Meat pies and Relief Society Sisters.

WHAT!!!?! HOLY SMOKES THAT'S AWESOME!!! (His cousin got mission call to Central Eurasian/Kazakhstan Mission.)

Wow what an experience. I think Drew Bailey went on that same mission. I remember him also giving me mission advice before I left. So this is the year Zach graduates from school right? Well duh I guess you would have told me all about his graduation had it been last year.
Alright let me tell you what’s been going on here before I respond to anything else. I just couldn't say anything without first reacting to Zach's call. As for us here in this small African town, we are.... umm.... happy and a bit stressed. Really nothing that hasn't happened many times before. The best news is that three of our investigators were baptized with possibly 2 more soon!! Great day! But we are still having a hard time finding new investigators. As I said, it's pretty usual. The baptisms went very well and the branch is always asking how our "fishes" are doing. The Relief Society anniversary was this last Sunday and ours celebrated with meat pies (no not a pie like home full of meat... I wish) and matching outfits. It was powerful. I have also been sleeping outside my room for a bit since I had a large infestation of bed bugs. I finally figured out the mystery of the itching. Our contacting has been very bad as of late. Whole days spent with 2 or 3 lessons, but the rain is also returning so that makes up for that. Alright so the other Obroni (white boy) is named Elder Lesh. He may be leaving in a week or so and I don't want him to yet.

Well I’ll leave everything at that for now. Pray for our finding this week and know that if Dad is fat when I get home, (joke between he and his Dad) I'll never stop laughing. Then I'll remember when I was fat on the mission and I'll humble myself a little.

-Elder Silva

Mangos are popping up faster than rabbits here.

March 14, 2016

Ah another great e-mail from everyone. The thing I love about them is that I can tell that you all at least put effort into your writing.  Just enough to really make me smile. Well yeah I guess things are the same except for one thing.... 3 upcoming baptisms!! woo! Alright, alright I shouldn't count my chicks before they hatch, but they really are looking good. Abesim has had a handful of people progressing now and we're super excited. Just that after that we won’t have anyone else ready. We've dropped about everyone else and the last time we contacted for almost the whole day we had 2 lessons. Long day.

I think the only thing really wrong with my life right now is that I don't get to see Mom's trapeze act. Maybe you could just send me pictures ;) ...Speaking of that, my card reader is finally up and running again. Now It's been months since my last picture send so I'll only send what I think is the best. The mangos are popping up faster than rabbits and they should be ripening in the next month or so. Excited for that. The branch has a temple trip coming up and I'm really hoping a lot of these members can go. The weather is now humid again, but the rain storms are passing over Abesim. Me and my companion think It's because people in Abesim don't want to repent, haha when Em says harsh conditions I'm imagining the Sahara or Mount Everest. Really I'm adjusted and I don't consider them to be harsh. As a matter of fact I realized that unless someone points it out, I don't really notice the heat anymore. Well I'm afraid this e-mail will be a tad shorter this week to allow for more picture time.

See ya next week!

-Elder Silva

The Hamatan Sun 

Our apartment people. 

Behold the area!

One of the best ideas I ever had. 

Boxing with our rock hard bread

Brooke helped me design my latest planner. Happy Valentine's Day...missionary style. 

Save me a Cadbury Egg.

Mar 7, 2016

You know it comes to a point where I just love reading these, that I have not idea what to say in return. Ah the stress. Well this week was actually busy with extra activities. We went to a mid-training meeting in Kumasi with the Mission President. It was great and some good points were made. Of course we hit the KFC on the way home and I spent a little too much money. Oh well you gotta enjoy in those moments right? This week we were actually able to get a handful of referrals. It's a HUGE help to the work, so we're pretty pleased. At least it will make this week easier. Honestly sometimes I just have weeks where I don't know where the next appointment will come from and I don't want to spend the whole time contacting. Normally it seems normal, but as a trainer it's a little different. My son is still getting used to plans falling apart. On that note, me and my companion are getting along fairly well. On further news, we had a District Conference this week and I'm really not sure how it went. There was too much English and people were falling asleep. It really was nice to see everyone, since missionary work usually means being cooped up in a village with just your roommates. We ended up having 5 investigators show up and two of them were a surprise. All in all, things are looking up and we're expecting at least 2 baptisms this month. As for me personally I'm still good. In all honesty, a bit tired, but I still have a lot to do here. The rain did indeed come and our apartment was flooded. about 10 buckets full. We are getting that fixed, so don't worry. The rains are infrequent, but the humidity has definitely returned. It's nice, but sticky.

