Setting Apart

Allie’s Missionary Setting Apart

Given by Grandpa Eyring May 24, 2015

Here are a few of grandpa’s thoughts before the setting apart…

I bear my testimony that you can have faith that God directed you to this  mission and the mission president. If he gives you advice, take it – he was chosen to be with you. My belief is that the Lord knows what you will face – I prayed before I came here tonight talking to Heavenly Father asking what he wanted me to bless you with – what he would want you blessed with – The lord knows you and the people you will meet and  He  has been preparing you for years for exactly the opportunities that you will have to fulfill the promise of the Lord to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and if people don’t have that chance for you to come and speak to them they will have lost something – talk to everyone you can – don’t write them off – that very person may be who you were called to speak to because you won’t know until you speak to them…

I asked Heavenly Father what he wanted me to bless you with…

I will now bless you with whatever HE knows – I don’t know you’re your companions will be like or what the weather will be like but He does and he will bless us to bless you for whatever he needs you to be in his service. He will go before your face and there will be angels on the side placed there by Him – your mother and grandmother – he will protect you – he will be your rearward as the scriptures say.

“Allison Eyring, by authority of the Holy Melchezidek Priesthood, and by authorization from the President of the Church who holds all the keys of  priesthood for the Church at this time, we set you apart as a full time missionary in the Spain Barcelona mission in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we bless you as we do this with the gifts and powers which you will need in his work. We bless you first of all with the power of spiritual discernment - we bless you that you will be able, even as you begin to learn the language, to know the thoughts and intents of people as soon as you meet them and speak to them – sometimes even before you speak to them. We bless that that you will have power to discern hearts and we also bless you with the power to see in people what Heavenly Father sees in them and what the Lord Jesus Christ sees in them and love them. We bless you with that gift you were given long ago will be expanded and extended such that when you go in to the presence of people, your companions and those in the church will have trust in you to let their friends meet you as a missionary - We bless you that they will have a feeling by the power of the Holy Ghost that you are a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. We bless you that they will see in you His countenance and they will feel, whether or not they ever come into church or not, that they will feel that they have met a respresentative of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator. We Bless you that you may have a love for Him and that it will shine through you to others and they will see it and because of that they will listen to you. We bless you that you may have the joy of going into the homes of people desperately in need of the peace that the gospel brings and bring that peace with you that they will feel that and We bless you that your companions will feel that  - that because of you they will be lifted and be more effective in the service of the lord in their work because of you. We bless you further with protection. We bless you that Satan will have no power to tempt you -  that the shield of faith that you have of the Lord Jesus Christ will be impermeable to the attacks of Satan. We bless you that even in a world where there are many wicked things that you will not even be able to see the wickedness -that it will be to you invisible – you will have the blessing of being protected at all times and you will know by the power of the holy spirit when to leave a place and to go to a place. We bless you that you may know what to do -  that as you plan with your companions - we bless you that revelation may come and ideas that you would never possibly have thought of will come and you will know where to go and what to do to find those that the Lord has prepared for you. We bless you to have perfect faith as many are now being prepared for YOU – some will even recognize you and you will have the feeling that somehow you were expected -  I bless you that that will occur -  I bless you further with your mission president and those that will direct your work –I bless you that you may easily take counsel, that you may bless them with your faith because they will receive revelation because of your confidence in them and in the lord Jesus Christ. Bless you that your family may have a feeling of participation in this mission with you as if they were there with you we bless them through you that they may participate with you in this great and sacred work that you are about to enter. We bless you further that the scriptures may be open to you –that even though in the past they have been clear and lovely – they will lead you to know the savior and have a closeness with Him beyond anything you have experienced –we bless you further that it will continue after your mission and throughout your life. You will have a life in which the savior is your dearest and closest friend. We bless you that you may feel the love of your Heavenly Father and know that your prayers are answered – that you may know that He watches over you and that you may feel His approval. We do it all by the power of the Melchezidek priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Last Days in the MTC

At the doctors office :) 

Our cute office. 

Our district and President Thomas

Sleepover!

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Sunday Temple walk with Hermana Smoot and her companion Hermana Holmes

My cute companions!

The famous provo MTC map!

My two missions!

And we all met here! 

Florida and Spain

Our favorite book!

Companionship unity!

