Happy Birthday Austin!

Ugh, sorry if this e-mail is a little shorter, but I'm tired today. It's been busy and very hot this week. Our tro-tro (big taxi) got stopped by police today looking for money. The police are super corrupt here. Anyways, thanks for the Birthday wishes and the package! Yes I did get it on time and I loved everything, especially the Scooby Doo towel. I used it to clean our ceiling fan today. Well counting your blessings comes alive once you come here. America is such a better place to live. Sometimes it makes me wish I was home, but the wonderful investigators here always make me stay. Being born into our family is one of the best things to ever happen to me. I miss you guys. We had another baptism this week making it 12! This old man is powerful. He takes notes on everything. For Thanksgiving this week enjoy your Fufu. Remember; don't chew, just swallow. Drink your soup and eat all of the bones... and don't spill anything on your tie. I actually still have all of the spices that Mom sent me with. There's nothing else to use them for apart from stew. Emily actually sent me a package with mapeline. I haven't tried it out yet, but I'll try this week. I'm glad to hear that you're all doing well. I'll send a couple of pictures your way for your enjoyment. Have an awesome week and don't forget to enjoy life! 
-Elder Silva

I hope your cereal stays crunchy.

Well stifling heat describes it pretty well. It's hot. really hot. The funny thing about Obuasi is that it scorches all throughout the day and pours cats and dogs in the evenings. We get stuck in the rain before coming home sometimes. My companion? Well he's pretty chill and I enjoy that. Suits my style of life. Everyone has a different approach to teaching and Okutu's no different. We learn good things from each other. He's Ghanian so he understands Twi, (can speak it small, small) so It's nice to have a translator. He also can point out little culture mannerisms I wasn't aware of beforehand. The branch is doing alright. A new building has been completed for the split in our branch. I'm staying in the old building while others are moving. That means less people at church, but it was getting a bit chaotic. Branches are hard to work with. A lot less organized than a ward back home. Sundays are my most stressful days. We had a miracle this week. I expected 2 investigators at church and we ended up with 14! One lady brought tons of people to church. They don't speak English but I hope something will come out of it. We also ended up with 17 new investigators this week. It was cool, but I'm pretty sure 75% of them were ghosts. I haven't seen or heard from them again. My favorite family is still the Bua family. ma pa and one son are part of the church. the Mom and son are recent converts of mine and they are so so active. Bua comes with us to teach lessons all the time. I received the candy corn and Emily's 1st package. Thank you, Thank you. It's all gone already, but don't worry; I brushed my teeth. lately I've worked on enough cocoa plantations to merit one of my own don't you think? I'm a bit low on pictures right now. Didn't really take any this week, but I'll send what I have. On that note I seriously appreciate the pictures you send me every week. Thank you.The Elders and I  make big stews and lots of rice most nights. I personally cook mine with- onions, green bell pepper, carrot, fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, stew packets, hot pepper and sometimes fish. Usually we end up making our stews simpler and bigger. Alright well I think that's about it for this week. I'll try to grab some more pictures to send next time. Until then, I hope you have a great day. I hope that... um... your next bowl of cereal is very good. I hope it stays crunchy. 