The mangos will be ripe in the upcoming months and I'm excited to get back to mango munching. I would sure like one of those cadbury eggs, but I'll wait a bit longer. You may have to tuck one away for me later (don't hide it in the oven again mom) haha. I'm glad everyone's getting along at home. For every mean word you have to buy another cadbury egg for me. Deal?..... I'll take the silence as a rousing aye! Well as for Mom's question, my socks are torn apart, but I'll just buy new ones. I've repaired my keen sandals a number of times, and they're still kickin! My shirts aren't quite as white and my missionary tag is half broken, but other than that... naw I'm good. I honestly don't know much about Sister missionaries. They're around, but I've never served close to any of them, and most of my zones and Districts are sister-less. Well Em I would like to tell you some things about what to expect from the culture, but It's really become so normal to me, that I'm not quite sure what exactly would surprise you. Well fam. have a sweet week (is that an Easter pun or am I too soon?) and enjoy having the family more complete again with Em there.

Till next week.

-Elder Silva

Please pull a Jonah and...

I can always count on these days to put a smile on my face. Even though I've been away for some weeks... months..... almost years gosh. If you took away the signatures from your emails, I would know exactly who was writing me, the tone of their voice, their facial expressions and the color of the shirt they're wearing. Okay, I know what you're thinking... but I really do know the tone of your voice! Oh my goody goodness, training is weird. I won't go on a big tangent of the positives and negatives, but boy is it a challenge. I'm happy to say however, that after the first awkward weeks, we're settling into a rhythm and working on our differences. I feel like when I think about my own training, I had a similar experience to Dad's. It's funny how a lot of missionaries, including me, believed that since they were trained, they know what it would be like to be a trainer. Newsflash: It's not the same at all. No I haven't eaten any more rats lately. If anyone wants to make a jab at what other things I've eaten, I'll tell you if you're right or wrong, haha. Home teaching did prepare me for missionary work in a way and I loved having Bro. Jones as a companion. He's a great man. The thought of Brooke going to Wal-Mart, driving alone is weird. When did that happen? It's almost like I can hear a certain Fiddler on the Roof (or Ruff for us Idahoans) song playing in Mom and Dad's head. I'll let you read the lyrics if you want. The Hamatan is finally coming to a close. The good news: we had a big rain storm. The bad news: our apartment flooded. 8 buckets down the hall and on Elder Amakye's bed. I don't think God would stop the rain so much needed by the region only to help a few missionaries...maybe he could pull a Jonah and shade us though? Either way we're working on getting that fixed. Boy I miss seeing wildlife. Ghana really doesn't have any actually. Even the birds are few, although I do see some hawks every now and then. I love the screeches they make. In answer to Brooke's question, Life:...... is full of awesome things. I was just thinking about that today. There's such a big variety of things to enjoy, it's insane, and to think we probably haven't even scratched the surface of what's possible here. I doubt any ancient King here got to go to lagoon, eat bacon-wrapped lobster, or get that glorious feeling of triumph when you stomp over your enemies in RISK... Anyways that's my take on life. This Friday we spent a lot of our time at the chapel. I'm glad for all of those AP English things, because I spent a good deal of time editing our 2015 Branch history paper. Good golly it needed worked on. I'm also sorry for not getting pictures out for such a long time. Computers here are usually bad with viruses and either my card or card reader has crapped out. When it's re-solved I'll send a few things. 

Have a great week, TTFN! 

-Elder Silva 

Raticus Consumis.

Well, well, well the Fam. is all together today!... kind of... Sun... Sun..... aw you're kiddin yourself Dad. wait!... kid... kid..... (in response to Dad’s letter).

Anyways this week was rough but it worked. In a way. The good news is that we found a few more people to teach and one of them was quite the lesson. She asked so many questions that I have never heard any investigator here ask before. She was even questioning religion itself. Well for me it was a breath of fresh air, because it meant she really understood how religion works...Man cannot give the answers. After explaining that, she opened up a lot and said she would pray about everything. She said Christianity really confused her. One reason was the fact that people have died without the gospel, but the gospel is the only way we're saved. Never seen anyone more prepared to hear the plan of salvation. The Elder I’m training is Elder Kanu from Nigeria. We're working pretty well and things are good. I'm getting alot of flashbacks from my own training haha. The problem I'm facing now is that I've felt that I've been literally everywhere in my area. Even the Muslim Zongo. Although we did find a good Christian investigator in that Zongo. The work is slow, but we're trying to get people to progress. No one was able to come to church this last Sunday after 6 promised. Usual, but this time it just seemed tougher. Our mood is still good and we'll keep going. ...Well Brooke if it's any consolation, I haven't driven in almost 2 years. Just old taxis on crazy roads. I'll let you drive me around as well. Hopefully in something better than an old taxi. Just never get pulled over by police and if you drive close to one, signal for a while before changing lanes. I guess that's it for me this time. Enjoy the week everyone and go have fun. 

