour (residence permit). The Gailey's picked us up at 7:00 in the morning, yesterday, and we drove in their truck up here to Yaoundé. It was such a beautiful ride. I have been in Africa for over a year, but sometimes it just seems surreal that I am on the African continent preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Such an awesome blessing. There would be stretches on the drive where you are in the jungle with huge trees all around you and you can't even see into the forest because there is so much vegetation. We were driving in the clouds and it poured big time. We had to dodge a huge tree that had fallen on the road and a flipped over semi truck. You get to really see what "au village" is when you drive to and from Yaoundé. You see so many red dirt huts. It was a gorgeous drive. I had a monster headache and it was bugging me so much. Then Sister Gailey rolled down her window to take a picture and once the warm fresh air hit my face my headache almost immediately went away. It was so bizarre. I guess I can't handle the a/c... I'm going to be messed up when I get back home.

 

Yesterday, I was able to go to my old area and say hi to some very close friends. I surprised Jimmy. He was so excited to see me. He came up to me and just picked me up and gave me this huge hug. That man is so strong. Your hand disappears when you shake his hand. He kept on hugging me. I miss him so much. This Saturday he will be baptizing his two oldest kids!! Soon he will have an eternal family :) I am so proud of him and for all the progress he has made. Before we left he asked me to say a prayer and it was pretty intimate. We have such an awesome bond. We then went and saw frère Odoumba and Aimé. Aimé was baptized last year on October 15th... It has almost been a year! I was able to talk on the phone with my first convert, Ernestine. She hit her year mark back on the 17th of this month. It's weird thinking that that much time has passed. It is weird being back here in Yaoundé. I am smelling certain smells and it is throwing me back to when I first got here. It is so trippy. Last night I had one of the most amazing sleeps on my mission. In the Bastos apartment, there is a wall of open windows and we had fresh cool air circulating through the apartment all night. Amazing. I love Yaoundé.

 

So back to Douala news. We had two baptisms on Saturday! We were able to baptize Catherine and Rosalie. We ran into a little chaos on Saturday morning. President Njampou called me at 6:30 in the morning and told me that there was no water at the church. We couldn't go to plan B because at the couples apartment the pool is all green because they don't clean it during rainy season for some reason, so we had to go to plan c. We were able to plan the baptism at Bonaberi. We tried calling Catherine and Rosalie, but they weren't answering their phones, so we put on our missionary attire and we went to their house. Rosalie was out playing with friends and Catherine was out at a funeral and wouldn't be back until 1:00 in the afternoon and she wasn't answering her phone. So it got a little stressful, but we were able to get a hold of them and tell them about the change of program. They were so happy to get baptized. We had Catherine's neighbor, André, with us and he loved the baptismal service so much. It was very small but very nice and the Spirit was definitely felt. They were confirmed exactly 3 months after we first met them. The work continues!

 

So I forgot to write about this little incident last week and I thought it was pretty funny so I am going to throw it into this weeks email. I was in the shower getting ready for the day and I got all soaped up and Abega calls and wants to talk to me. Elder Lavering was talking to him and told him that I was in the shower and everything but he insisted on talking to me so I turned off the water and got the phone and started talking to him... even though I had soap suds all over me. I talked to him for about a minute and then got back into the shower and right as I went to turn the water back on the power went out. When there is no power there is no water. So there I was with soap all over me and I could do nothing. So I decided that I was going to wait it out and just sat there for about 15 minutes, but no water. Finally Elder Lavering was like, "Hey I can give you my water bottle..." and I thought that that was the best thing going for me so I accepted, and he went and got it and handed it to me. It had been in the fridge over night and was next to frozen. I sat there for a moment and didn't know what to do... and then after a few minutes I decided to use it. It was the most painful shower I have ever experienced. It was a liter and a half of nearly frozen water. So right as I finish dumping the liter and half of nearly frozen water on me I get out and dry off and right as I finish drying off the power came back on and warm water started shooting out of the spout again... I yelled out, "Ahhh commmme oooon!!!" Elder Lavering thought it was the funniest thing ever. Yeah. Ha.

