Happy Birthday/Thanksgiving Elder Silva!

Dec. 7, 2015

Holy smoking dragon... So much going on. Most of it won't mean much to you (names of missionaries etc...) but I'll lay it all down at once. Ready? Yenko. I'm leaving Atonsu to go to Sunyani. Sunyani is in the Brong Ahafo region. Finally left Ashanti. Yes there is still a lot of Twi there. My new companion is Elder Baah from Ghana. My current Stake Missionary (Brother Adgey Damoah) is leaving to another area as well. My area is being combined with the other Atonsu area again. Elder Lindley and Merchant (greenies) are whitewashing (no one is a veteran of that area) our area again. I have also been called as District Leader again. I go to a training tomorrow and leave to Sunyani on Wednesday. My former companion Asada is one of my Zone Leaders and my current District Leader Elder Olsen is my other Zone Leader. Sounds like a fun time! I have missionaries I love in the other Sunyani District. Hopefully I'll get to see them around some time. I packed this morning to avoid the stress for later. Felt really good. I've learned a good lesson of "taking care of my future self" by doing things I don't want to do earlier. It's a great philosophy but a work-in-progress ha. Today is a very busy day. Lots to do. As for Atonsu, the area is alright. It was a tough area, but I will still try to stay in contact with some people from there.

One great thing I hear about Sunyani is that the electricity is great. A big relief for this Ashanti missionary. Alright on to your e-mail. It's in the negatives eh? Sounds terrible. The Hamatan (dry season) has come. It's so smoggy and dusty. The sun is blocked out all day, but when it peeks out, it burns. My throat is dry, but my smile still wide. That darn Sahara air is something else. Em is graduating! Makes me feel pretty proud. The companion who wants lemonade packets sent to him is Brother Agyei Damoah. He won't be my companion anymore though. Speaking of that, he is my 5th companion in a row I've had for only 1 transfer. I'm just bouncing everywhere. I'm glad everyone's getting into the Christmas spirit. I've said it before, but the demonstration of Christmas traditions (like over there) doesn't really exist here. Maybe some extra food, but there's no “spirit.” I don't really mind, I'm just glad that you're all enjoying it. Oh wait a sec. I get to Skype you! Best Christmas present I could ask you for. Yeah, we'll see about my accent. If I concentrate I'm pretty sure I can sound like an average American. The accent just kind of pops in unexpectedly when I talk to Americans. The greenie Americans really have an accent though when they first come here. First time I heard an American accent...sounds something different from normal, ha. I look forward to your Christmas package, and thank you for your prayers. Enjoy everybody! Say hello to friends I know, and for that matter, everyone you meet. 

-Elder Silva 

Dec 1, 2015

Yes I suppose I am 20 aren't I? I suppose I feel it, but I'm not sure what being 20 is "supposed" to feel like. All the greenies in the apartment keep telling me I'm old on mission. I'm still getting used to hearing that. I wish I could say our work was leaps and bounds, but it's come to a lot of dead ends. As for our apartment life, things are pretty good. Oh! I do have to share one funny story with you. We have an investigator who is a school teacher, so her English is good. She read the Restoration pamphlet and started on the Testimony of Joseph Smith. We came to teach her the Book of Mormon and she was asking questions about it before we told her what we were teaching. One question was about the "Heavenly Hammer"... Like the one Thor uses... Then she showed us the picture of Moroni burying the plates in the snow, haha. I had a good laugh.

Transfer news is coming this Saturday and I am really hoping nothing changes here. I'm not ready to leave yet and if they combine the area again I'll die. A bunch of missionaries are going home and only 4 sisters are coming. Areas are being closed down. I've been enjoying the good warm weather. It's supposed to be Hamatan (dry season), but the rain and humidity won't go. Last year by this time it was just really dusty. One of the new Elders in my apartment is still pretty homesick. Tries not to show it too much. I read him my first journal entires out in the field to remind him that I too had to adjust to missionary life here. He does little funny things that just make the rest of us laugh. Has a good Donald Duck voice too. I feel bad that I had a fruitful area like Obuasi as my first and his area is new. Not much progression in either companionship. We already have people telling us to come for Christmas meals. Oh boy I think I'll just wear my belt a little loose that day in preparation. I'm not sure how to say Happy Birthday in Twi. Everyone says it in English. By the way I did get the Birthday package. Awesome guys :) How badly are you wanting me to learn Twi though? ;)  I'm excited to talk to you all soon! If you have any questions remember to write them down. All that snow sounds cold. The Ghanains in the apartment are very concerned about my sugar intake. They just watched in disbelief as I inhaled all the sour patch kids and poured the leftover sugar into a very happy belly. They could barely finish a few. You should've seen their faces with the pop-rocks. Ghanaians don't eat sugar at all and I had to keep assuring them that I wouldn't die. Well, I think I'll just leave it at that and send a few pictures. See ya! 

-Elder Silva

“My horse” Howdy (reference to Grandpa J) 

I treated myself way too nicely at KFC.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Found potatoes in Kumasi.  Glad Mom showed me how to do this.

