Week 49

             This Week on Elder Silva's mission it was spectacular. First off this last Thursday in our Zone meeting we told the zone that this month has to be the best month of the year. Because it's the time of the year where we remember our Savior Jesus Christ and we have to let everyone know why he came. The mission has given us 300 Christmas cards which means we have to do 10 effective contacts daily :D

                   This week was pretty crazy because Graciela was a little nervous to get baptized and she had a lot of doubts. This was because a lot of people from her job and neighbors were saying bad things about the church :(   But at the end we asked her how she's felt about all the things we have taught her and all the things that she has seen. She had to ask herself if the things those people were telling her were true? She then said "No" and that she was just a little nervous. So we told her its ok to be a nervous but we promised her that all the things we have taught her were true and that we would never lie to her. Then she made the firm decision to get baptized and hours later she was baptized!!!!

Week 48

             This week on Elder Silva's mission it was pretty hard because I got special transfers and I had to leave Agua Dulce in less than 2 hours :(      It was pretty hard because I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone :(      Also this whole month we had planned four baptisms planned and one of them was Paola. She was going to be baptized this Saturday and she wanted me to baptize her :( But I know that I can trust my old companion  Elder Barrientos with Paola, Enrique, Carlos, and Manuel.

             But now I'm currently in Parillas Villahermosa. This area looks like it has a lot of potential and my companion Elder Torres has 20 months in the mission and he is from Monterrey. The only bad thing is that he barely has two weeks in this area and doesn't really know it or most of the members -_-        So its basically two missionaries in a new area. But its ok because that just means we have to work harder and find new people :D OHHH yeah this past Thursday I completed a year in the mission!!!!      :O Honestly the time has gone by pretty fast and I'm pretty sure that this next year is going to go by even faster :(

Week 46 & 47

Week 46
             This week On Elder Silva's mission it was Halloween!!!!!! But over here they don't really celebrate Halloween because they say its bad :(    But I say that they are just a little scared lol. Anyways we did find some people dressed up in costumes and we took a picture with them. Ohhh and the kids that were dressed up were sad because no one gave them candy they only gave them money lol. So I told them that where I'm from you get so much candy that it lasts for months and they said they wanted to go to the US to get candy lol. This week is also Day of the Dead and that's when everyone goes to the cemeteries and clean the tombs. So today we went and helped people clean the tombs and we also sang church hymns. We also talked a little about the plan of salvation to them so they can know that one day we will be with our loved ones again :) It was very nice to do that and we got a lot of contacts of people wanting us to pass by their houses :D

Week 47

           This week on Elder Silva's mission it was great. We had a zone conference and our mission president came and chewed us out lol. But it was very spiritual and he taught us many things and made everyone realize how important the mission is. The whole zone felt like we needed to work even harder so our mission president asked us to baptize every week! Everyone was in shock, it might seem like a lot but I know with the Lords help and through obedience the Lord will bless us and make it possible to for us to baptize every week :D So far we are teaching a member that has a son and cousins that aren't members and she is helping us a lot with her family members. Actually this Saturday one of her cousins is planning to get baptize, her name is Paola she is very happy for it. :)

Week 44 & 45

      Week 44
   This Week on Elder Silva's mission it was alright. We had planned a Baptism for a young man named Juan Daniel who is the sickest kid but his mom didn't give him permission. But she said that we can still teach him, so we are going to teach his whole family and hopefully they all get baptized! This week we also are teaching a girl named Gloria who is very excited to get baptized this Saturday and it's going to be very special because her mom wanted her to get baptized but she didn't want to initially but now she wants to. We had an Idea that no one was going to tell her mom and she will go to the church and see her daughter in all white! I hope her mom doesn't get a heart attack because she is kinda old lol but I cant wait to see her reaction :D 

The scripture that I'm going to memorize this week is:

        And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. 

            1 Nephi 3:7

     Week 45
      This week on Elder Silva's mission it was amazing and a little funny. So first I would like to talk about a drastic experience. I didn't get bit by dog on the mission but I got bit by a dang PARROT!!!!! In the ear and it hurt, I started to bleed :( 

But other than that this Saturday was very spiritual, Gloria got baptized and her mom got baptized this year. Before her mom wanted Gloria to get baptized but Gloria didn't want to so her mom was very sad. Until one day we visited Gloria and taught her and by surprise she wanted to get baptized so we made a plan that no one was going to tell her mom about the baptism. This Saturday was the baptism and we surprised her mom when she saw her daughter she couldn't believe it and the y both started to cry. It was very special and I'm so happy that I could be part of it :D 

Week 43

This week on Elder Silva's mission it was spectacular. First we are teaching a young kid named Juan and he is amazing. He started to go to church with one of the members and he loved it. This week we had general conference which helped me find ways to improve myself and help others . Juan went to all four sessions and when he saw that we took a notebook and started to write things in the first session; he also then took his own notebook and started to write the things that he understood lol. Even though he is a young kid I've learned so much from him and he is preparing to get baptized :)  One of the things that I'm started to do is Elder Devin G. Durants  invitation for everyone to memorize one scripture a week. So this is the scripture that I'm memorizing:  

And because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth. 