 

Our investigator has had a rough few weeks. He called me on Saturday night and promised me that he would be at church on Sunday so Elder Lavering and I were really looking forward to seeing him there. Well, on Sunday we come to the intersection where we have to get out of the taxi, and we get out and Elder Lavering says, "Hey look, Alex!" So I look over and there I see this uncoordinated young man with a goofy helmet and a bright orange vest driving a moto with a passenger on it, waving and looking at us and smiling like a little boy....and then he ran into a moving car. He was thrown from the moto along with the passenger but they were okay. They just had a few little cuts on their hands and legs. Alex looked so depressed... I felt so bad but it was so hard not to laugh. Everyone was totally fine... nothing big happened. The moto's windshield was broken and the right mirror was a little busted up. The bad thing is that the moto doesn't even belong to Alex. Some french guy that he used to work for has let him use it because Alex quit his job as a security guard because the people he was around were a very bad influence on him. So it will cost a lot to fix up the moto... well to us not that much but to Alex it will cost an arm and a leg. Poor kid. We will be seeing him on Wednesday so we'll see whats up.

 

Mom, I got your little package with the pictures and memory card and the notes. Thank you so much!! I love those pictures so much. I still can't get over how much Dallin is changing. It is going to be so weird when I get home. Well I have to go. I don't have much more time! I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week!

 

Je vous aime,

Elder Schmid

Dear Mom,

 

I honestly have no clue where to begin... this week has been, I think, the craziest week of my mission. I was in my journal so much this week. There was one day where I was just tired of writing, so I wrote one sentence then I decided to give up and record it on my camera.  So Elder Lavering got on my bed and we talked about our day and at the end it was 40 minutes long... crazy day. I think what made this week so crazy was all the emotions I felt. I am not going to talk about a lot of the things that went down because they are very personal for the people that were involved... but I thought I would let you know that this week was definitely an interesting, yet gratifying one.

 

Last Tuesday, Elder LaFleur made hamburgers and they were amazing. He made onion rings that we threw on the burgers along with a guacamole that I made. I will definitely incorporate avocados into our diet when I get home... so good! And before my mission I didn't even like them... I was crazy.

 

The zone avec le president de mission

President Jameson came to town this week with Sister Jameson and we had zone conference and it was fantastic. They talked about some things that I really needed to hear and shared some amazing insight. I love learning from President Jameson so much. I am so happy that when I get back from the mission he will only be 10 minutes away. What a blessing! I love that man so much. He is such a spiritual giant. He announced some very exciting news! Recently, he went to Central African Republic to meet with the President to talk about the country recognizing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and now the country has been officially opened and Elder Holland will be in a month or two to dedicate it. President Jameson said that North American missionaries will not be going there due to safety reasons but soon he will be sending 4 missionaries to start officially preaching the Gospel in that country! So, we were all super excited to hear about that and I am sure that we were all a little bummed to hear that none of us would be able to serve over there. I think President knew we would be a little bummed to hear that we couldn't go there so he saved the bigger news for last. He has also been to Gabon a lot recently, and in the past the Church has had no progress whatsoever with getting the Church recognized over in Gabon, but recently Church has sent representatives and President himself went and they talked and discussed what the Church would do for the country and a miracle came about and now Gabon is open for the preaching of the Gospel! He also told us that he has requested that Libreville be the 4th city for the North American missionaries! So we are only waiting for a french speaking couple to accept their call to Gabon and a few weeks after, President would send his missionaries to start preaching the gospel! How awesome is that!? Elder Holland will also be dedicating that country during the same mission tour when he dedicates Central African Republic. So it is possible that I could go work in Gabon :)

 

Elder Lavering and myself at the Military Hospital

 

Our Mormon Helping Hands activity over at the military hospital

 

