Happy New Year!

Huh, for the first time on my mission, I'm not sure what to say in my e-mail. I hope everyone's New Year went well. Good to hear the weather isn't too freezing. I remember the negative winters. brrrr. Yes the rain has stopped here. We are in the Hamataan (not sure how to spell it) season. So everything is really dry. Infact it was so dry that one of our neighbors' apartments caught on fire. Whole thing burned down. One woman had a lot of money in a couch. Please don't keep tons of money in a couch and don't burn down our house. It really makes you realize just how unexpectedly bad things can happen. It's funny that Brooke mixed up girl and guy. Some people will do that here when they talk. "you know Elder Silva? yeah SHE was teaching me the other day". It makes me chuckle every time. I hope I didn't sound too different on the Skype call. My speech has changed a bit, and sometimes I get conscious of my American accent and it sounds funny. I'll be graduating from my Freshman year on mission soon. That makes 25% completed. A small milestone in comparison to what is left, but considering 6 months it seems like a long time. I've adjusted really well, but I feel that I'm going to be leaving my first transfer soon. That means more adjusting. I find myself really curious about how the other missions in the family were like, especially before available computers. Speaking of other missions, I recently found out that a close friend of mine, Jamen Cannon, just entered the field in the Orlando, Florida mission. He told me he's seen frozen gator heads, and that some members invited him over to skin one last Monday. Also, I'm sorry for the dim lighting on the call. Nothing I could do about that. No-one has been by to drop off mail for quite some time, but We're having a Zone Conference in Kumasi this week, so hopefully they'll bring the mail there. The people here are learning fast, since some of them really know how to study. I know two older men who are always reading scriptures or the Liahona every time I walk by their place. My companion and I are trying to get one of my recent converts to prepare for a mission. He's a very strong member now and he knows alot about the gospel. He's older, but I think he'll still be within the age limit. It would be cool to have him and I on missions at the same time. Well, I think I'll check out the pictures you sent me. Have a great week and a very Happy New Year, and tell everyone in the ward back home Happy New Year as well. 

-Elder Silva

 The Obuasi Zone 

 How my companion sleeps on P-day. 

 A family lost their home recently to a fire :( 

Early Skyping!

Well guys I have news. I'm going to be able to Skype home for Christmas! Here's the deal. It's going to have to be on Monday (the day before Christmas Eve) and it will have to be in the morning to afternoon. Remember that I'm about 6-7 hours ahead of you guys. So me Skyping in the morning means you're still asleep. I'll still need to get on my e-mail to write the mission president so you should send me a good time to call you that day. Anyways this week was pretty good. We were able to baptize a family of 4. It's so nice to get families to belong to the same church here. A family of 5 can all belong to separate churches. It's crazy. Not a whole lot to say for now. I keep forgetting that Christmas is coming up. There's no lights, snow, cold weather ...(it's scorching), not even any Christmas music being played. I'm still looking forward to a pleasant Christmas though and talking to you guys on Monday. I'll post some pictures for your enjoyment. Have a sweet week. 

-Elder Silva

Transfer News: That will make six months :)

 What a great week it has been. Guess what? We are up to 14 baptisms... with hopefully 3 more on the way this week! Man it's not easy. So okay, okay, so I did push the gut a bit (in the picture I sent you last week as a family) and I had just eaten a lot of food, but hey what fun is a story without a bit of drama added? On that note, my stomach has gone down a bit. I took up running again... for 3 days. Yeah working out on a mission isn't easy. Proselyting pretty much takes all of your energy. I'm really going to try to keep it up though... on January 1st (what? It'll be a great New Year's Resolution). To answer your questions...

As for the oven, no we don't have one. We use gas stoves. I'm feeling pretty alright. Transfer news came and I'm staying in Obuasi another six weeks. That will make six months. I'm honestly glad I'm staying. I wasn't ready to leave quite yet. Please practice kindness and forgiveness in the ward. I've seen so many people change branches from inner disputes here.

I'll definitely be able to call at Christmas, and I'm working on a way to Skype.  I look forward to the packages and I look forward to hearing from you guys next week. Have an awesome week J

-Elder Silva

The "New Me"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! My birthday came and went pretty quickly. There was one point I was lifting some weights (an Elder bought a bench bar) (yes I'm trying to work out (yes I don't like it)) when my companion threw a big bucket of cold water all over me. It took alot of mopping, but I was laughing the whole way through. Thanksgiving came and went without a blink. I'm not even sure what day it was on. I decided that my motivation to work out is that I'm 19 now and by twenty I want to become the "new me". If I can convert this fat as fast as I convert people I'll be there in no time. Speaking of converts we had another baptism yesterday and December's looking to be fruitful as well. I've been blessed with a great area for sure. Sorry to hear about the stomach flu. I'll either come home with an iron stomach from this food, or my stomach will be on its last breathes and I'll have to live off porkchops and appleshaush. Things with the investigators are going swimmingly. We have several promising ones for this next month. The only problem is that once they are baptized it will be back to the ol' contacting ship. Contacting isn't fun in the Ghanian weather, so we look for as many referrals as possible. Referrals save missionaries from many hours of wandering helplessly so give them out when you can. My companion is doing well. He doesn't speak fluent Twi, but he can understand it. It's a big help since the language barrier is one of the biggest problems the Ghanian Kumasi missionaries face. The roommates are still too many (8 is a bit much after 4 months), but we're moving along. Funny how Mom mentioned Austin Williams. He's my zone leader in the same apartment. He's a good missionary and a kind guy. I told one lady it was my birthday and how old I was and she said I should still be in the house drinking milk.
Have a wonderful week! 

 Coconuts...not the best, but I eat them!

 One of the Elder's bed sheets...

 Priscilla. I love baptisms! 

-Elder Silva 

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 ;)