                                        1 Nephi 22:26

Week 42

                      This week on Elder Silva's mission it was Amazing! First I had another opportunity to eat something exotic, I ate a Armadillo!!!!!!!! :O It was pretty good it tasted exactly like chicken but just the thought of eating a Armadillo was the problem :p This week we had the opportunity to baptize two people that we have been teaching for two weeks. It's a mom named Vicky and her daughter Alondra. It was a great experience because we didn't really think Alondra was going to get baptized but it turned out that she was the one that wanted to and her mom was a little scared, because she has gone to a lot of churches and has been baptized many times. She was saying that she didn't think it was a good idea to get baptized again. So we explained that its true that we shouldn't be baptized many times but we need to get baptized by someone who has authority. That day I happened to carry my line of authority which explains that the same authority that Jesus gave to his Apostles has been passed down all the way to me, and that this baptism is going to be valid not only here on earth but also in the heavens. Then she was really exited and said ¨Okay I am going to get baptized.¨ and this Saturday we had the opportunity to do that ordinance :D 

Week 40 & 41

            Week 40           

                This Week on Elder Silva's it was decent, we didn't have that much success but we found a couple of new people. Like we contacted a guy named Aristides, and when we contacted him I asked him for his name and he looked at me said "why??? and why do you care??" I was like ummm ok well I'm Elder Silva ect. He was just a mean guy lol but he accepted our invitation to teach him and when we went to his house he came out and said ¨alright what do you want?¨ I was like hey we just have a short message of 15 min and we finally started to teach him   -_-    But eventually that actually became one of the best lessons. He loved everything and was really interested in the Book Of Mormon! But the only problem is that he works for 60 days and has 10 days off to come to his house and rest :(  This week we have to a lot to find and contact new people     :) 

           Week 41                        
     This week on Elder Silva's mission it was crazy and I had transfers. I left Comalcalco and now I'm actually in a different state called Veracruz, in a city called Agua Dulce and its pretty small lol. But my new companion is Elder Barrientos and he is from Toluca Mexico and he is a really happy person and when I say really happy I mean HAPPY lol. We had a good first week, we are teaching two people Vicky and her daughter Alondra. They have a date to get baptized this Saturday but they were a little nervous and didn't want to get baptized. On Sunday they went to church and they loved it!!!! My companion and I taught one of the classes and it was about Prayer and at the end of the class I asked Sister Vicky if she could offer the last prayer. She was a little nervous but she did it. During her prayer she asked if this is the place where she should be and she started to cry and I could feel the spirit so strong and at the end she said ¨I received my answer.¨ 

                This was Mexico´s Independence week soooo VIVA MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL        

Week 39

             This week on Elder Silva's mission it was Amazing!!!! First off the whole mission reunited and Elder D. Todd Christofferson came and it was so Spiritual and such a blessing to see a living Apostle. I also got my new companion Elder Lopez the same day. He is from Columbia and he is the weirdest and funniest guy. 
            We also had two baptisms this week: one was Maria and her son Oscar and they were so happy and the day of the confirmation they showed up 20 min early to church :) They are also planning on going to the temple this Saturday! We also met a new investigator named Yudiko. She was a reference from one of my recent converts; she is 24 years old and she has a daughter that is two. We taught her and when we got to the first vision of Joseph Smith and there was little kids screaming and construction workers around and it was so loud but I asked her how she felt and she just looked at me and said ''I don't know but for some reason I want to cry and she started to cry.'' She didn't understand where those feelings were coming from so we explained that it came from the Spirit and then we invited her to baptism and she said Yes!!! 

Week 38

         This week on Elder Silva's mission it has been really good. So I am currently in a trio with two other missionaries; Elder Larsen, and Elder Enriquez. We have been working in both of each others areas. It has been pretty tough because they areas are kinda big. But we have had a lot of success; we found more people to teach and they are really interested. We also have 5 planned baptisms for this month but we kinda need a miracle because three of them is a family and they aren't married so we have to get them married this week. The problem is that the place where they can get married in like 2 hours away. But they are super excited and are willing to do everything. The other two planned baptisms is a mom named Marylo and her son Oscar, they are also excited for this Saturday :D  