We had our Mormon Helping Hands service project on Saturday and it was a great success. It almost was a failure though... we got to the project and no one was there. Finally, people started showing up about an hour and a half after it was supposed to have started. We had two grown men arguing amongst each other about the stupid little shirts and who could wear them and who couldn't... I say arguing but they were screaming at each other. It was very pathetic... "Hey look at us! We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we focus on love and unity!" HA. I wanted to say something so bad but I kept my mouth shut. President Njampou came late and when he came he saw that the service we were supposed to do had already been done. As he was walking around he ran into some US Navy guys who were fixing up an area at the hospital and he asked them if we could help and they gladly accepted and before they realized what they said yes to they had about 70 Mormons running towards them wanting to help them with whatever. They were blown away and you could tell that they were impressed. It was neat talking to Americans... I miss American English. The head honcho guy was telling me that he has his own religion and prays at his house but he really appreciated what we were out there trying to do... and that is simply to help. He said, "It hits you right here..." as he was put his hand over his heart. He told us that he would be painting next week and we (the missionaries) immediately told him that we are more than willing to help him out. So hopefully we can get that programmed and help out our Navy friends.

 

Our second counselor in the branch presidency was unjustly thrown in jail and Elder Lavering and I went and visited him after we received a call during companionship study. He had been in there 3 days and we didn't even know... He called multiple people before us and they did nothing. I was pretty peeved with the lack of help that was offered by the branch members and dropped some pretty heavy words on a specific individual and he didn't like that at all... but guess who was at the jail when we went for the second time... him! I got to him :) Needless to say... Oscar is now out of jail. This will be a story that you will have to ask me to explain when I get back... it took over two pages in my journal and I could of easily cranked out 5 or 6.

 

We have an amazing investigator named Catherine who loves to preach the gospel to every single person she comes into contact with. Well she has been talking to one of her neighbors named André and invited him to her baptism, which will be this Saturday, and she has read in the Book of Mormon with him and everything. So we went and visited André and started teaching him. He has a crazy past. He used to be a professional fighter and won the Cameroon title twice and the African title once. He was a beast! That all came to an abrupt end when his car stalled on the train tracks. He saw the train coming but thought to himself that he had time. He tried and tried but it never started. He looked back at the train and saw how close it was and started to panic. As he was panicking his arm hit the lock on his door and locked it and he yanked on the door handle and broke it. As his last effort he busted the window and started to climb through when the train hit. The train went completely over him and completely cut off his leg and his stomach... he said that his intestines were out of his body when people came to help him. It is a miracle that he is alive. He has so much faith and wants to more fully understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is very excited to go to Catherine's baptism and come to church. He almost committed himself to baptism! Hopefully things will roll out nicely. I like the guy.

 

We went teaching with the Gaileys for a few hours on Friday and it was so much fun. I love translating. Elder Gailey was able to crank out an awesome testimony in french. It was very simple but very powerful and the Spirit was definitely making his presence known. They really want to teach with us and work with us so I am really looking forward to working with them. We were at their house earlier this morning emailing photos and they were on their couch together studying french. They are dedicated and serious and awesome. I love the Gaileys!!

 

I am so happy to hear that everything is going well for you all back home. I hope I can still jump high... I wish I could play basketball more. When I was at the MTC I could dunk every try... and then I tore up my ankle. I just need to go running every morning. That is way cool that you were able to go see Les Miserables! I would love to see Phantom of the Opera. I have not yet received your package but I know that it will get here. Usually it takes two weeks. The Gailey's just went to the post office today and there wasn't a package for me.

 

All is going well over here in Douala. Yeah, there are difficult days but the joy you feel as you serve always beats out the trials of the mission. I am so grateful that I still have 9 and a half months left. Le temps passe vite!! Je t'aime!

 

Elder Schmid

 

Elder Mpungu, me, and Elder Rakotoarisoa...try saying that three times fast.