-Elder Silva

KING OF THE JUNGLE

I'm sitting down in a chair and I'm tired. We hiked a mountain today. Well alright Mt. Timpinogus and Devil's Staircase is a mountain, but I'm still tired. I'll post some pictures this time from my new camera! P-days don't always go how I intend them to, since on a mission you can't make your own choices. As long as someone else is ready to go to town I'll be there. Me and my companion are getting along pretty well. Another companionship and our's chipped in money to make tons of rice and stew. It's the staple here. They cook it, so my dinners are really easy. Breakfast always consists of French toast and maybe a banana. The last syrup I made wasn't very good so hopefully this next one will turn out like the others I've made. Seriously you guys, those houses back home are so much better than anything people are living in here. We're very blessed. Speaking of homely comforts, I had a big scare this week. The water went out again. noooo!! It's alright though, because it came back a couple of days ago. I was ready to give up and never bath again. To answer your questions...How is a typical week of my life? Well, we walk alot, talk alot, sweat alot... It's not much fun. However, me and my companion always find things to laugh at. I joke around a lot. It's a good way to keep me going through the week. Many of my investigators have become good friends by now and it makes it very easy to visit them. Contacting still hasn't gotten any easier. We've been focusing on referrals this week to lessen the amount of time spent trying to find new people to teach. Sundays are very stressful. Our family is blessed to live in such an awesome ward. Branches are chaotic. False doctrine, unorganized services. It can be a mess. Not to mention the Twi/English barrier can be a big problem for the missionaries. We're not always sure what teachers are actually teaching. I got to watch a bit of general conference finally!..... in Twi. Everyone told me the translation was pretty bad though. Mondays are still busy days. tons of wash and cooking to do. I'm only now starting to relax. I've always been the companion to district leaders, so that means that I have a lot of exchanges and baptism interviews to attend. It's busy. That's pretty much an average week. No two weeks are the same. Just so you know, potatoes, they are super expensive here. So I have to settle for Yam or Casava. Potatoes taste much better though. I hope your implication of me speaking Twi was for the sake of a joke and not an legitimate expectation for new linguistic talents... because I aint learning much. No missionaries know Twi, so it's difficult to really find any motivation to study it. Especially since all of our lessons are in English. That being said, I do pick up words here and there. All in all things are going well here. I'm tired, but the wash was done early today so I can relax a bit before tonight's lessons. Someone from the Mission home is coming to Obuasi tomorrow, so I'll finally have a chance to receive mail. Hopefully your things will be there. Thanks for being such an awesome family. Have a great week! 

-Austin

 New Comp!

 And this is how it works...

 Awesome B-day cake for one of our fellow missionaries 

 Come to the Dark Vader side...

King of the Jungle ;) 

Transfer News!

Well guys another week has come and gone. The days drag, but the weeks really do fly by. This week has been a little low on numbers. I'm not really sure what happened. All of our baptisms from last week came back for confirmation though, so at least they're all serious. Well a number of things have happened. First off guess who enjoys fufu? It took a few times certainly, but you get used to it to the point where you're even looking forward to it. I've also been fed fish every FM and it's not that bad either. Let's see... oh goodness, transfer news just came in.......................................................................................... want me to tell you? Alright fine. So I'm staying in Obuasi with a new companion from Ghana. That means lots of Twi. A little difficult since I only know a handful of words, but maybe this will prove to be a great learning opportunity. Apparently Ghanian companions cook alot, so maybe I'll have more food after all. haha. This night should be good since I'm making a stew when I get home. An investigator gave us good rice, chicken, cooking oil, tomato paste, yeah it was nice. I just have to go to market to grab some vegetables. By the way, never take supermarkets for granted. If I want pineapple I have to go through two different areas to get to it. Markets are a big hassle. I'm not sure when I'll get a new camera since the companions that are staying aren't being allowed to travel with their companions to Kumasi for transfers. A mission has a crazy amount of rules. So many that missionaries resort to doing stupid things to entertain themselves such as making stacks and stacks and stacks of pancakes and french toast. They didn't last as long as we thought they would. Well the weather is as hot as ever, so I don't get to wear any comfortable sweatshirts this winter. It doesn't feel like October at all. I hope that our sub increases soon as well. I have the equivalent of around 8$ for this week. It's not easy, but I have learned to live cheap. Speaking of Duke, is Brooke going to invite him to my wedding? She better. ...No, I wasn't rolling my eyes... I just facepalmed. ;) You hold a good point about staying positive. It's the only way to make it through the week until the next P-day. Well If I think of anything else to say, I'll write more, but for now I think that wraps it up. I did send another letter to make a total of 2 to you guys, so hopefully you've received it. I received two letters from Mom through the pouch system. One was written in August. haha The pouch system is really slow by the way. I still haven't received Dad's letter yet or any packages, so I still have something to look forward to. and so with that I bid adieu. Have an awesome week and do something fun for me. 

-Elder Silva

Those little Akuras.

 A picture of me with the little "akuras" ( by the way. my Twi spelling is bad since I don't know how it's actually written out). 

 4 powerful baptisms. Worked hard for these ones.

 ..A bit spendy, but chocolate shakes are the perfect way to end a day... or a morning... or anytime really. 

 Hour and a half of fufu... ( a local dish that is a doughy substance dipped in a sauce).