Powerful missionaries!  It’s been a fun apartment.

 Last time at Primary here in Atonsu.

Fufu, Juju and Moomoo.

11-23-15

Hey there fam! This week was well...hard I guess. Just a long week of work. With the area being split our attention has been placed hard into exploring more of our area. I always tell my companion that an area can be open for over a year or more and some places have never seen missionaries. Areas here are just so big. A lot of walking and good old-fashioned contacting. Serving in Kumasi has ups and downs. For one thing, everyone you try to contact is a "mente Brofo" (no English). I feel that's something very unique that this mission gets; Not being able to teach about 77% of the people you meet. One day they'll hear the gospel. The football news has been going everywhere and my guys from Barca beat Madrid 4-0, much to the disappointment of Elder Lindley. I tried the same trick I pulled on Elder Argo to get him to e-mail you telling you how wonderful I am, but it backfired. Mrs. Lindley's going to be very happy with the praise I'll send her haha. We had a man we didn't expect come to church today. Brother Akwasi. He has a wife and two little kids. Wife can't speak English and they have a busy schedule. We're trying. It's very fun to be around the greenies and the comments they make about Ghana. I've been really enjoying the guitar in the apartment. OH I FORGOT!! I finished Isaiah this week! Wow what a book. I've got the Babylonian stories and prophecies still, but then on again to the New Testament. Hoping to get there around Christmas time. Speaking of that, I guess I turn 20 this week. Gotta say it feels a little weird, but no different from any other day.  I say it’s time for a real cake in Kumasi. Maybe I'll pick one up to celebrate with the apartment. I'm just glad that no one in the apartment knows about the tradition of pouring a bucket of water my head. Let's see what else..... um... Sunday was the primary presentation. Cute little kids. One of my favorites, named Junior went up and said, "IF YOU LOVE ME KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS!" It was then followed by a hearty "Amen" from the congregation. The Branch is doing alright. Still plenty of rough spots, but those will smooth out with time. It's cool to hear about Ashley's homecoming. So she summed her mission up with “Fun, Hard and Worth it” eh? I think I'll summarize with, "Fufu, Juju, and Moomoo". Yep, that about does it. Haha, well It's great to hear from everyone again. 

Greet one another with an holy kiss and have a great week! 

-Elder Silva

11-16-15

Hoh boy I don't even know where to start. Two letters from you in one week is a little too much, although it was fun to see the progression of events. Okay, let me just talk about my news first. SO! Lots of news. umm..... We have changed from a 2 man apartment to a 6 man. I honestly love the change as it is not so lonely. My Stake Missionary companion is good and is a hard worker. Elder Lindley just finished his training and was transferred to my apartment in Atonsu. He is now training Elder Merchant. Elder Lindley is good fun and is experienced for being on mission for only 3 months. Elder Merchant believes he will never adjust and he asks questions that I have to ask myself "did I ask questions like that when I came?" I probably did. We all assure him that he'll adjust and that missionary work is sweet. Elder Bernasko is a Ghanaian who has been on for 6 months. He is training Elder Ballard. They are a quieter pair that seem to match pretty well. Their room is like a black hole. Once they go in, they don't come out haha. Everyone is great and Elder Bernasko has a nice guitar. I nearly cried when I played it. Our area being split in two is strange, but a big relief. Both areas are huge and Elder Lindley is coming from a small town in Obuasi. Everyone is a little overwhelmed, but in good spirits. Unfortunately we did not have any investigators at church this week, BUT we had an in-active member come. This Sunday we got to watch the Saturday Afternoon session of Conference. In English! Boy it was really nice to understand everything in church for once. Conference seems to have been a very good one. I had the new missionaries fooled. They all thought I spoke fluent Twi, until I told them I couldn't speak worth a darn. Maybe I'm learning more than I think. As for teaching in Twi it's still not something we're supposed to do but alas contacting this week was Twi, Twi, and more Twi people. We ended up teaching some of them in Twi, because of my Ghanaian companion, and as usual I fell asleep. Some investigators seem okay, but full days of recidence after recidence makes for one tired missionary. I made up for it by buying cranberry juice today. Pure heaven. I'm pleased to say I'm almost finished with Isaiah! I took a short break, but I came back to it. After that I'll have the Babylonian portions and then I'm finished with the great Old Testament! Boy what an adventure. Wow I've written this much and I haven't even written about your letters yet. Oh I got the Halloween package and the candy corn was a big melted mush. It's alright though. The ants came marching in, but I froze them away in the fridge. Ebeyiyi (it shall be well). Ghana is now approaching the Hamatan season. ...Hot and dry. A bit like summer back home, except hotter. I feel it already although I can console myself knowing that it is the last Hamatan I will have to go through. Enjoy the week and read your scriptures. 

-Elder Silva

 Last day with one of my favorite comps – Ejo. So long buddy!

 Melted candy corn.  The taste is all that matters!  Haha

Snake! (half of one anyways)