Saturday, July 30, 2016

No place like home.

Elder Silva is finally home after:
2 missed flights
2 long layovers
3 countries
2 years
736 days
12 hours
40 minutes
6 smiles later…








Thursday, July 14, 2016

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Hallelujah!



July 11, 2016
Well everything is going well here. The Zone is progressing. I feel terrible because we were supposed to have a baptism on Sunday, but due to poor planning we couldn't hold it that day. An old missionary like me not prepared for baptism. Well I beat myself up about it and then decided to just be excited for next week. In better news, the Nkawkaw Sisters had a couple of baptisms on Saturday. There was an old man named “Y.”  He can't walk well and it took 4 of us to get him into the baptismal font. Once he got in he said "hallelujah!". hahaha I talked with him a handful of minutes before and he's a sweet guy. After the baptism he just came to the front and started bearing testimony. Such a strong spirit. That man is a true convert. Today we are cooking a goat with fufu. He's having a last meal of leaves and watermelon rinds, just to show the proper respect. He made a heck of a noise in the taxi ride though. It's about time we got the zone together again. Well fam. all is well with me and I'm glad to hear things are well with you as well. I'm excited for Mom to go to the Minnisota reunion. That'll be real cool. See Y'all next week.        -Elder Silva




July 4, 2016
Well time is short so I'm not sure what to really say. Especially with not long left here in Ghana. We have some progressing investigators with a baptism coming up this week. The sister of one of our recent converts. So happy! Everything else is going fine. I had some pictures and things I wanted to send, but the computers in this area won't do it, so it will just have to wait.
As for my testimony, well I can say that everything is true! Yup it's all true. Time won't permit too much, but mission has taught me alot of things. I suppose, in that sense, there are different testimonies I could share. Basically it all boils down to our own relationship with God and Jesus Christ. 1 cor.2:11 and 1 cor.12:3, just about sums up why this Church is very different in our proselyting efforts. I don't convince people with scriptures or logic. To do either would be an unstable foundation for a testimony. We simply provide the message and the rest is between them and Heavenly Father. Same way we all got our testimonies and the same way I strengthen my own. The fastest ways to a testimony lie within John7:17 and the Book of Mormon in its entirety all coupled together with prayer. That's the secret. ;) love you all and see you next week!    -Elder Silva




June 27, 2016
Oh man,  it's so interesting to see what Em thinks about Ghana! I never thought one of you guys would see my part of the world. I guess I can testify that all that she said is true. (Although I don't know anything about that Pinnochio's place.)
As far as being upset when I was 5 because you were going to have a girl, I think l got the best of both worlds. Yes I had a little sister, BUT she wasn't afraid to play smash bros. or pretend we were ninja warriors as kids... yeah she's pretty awesome. Sometimes I even... wait what is this liquid substance draining from my oculars?!
Anyways this week has been crazy. I was up late last night trying to balance the Holy Money. Zone Leaders are in charge of reimbursing missionaries for certain things. To make a long story short, this week we were short over 100 cedis and it took me until the next morning to figure it out. It made me think of those days I saw Mom with 1,000 papers on the table, with that big calculator and her head on her hand haha. enye easyooo.  The week went somehow well. Transfers was a bit hectic, but we all made it home in one piece. (reminds me of that anime every time I say that Brooke haha).  I'm not sure if you remember the Elder you all called "Hyena Boy." He came the same time as me, but he just went home to Ethiopia early for school. He has to take some extra tests, like English literacy for his application to BYUI. He's hoping to get in. I think it would be really cool to see him there
Somehow through God's grace we have some people progressing here! We're looking forward to a couple of baptisms soon. I extended a baptismal date to an investigator the other day for August. Suddenly I realized I wouldn't even be in Ghana for that day. So insane. Also you can tell Mr.Fisher I would love to help out. I've seen him "march" guys back to camp to help him "band" those kids together. (up too late last night, that's the best I could do haha). Also you'll be shocked to hear I went to war, despaired if you knew the odds, livid if you knew the enemy, but on your knees singing praises when you hear that we killed them !!cafards!! uh sorry. that's cockroaches for you non-Frenchies. Yes we did a deep clean and boy does it feel good. Of course it's not the end. There are still some stragglers and the babies will come back for vengeance. All will be well with Raid on my side. Well see y'all on the other side!       -Elder Silva