Emmanuel!! One of my converts back in Yaounde! He is now head of
communications for the church in Cameroon and he hasn't even been a
member for 7 months!

Sweet! Zion is in Douala!

Dear Mom,

 

This week was an interesting one, but nevertheless, it was a great one. We are back into the last rainy season before the dry season, so we got caught in the rain a few times without an umbrella… well, I did. I left my umbrella, on accident, over at one of our members houses. It’s not fun when you don’t have an umbrella. You get very wet, very fast. But that didn’t slow us down! The rain slows a lot of other people down, but it can’t slow down missionary work.

 

Right after we emailed last week, we went over to Tom Genning’s work. Tom Gennings is an American who works for Noble Energy, an oil company, and he is here in Cameroon every other month. I wanted to give him a letter to send when he got back to the states so we went to his office. He works, by far, in the nicest building I have been in since my arrival in Cameroon back on 6 Sept. 2011. It’s crazy! There was this huge metal box that you walked into, and when you walked into it, these doors come out of the wall and shut off the entry… then the box started to move and before we knew it we were on the third floor. It was the craziest thing. Tom is awesome. He is a convert and has a neat conversion story. As we were talking with him, he asked us if we had eaten, and we hadn’t, so he invited us to eat with him and the guys at work. So he took us up to the penthouse and had us sit down at a very nice fancy table and told us what our menu was… yes, we had choices!! I got chicken wings with rice and onions, a salad with Italian dressing, and potatoes. I was in heaven. We had a neat conversation with a nonmember man who is from England. He had some questions about the foundational beliefs of the Mormons and what we focus on. We were able to talk about the cleansing powers of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the family. I love those two subjects so much. It was awesome speaking normal English as well. After the amazing dinner and discussion, Tom called up one of his drivers and had him drive us over to the Nuttall’s apartment. It was so weird being in a nice car wearing seat belts with a/c and a sweet sound system. Well, actually it was just stock but stock is much better than anything that exists here. It was so nice… Tom Gennings is great! He has helped me out a lot with sending letters and everything.

 

The Gailey’s are incredible. I would be totally fine with staying in Douala for the rest of my mission just so I could work with the Gailey’s. They are so funny and easy to talk to. It has been so much fun just getting to know them. When they originally got their mission call they were scheduled to start their mission in January, which worked out great for them because they had four grandchildren on that were to be born before January. One day, as they were driving down the freeway, Sister Gailey turned to Elder Gailey and said, “Hey, why don’t we just go earlier?” and they called in and had their report date changed to an earlier date! Little did they know that thousands of miles away we were praying and fasting that we could get a couple here before the Nuttalls left so that 8 missionaries wouldn’t be on their own for 5 months. That is what happened in Yaoundé and it was very difficult for the missionaries. So it was a precious little miracle. They don’ speak any french but they have the best attitude towards their mission. Yesterday, Elder Gailey bore his testimony in french and the branch loved it. The Gailey’s have big shoes to fill, but I know that they will be amazing and do so much for this branch.

 

Our investigator, Alex, is still progressing and learning everyday. We met with him almost everyday and we were able to teach him so much and he loved every minute of it. This week we taught him the law of chastity and he explained some concerns he had but once again he understood the doctrine and accepted to follow it. He has never had any rejections. I love teaching this guy so much. He hasn't come to church yet even though, a few weeks ago, he went through the trouble to change his day off to Sunday and his boss allotted him that day and he still hasn't come to church. His excuse... rain. Which is a legit excuse. It has poured these last two Sundays. But then again, that should never be an excuse. It has rained almost everyday and yet he is at work. I asked him that if it rained every Sunday throughout the year would he never come to church? He promised with God that he would be there this Sunday. He better be... that's not a promise that should be broken. I kind of laid into him today when we met with him telling him that he needs to go to church and he felt bad because he knew that he could have come. We then taught about repentance because he was hit pretty hard by our chastity lesson. We surprised him today, we didn't tell him we were coming, so we just showed up and he was reading his chastity brochure. I asked him if he had any questions and he did, and every single one was on repentance and how he can truly repent of his sins. This man is dedicated and serious and I know that he will be such a solid member.