Week 36

            This week on Elder Silva's mission it has been pretty good however my companion was sick all week and we had to go to the house a lot. I feel bad for him because all the food here just destroys his stomach and he has a lot of pain in his shoulders. But he is great and if you guys can pray for him his name is Elder Quent. We also met a nice family that went to a church activity and watched 'Meet The Mormons' and she loved it and said that she was so happy that she saw the movie because she had a different perspective of the church. Hopefully this week my companion gets better and we can get back to work ;)

Week 35

              This Week on Elder Silva's mission we had transfers and I was actually pretty scared that I was going to get transferred because I love the place I'm at and my Companion is great. But nothing happened and we are still together and I know this transfer we are going to have a lot of success. 
           So this month a bunch of things are going to happen, my birthday is coming up and the missionary's that I live with are excited for that day and also on the 25th the Apostle D. Todd Christofferson is coming to our mission and the whole mission is getting together so that's going to be sick!!!!!!! Also this week handed out copies of The Book Of Mormon to all the members of the church so that they can write there testimonies in them and give it to a friend. This Sunday a lot of the members gave us references and we are going to go visit those references this week :) 

Week 33 & 34

 WEEK 33 

                 This Week on Elder Silva's mission it was a sick week.  We had a Zone Conference activity and the whole zone went to the ruins over here in Comalcalco Mexico. It was pretty cool to see how the people back then used to live and the Apostasy that they believed in like many Gods, little children sacrifices, and other stuff. Also my recent convert Citlally is awesome she is super excited with all the activities and she also got a calling  to be the Leader of the young single adults!!! 

   WEEK 34

                 This Week on Elder Silva's mission it was Amazing!!!!!! We had 4 Baptisms this week. Three of them are Sisters and they are great :) But first let me tell you how we met them; so we contacted a lady on the street named Yadira and  she told us that it was fine for us to pass by. So one day we went by and her grandma came out and said she wasn't home so I asked her If we can share a 2 min video and she said no because she didn't have that much time so I told here that we weren't going to take a lot of her time and she finally said yes. Then she let us in and she called her granddaughter Guadalupe and Mariela to watch the video and then the grandma went to the kitchen and never came back lol. So we met Guadalupe and Mariela and they liked the video and said it was fine for us to pass by another day. So we came back 2 days later and another girl came out named Alicia and she let us pass by again also, then we started teaching Guadalupe, Mariela, and Alicia. They went to church and loved everything and they agreed to set a babptismal goal for the 25th and that day was very special :) Then this sunday we also baptized Marcial; we were first teaching his dad but he had problems with drinking and didnt keep any promises but he told us that it was fine that we taught and baptized his son. His son is very smart for his age and even though he doesn't know how to read his grandma says that he see's marcial trying to read The Book Of Mormon every night and sleeps with it. When I heard this I felt very happy for him and I know now he is going to be a great kid :D

Week 32

             This week on Elder Silva's mission it was a great week we had another soul enter the waters of baptism and it was such a great experience. Her name in Citlally Perez and she came one day to church with her friend named Yutzill who is a member  and Citlally loved everything. When we taught her she was very interested and she was talking about how she wants to change her life because she has gone through many things. Her friend helped a lot in the lessons she made the spirit fill up the room and Citlally would cry in every lesson. It is such a great feeling when someone accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ :) 

Week 31

              This Week on Elder Silva's mission it was great; I finally got my new companion Elder Quent!!!!! He is actually from my generation, both of us have 7 months on the mission!!! It's pretty sick and we get along really well :) We actually contacted a lot of new people and we have a bunch of lessons with those new people this week so its going to be great and I hope that they keep on listening to us. It was also my companions birthday this past Friday and we got to eat a bunch of CAKE!!!!!! 

Week 30

                    This week on Elder Silva's mission it was spectacular. We had the opportunity to have a member of the quorum of the seventy come, Ernesto R. Toris. It was such a great pleasure to hear him talk and I felt the spirit so much, is was such a great experience that I'll never forget. There was a new sister that came in the mission, she barely had 3 days here in Mexico and she couldn't speak any Spanish But the spirit was so strong that she was started crying and then he went up to her and gave her a blessing!!!!! And he promised that she will learn and speak Spanish and the spirit was so strong that the whole room felt so calm, peaceful, and there were emotions that I cant explain but it was something very special. Then he talked about the importance of missionary work to the Lord.  Since that day I have been having a better view and form of thinking daily.
                   This week we also had a crazy experience when four random guys showed up and asked me if I spoke English and I said yes and they asked if I could help them with a project. I said I would gladly help them but only if they agreed to attend 1 hr of church. They agreed; they went to church and loved it and I helped them with their English project. We made a deal that I will teach them English if they would hear our message lol. 
                Also today we received a call from the assistants and told us that my companion Elder Rivera had to pack his stuff and leave and I was like NO!!!!!! He was barely my companion for a week and we actually became really good friends.      :( so right know I don't have a companion :( 