 Ready to weed the cocoa farm! (It was fun for the first few minutes)

 Falling asleep in lessons. (I wasn't even aware this picture was taken) (don't worry it happens less often than you think.)

These kids learn all of the important English first.

Well another week has come and gone. This week will be my last week of training. About half the people in our apartment have a very good chance of being transferred, so there will be many new faces to meet in a bit. I don't eat a whole lot of Ghanian food. Mostly just French Toast, bread or noodles, sometimes rice and stew. If we do end up with any FMs they feed us WAY too much. I can hardly walk after I finish. Also when Ghanians serve you food you're expected to eat everything down to the last crumb. I took an hour and a half to eat a bowl of fufu the other day. What an adventure that was. Good news is my belly is gone. Fat kind-of comes and goes here without me really doing anything. When we get sick we lose weight pretty quickly. There certainly have been "down weeks, and down days", but It's true that it does get better. I haven't received any new letters yet, but nobody has come from the mission home for around 3 weeks now, so they should be there. I look forward, as always, to reading them. CANDY CORN?!? You've made my entire week. How I long for tasty treats. :) If you're having trouble knowing what to send, just send food. Things here in the mission are going well. We had 4 baptisms this week and all of them seem pretty strong. We don't own any land to build a church building here, so we are renting another building. It's not bad and it's big enough for everyone. It's really difficult to describe Ghana. I'll try to keep sending pictures. Pictures are probably the best pick-me-ups I've received on a mission so far. I love them. We're going to have a district activity tonight for meeting our baptism goals for two months in a row. wohoo! We're having a pancake/french toast party with ice cream and soda. (I know it doesn't sound that great, but It's a big deal for me). Today was payday for us. I run out of sub about halfway through the second week fairly consistently. Many Elders are pushing for an increase, since prices in Obuasi have been soaring ever since I got here. Well It's great to hear from you all, and I hope you all have a great week. I hope you know I love you guys a lot. you knew? oh. Well I'll say it again anyways. Love you guys! 

-Elder Silva

I got a package, I got a package, I got a package, hey hey hey hey.

Family,

Halloween's a fun time. Too bad it's not a holiday here in Ghana. So just part of my camera broke, but there's not really anyone who can repair it here. I might end up withdrawing a bit of personal to get a new one. Heck I wish I had internet and technology again; this keyboard is terrible! It's not easy to use. Alright I'm low on time now. Have a wonderful week my awesome family! 

-Elder Silva

 I had a better picture, but those are bedbugs found in Elder R's bed.

 We harvested cocoa at the farm. I never expected it to look like this.

 Guess who got a package from you?

 Road to a farm. No Ebola in Ghana yet. I always seem to be a bit sick though. After talking with president, I learned that most Elders, as soon as they leave Obuasi, feel much healthier. Just my luck:) ...The people in Obuasi are great though. Even the Muslims are very peaceful compared to the radicals in the middle east.

Brother T came to church in style.

Alright so the internet is extremely sluggish today so I haven't been able to do much. I'll try to write plenty to you. I haven't heard any of conference yet, but we should be getting a magazine soon. I'm anxious to read. This is my day to breath this week, but I've been breathing in a lot of heat lately. Seriously it's so hot here. After awhile my body just starts to ignore it and it becomes normal to me. I'm sharing that joke you sent me with everyone at home tonight. I'll even credit you. :) The only sad part is how true that joke can be. Some get baptized and never come again for confirmation. I can't send mail today, because today is a Muslim holiday. Something about eating lots of meat. Glad to see you're trying to write longer, but I don't judge you for it's length. I seem to recall some times where MY letters to Em in the mission field were pretty short. Thank you for the pictures. They always make me smile. I had my 5th member meal yesterday. They're not bad, but they give you soooo much. I've eaten many local foods. Fried plantains are too sweet. Fufu is too hard to swallow. Banku is a little easier. Jollof rice is good, but too much fish. All in all they give me too much. Also they have a whole new concept of meat here. Most of it's just skin and bone and here they eat all of it. Bone takes some getting used to, but it's edible. We're a little dry of investigators here. We've tried to do some finding and we've had some success. One of the most promising girls is attracted to me. Not to make myself sound big, but it happens more than it should. I'm running short of time so I'll leave it at that for now. Love you all and I wish you a great week. 

-Elder Silva