 

This week when we did weekly planning, Elder Lavering and I set some pretty big, yet achievable goals. We thought that we were good missionaries and that we could accomplish the goals that we had set. Well, the very next day, we saw the funny side of our Heavenly Father because NO ONE was answering their phones. Our program that we fixed was a "I hope so and so will be there and this hour". We got home and were so bugged. We were like, "What the heck? Here we are setting great goals and wanting to do so much good and we get this thrown at us?" It was pretty selfish on my part to complain. So, this whole week I was thinking that our numbers for this week were going to be low and I was so surprised yesterday when we counted them because we tied our record for number of lessons taught! It is interesting how it worked out. Here I was being a little baby, but the Lord knew what He was doing and what He wanted His servants to do. I love my mission.

 

Today I went and got a hair cut and as we were walking back to our apartment I look at Elder Lavering and said, "Wanna race... barefoot?" We took a few more steps as Elder Lavering pondered the possibility...and then he accepted. We took off our sandals and I gave him a head start and we took off. We only ran about 1/4 mile but now I have two blisters... one on each of my big toes and the bottom of my feet are shredded. What the heck was I thinking? That is probably what everyone else was thinking as they saw two young white boys sprinting down the streets of Douala. Oh, I won.

 

Do you remember me telling you about Matthieu? He was an inactive member when Elder Thibault and I started together about 18 weeks ago. Well, today he is totally active and has given up his bad habits, once again, and is at church every Sunday. It is so neat seeing the change that has come into his life. He is the one who has the skin eating disease on his leg. Well, now that he is active his problem has been getting better and better and he is getting happier and happier. The promises that we promised to him are being fulfilled because of his faith and his works! It is so awesome. Every time I see him he is always telling me how much he loves me and how much he is going to miss me. I love this work so much and I love working with inactives.

 

Yesterday I gave a talk in church and I was chose to talk on some of my favorite scriptures... Alma 41:6, D&C 20:77, and D&C 46:9. I love the principle of desire and will. I love to talk in church too. I don't get nervous anymore! I just get up and talk about the gospel and share the message with love. For some reason people got the impression that I was leaving, so I had a bunch of people come up to me after the meeting and ask me if I was leaving and they told me how sad they were. No worries... I am still here until October 19th. Maybe longer... and I would love to stay longer. I love Douala.

 

This week we went over the baptism interview questions with Catherine and I was joking around with her and for the very first question I asked, "How much do you weigh?" and before I could tell her I was joking she says, "58 kg!" People here are so open about anything. I love Catherine. She is such a funny old lady.

 

Well, the mission is awesome... I tell you that every week but it is so true. There is no where else I would rather be right now. I know that my life is changing and I love seeing the change occurring in the lives of my brothers and sisters here in Douala. Have a great week!

 

Je t'aime,

Elder Schmid

Hey there!

 

It sounds like you all are having a great time! I was writing earlier this morning and I realized that today was labor day chez vous. Thank goodness we don't have a 'labor day' in the mission field because this work is the best. I can't believe that we are already in Septembre... no I didn't spell that wrong, that is how it is in french. I think the rings are only $30 over at deseret bookstore. He said he was totally fine with one in English so I would just get that one instead. It would get here faster. Just make sure it is 8 1/2. Thank you so much! It is definitely a small world. Keri Ford (Decker) is one of my really good friends!! I am glad you got the letters!

 

This week was pretty great, and a lot went down, and I forgot to write my little outline thing in my daily planner so I brought my journal with me so I can remember some things. I have the worst memory in the world...