-Elder Silva

(In answer to last week’s questions of something that happened) . . .raticus consumis I ate a rat. A bit stringy. Just one of the many odd things I've eaten. Now me and Duke (the cat) can relate better haha.

Extension

BEHOLD! IT IS I.......ME! 

Yes I'm still alive thankfully. I could tell you just about any excuse for not being able to write you last week . . . like being almost-mortally wounded from provoking a large sheep, or suffering from iraticus consumes sickens, but actually it was all just technical error. Although one of those stories is somewhat true. I'll let you guess which one. I always feel a bit overwhelmed when I miss a week, because then I have to respond to both e-mails. Well in recent weather news it's HOT. I'm sweating like crazy. Training has proved to be harder than I thought, but we'll make it. My area is a very difficult one (although not my hardest) and my “son” is expressing dismay at the language barrier. I wrote a letter to President to ask him about his own views on that, because personally I've thought it to be a huge challenge my whole mission that we don't teach in Twi.

Holidays are recognized, but not really all that celebrated. I received a church valentines card from our neighbor with John 3:16 (the most popular scripture of all time). I miss my family's humor, by the way. I'm surprisingly at a loss of what to say right now. In recent news my release date has been extended two weeks because of changing MTC policies. I come home in August. I'll check out your other letter to see what's written there again. Till next time! 

-Elder Silva J

Eye me dea. Ebeyeyi.

I would reply to your letter, but first I have some small news for you.....

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

SARIAH IS NO MORE BARREN!!!

THE SILVA LINE CONTINUES!!!!!!!!!

Ahem, now that that's out of the way.

If you didn't catch on, I'm finally training!

I'm very happy for the opportunity to train. President has released me as District Leader as well to focus more on this assignment. My present companion is leaving to be a District Leader and 2nd Councillor in his Branch Presidency. I told him to train them well well. This transfer is huge and so many things are happening. I get to see some of my favorite missionaries come to the zone. One is Hyena Boy (remember him?) We played football, er soccer as a zone today and had a great time. Yes I'm still not good, but I did hit the pole. After that shot I wanted to just collapse. Still our team did well and won 9-5. The Dry season is still heavy upon us, with no sign of letting up. If I pray for your winter, would you pray for my Hamatan. I believe it's because our investigators don't want to repent. Or perhaps it's due to my own imperfections. Perhaps I have something to learn from all of this. I suppose it does make me thankful for well insulated homes back home. This week is going to be a busy week indeed.

Answers to the questions for my companion: favorite color-white, favorite food-fufu, has 6 sisters 2 brothers, child of record and he had me running to and fro in football so I guess football is a talent of his. I'll miss this companion. Em's going to Hawaii? Dang she's doing alot of travelling. Good for her. Nice way to celebrate graduation. I have to get up early to travel to Kumasi on Wednesday. I wish I could travel Tuesday instead - to my old area in Atonsu and stay the night there. Alas Enye me dea. Ebeyeyi. The strange thing about speaking here is that missionaries mix our English and Twi all the time that it just becomes habit. I'm sure to let a few words slip when I'm home.

I see Brooke is rockin the license. Does she have a car to drive? If so Brooke just remember Austin's 10 driving commandments- 1. Always keep gum and mints in the car. 2. Remember where your license and registration are. 3. Take it easy in snow. 4. Rock out to music. 5. Don't honk your horn for anything other than dogs, cats and police officers (just kidding) 6. Make frequent taco/drink stops. 7. If your friends live in the middle of nowhere, don't expect Dad to pay for the gas you use to drive them home 8. Make Dad pay for it anyways 9. Be courteous, kind, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent and 10. Don't take after me when it comes to car cleanliness. I guess that's all I can give for now, I'm pretty busy. Have a great week everyone and don't forget to pray for the missionaries in the world. 

-Elder Silva