Week 29

             This week on Elder Silva's mission it was pretty hard because there was a lot of politics going on over here. Everyone wasn't home and those that were home didn't really wanted to talk with us so that sucked :(   But we decided to visit a Brother whose name is Eladio, and his whole family are members, he even has a son that recently went on a mission!!!!!! But he is not a member and he has been listening to the missionary's for a long time and they say that he doesn't want anything to do with the church.
             So one day we went over and we were actually looking for his daughter to ask her if she could go on visits with us but she wasn't there. But Eladio asked us to pass by and we were just sitting in his living room awkwardly and his wife was there and I just decided to share a video with them and they said ok. The Video we shared is called ''Earthly Father Heavenly Father'' and that video is sick!!! He loved it. So we decided to visit him again and to teach about the Book of Mormon and he didn't want anything to do with the Book of Mormon, so I shared my testimony instead. My companion also shared his testimony and we invited him to read it and give to give the book a chance and pray to see if its true and surprisingly he said Yes. Then we asked if he could do the last prayer and he said Yes, and that prayer was such a great prayer and that's how I knew he was going to read it. Now I just hope that he reads and know if he does he will know that the Book Of Mormon is true.

Week 27

                     This Week on Elder Silva's mission I was getting used to some things. Since I got transferred to a city lol. But the ward here is pretty big they have about 140 members and they love working with the missionary's so that's really good. The last missionaries that were in this area didn't really leave any people to teach so I kinda have to start from zero :(   My companion and I are working hard to find family's but it's pretty tough because they don't really want to hear us. But my New companion is Elder Terry and he is new to the mission and has a tough time speaking Spanish, but he is getting really good and is really humble.  

Week 26

                     This week on Elder Silva's mission it has been the weirdest week for me. So I got transferred and I was kinda sad because they only gave me like 5 hrs to pack and I didn't have time to say goodbye to my investigators :(    So I was kinda upset with that but I got transferred to a place called Comalcalco and its a huge city!!!!!!! After being in Balancan (which is a little town) for almost 3 months and not seeing civilization I was like :O    What!!!!!!!!! But my new companion is Elder Terry and he is from Arizona and he is reallly tall lol. But yeah it feels weird and I think I need a couple of day to get used to normal civilization lol.

6 Months!!!

             This week on Elder Silva's mission, it was a little test of my Faith.  So we have been teaching a young boy named David and his girlfriend who is a member. It is through the girlfriend that we met David. So we have been teaching him and he went to church for the first time and he loved it and loved all the things that we have been teaching him :) So we put a baptismal date for him on the 16th of May and he accepted it. He went through the baptismal interview and the Elder that interviewed him said that he was ready and that he is going to be a great member. The next day was his baptism, so in the morning we called him to let him know that he needs to bring a towel. But he then said that he didn't want to get baptized and that he wasn't ready and wanted more time because his family was telling him that he wasn't ready. And I was like what!!!!!!!!!
             The ceremony was all set and the font was filled and a lot of people were going to go. So I was like there is no way this is happening so I told my companion that we had to go visit him at his work. But before we prayed and asked for help and that we knew that God could make anything happen. So we before we stopped by his house and wanted to talk to his family. So we got there and we talked to his aunt who adopted him when he was little. So I asked her if she knew that we where teaching David and she said yes and that she was very happy that he was talking to us because she said she has seen a very big change in him since the time we started teaching him. And I was like OK, that's really good!!!!! Then I asked her if she know that he was going to get baptized that day and she said ´´No´´ and I told her that he wanted to but he feels like he doesn't have the support from his family and that it would be really good if she and her family could go and she said of course!!!!!!!!
             And I was like ´´OK this is really good." Then we went to his work and we talked and his only worry was about failing and falling and displeasing God and we told him that we are always going to have trials in our lives and that there are times when we will fall but we need to repent and get back up and God will forgive us and then we invited him to do a prayer with us but on our knees and he said ´´OK´."  While he was praying I could feel huge peace and I knew he felt it too and when he was done he said ´´Alright at 7:30 right???´´ And I had a huge smile and hugged him :D That night David got baptized and his whole family went and they loved it and said ´´that he was an example for them" and one day they would like the same thing and he was really happy and my companion and I were too. :)

Week 24

                  This week on Elder Silva's  mission it was great because we had an activity at the church for mothers day. We had a lot of investigators that went mainly because we told them that there was going to be food but they went and they loved it!!!!! So I was in charge of the activities at the event and one of them was that the Moms had to put a cookie on the forehead and try to get it in there mouth without using their hands. They had a blast with this game and another one they loved was that they had to create a wedding dress with toilet paper. They actually really got into it and made some pretty nice dresses lol. I also had the chance to talk with my mom and my family, it was great to see their wonderful faces again :D