 

On Tuesday, we were able to have interviews with President Jameson. He wasn't here though... it was over skype. It was a little different but it was still awesome. I love President Jameson so much and he will be coming soon for a zone conference. I can't wait to see him! It is always nice seeing him and Sister Jameson because it is like having a little piece of home with you. It's crazy to think that the three of us only have 10 months left on our missions.

 

We met a man named Joseph, for the first time, last Sunday and we met with him a few times throughout the week. He is a great investigator and it seemed like he knew everything was true before we even taught it to him. He told us that a friend gave him a Book of Mormon that she never read and he started reading and found it to be really edifying, and he found our number in it so he gave us a call and asked us to help him understand more about the Book of Mormon and our message. We met with him Tuesday at the church and he got there 45 minutes late, and I was a little bugged because I like sticking to the program but then he told us that he had walked over two hours just to be there.... and then he walked all the way back home. Wow... that is desire. He has so much faith. We went to his house the next day and we taught him the Restoration and Elder Lavering invited him to be baptized and he said "of course"... and by the way he was saying it, he was meaning, "well duh, why wouldn't I get baptized?" He came to church again yesterday and he participates a lot and answers a lot of questions throughout the lessons. He is a great guy!

 

This week, when we went to see Abega, I was fixed on figuring out every single detail that was preventing him from getting married. So, when I told him what I wanted to do for the rendez-vous he kinda chuckled and started making the list. Here in Cameroon if you want to get baptized your marriage needs to be registered by appropriate government officials. Tons of people here are married tribally but the Church sent lawyers here to study the law so we could more fully follow the 12th article of faith and they informed us of what we need to expect now with the marriage. Abega is already tribally married.... all he has to do is register the marriage and he has the money for it too. He didn't know how easy it was! It was neat seeing the excitement in his eyes grow by the second as we were explaining all of this to him. We have a member in the Bonaberi branch who works with registering marriages so we gave him her number and we finally got this boat moving! We have now fixed his baptismal date for Oct. 6th... for him and Carine. All they need to do is register that marriage! So keep him in your prayers. I really want to see this one through.

We were walking down the road the other day and two Americans crossed the road so they could talk to us and when they approached us one of them said, "American?" and we nodded in the affirmative and then he said, "Mormon's?" and we nodded once more and then he got all stoked and said, "No *@#*!! We found the elders!!" He was super excited and started talking about the history of the church and the organization of the church and how a new prophet is called and all that... it was super random, but it was pretty neat. We found out that they were in the Navy and were here in Douala for 2 weeks doing some humanitarian stuff. Their boat left a few days ago. Before we split ways, he asked to get a picture with us and so we did. He was standing there busting his finger signs for the picture and saying, "Yeah man! I'm with the elders!" It was sooo random. I hit me that I was talking to Americans... they were from southern Florida and their accents were so weird. I have been away from the States a long time a guess. Before they left we gave them a Restoration brochure and then we walked away. They passed us in a taxi later that day and one guy was screaming out the window while waving "elders! elders!"

 

In Priesthood meeting every Sunday, there is a man named Frère Momo who gives the lesson and he always writes one sentence on the black board and focuses his whole lesson on that one sentence. Lots of times people ask him questions that he can't answer or he doesn't want to, but he really likes to pick on me... like yesterday for example. Someone asked what it meant to "mettre notre confiance en Dieu" (put our confidence in God, or trust God). When he heard the question he said, "Hmmm, well does anyone want to answer that question?" and before anyone could say anything he said, "The spirit is telling me that Elder Schmid is going to answer that question for you. Elder Schmid..." I just smiled and laughed to myself and dove into the scriptures and helped him understand that phrase.

 

Yesterday in fast and testimony meeting, the other elders investigator got up to bear her testimony but it ended up being a story-mony... and it was 25 minutes long. We got out of church a half an hour late. Testimony meetings always go late over here.

 

All is well and I am loving my mission. It is so much fun working with people helping them improve their lives and helping them come closer to their Savior, Jesus Christ. I love my job :) and I love you!!

 

Je t'aime maman,

Elder Schmid