Hasta lo Justo (choose the right in spanish) 

Out to lunch at Zupas with Kristin Hatch and her friend Sarah 

Bye Hermana Holmes and Hermana Smoot

One last goodbye to my dear sweet companions. 

My wonderful mom who is so sweet to always take care of me! 

Heavenly Father Has a Plan!

Dear family and friends all over the world,

This is kind of a surprise email, I know. It was a little bit of surprise for me as well. This past week I have been to many doctors appointments and had so many tests done. But they just aren't able to figure out what is wrong. They say the stress fracture is completely healed but I am still having so much pain... and it is starting to spread. They are confused because that shouldn't be happening with a stress fracture. So now they think there is something else that might have caused the stress fracture and that is what they are trying to find. They found protruding disks in my back and think that might have been a contributing factor, but they still aren't sure. Sitting and standing hurts too bad and that is required in Spain and at the Referral center (and for life in general I guess:). So this past week I have counseled with all of the doctors I have been seeing, President Burgess (my mission president at the MTC), President Thomas (my District president), my parents, and most importantly my Heavenly Father. And we all came to the decision that I really needed to be at home to take care of my body and try to figure out what is going on. That isn't necessarily what I wanted or what I had in mind. MY plan was to stay at the MTC, get better, and head right back to Spain. I wanted to keep serving my full time mission and finish when I was supposed to finish. But I am learning everyday to recognize more clearly that Heavenly Father's plan isn't always our plan. Everything happens for a reason and we need to learn to align our will with His.

So Yesterday there were a lot of tears as I left the MTC not knowing if I would get to return and be a full time missionary again at this point in my life. I said goodbye to all of the missionaries in my district and my sweet companions, to President and Sister Thomas, to President and Sister Burgess, to Kristin Hatch, and to Kylie Smoot and her sweet companion (who have been like my little sisters at the MTC these past 3 weeks). I am so grateful for each one of those people and the impact they have had on my life in only 3 short weeks. I have learned something important from each of them, but I think the most important thing I have learned from ALL of them is that we are all children of our Heavenly Father. He loves us all so much and He has a perfect plan for us. And as we strive to accomplish that plan with a happy and willing heart then we really will see the blessings come from it. My mom and Abby came to pick me up yesterday and I cried so hard as we pulled out of the MTC. I was heartbroken to be leaving. But at the same time I had a smile on my face because I felt completely at peace. I knew it was the right decision to make. I knew without any doubt that Heavenly Father was a part of it and He is here with me helping me to accomplish His will and helping me to become who He needs me to come. So I am of course sad that I had to leave. And I don't know what the future holds now. But what I do know is that for these past 3 weeks I was supposed to be at the referral center. Heavenly Father needed me there so that I could learn everything I have learned while I was there. But I also know that now I am supposed to be here. I don't know what will happen in these next few weeks or months, but I have a feeling that Heavenly Father knows :) He has a plan. A perfect one. And I know that as we will just choose to act on the promptings we receive and the little pieces of light that we receive little by little then Heavenly Father will be able to send us more and illuminate the path before us and show us what steps we need to take next. It takes a lot of patience, faith, trust and hope, but I know that all these things that we go through in this life are to help us become who He needs us to become and they give us experience and they are for our good!

I was released, again, as a full time missionary last night and it was a very sweet experience with my Stake president. And for now I am going to keep looking ahead and heavenward as I go through the experiences that Heavenly Father has for me. I am going to be doing a lot of physical therapy and visiting with doctors. If I start getting better within the next 4 weeks then I am going to look at being able to go back to my mission again. But if not... I will keep working on getting better and completing the mission that He has for me to do here.

I am so grateful for the wonderful experiences I have had on my full time mission. Maybe I will keep having more, but if not I will hold on to those dear moments and keep them with me forever. I read a talk this week called "but if not" and loved it! (I would encourage you all to read it). I know that Heavenly Father has the power to heal me. He CAN do it, but it doesn't always mean that He will. Sometimes we have to learn and strengthen our faith by not being healed as Elder Bednar has taught us so many times. I have faith that He can heal me, but if not... I will wait patiently on His timing and keep pressing forward and striving to complete His will and not mine.

Thank you all for your prayers and all you have been doing for me! Your examples mean the world to me! I love you all!


Love,
Hermana Allie Eyring

Goodbyes and Hellos

Family and friends, 

I hope you all had a great week! This week at the Referral Center there were a lot of goodbyes said but also hellos (as the email title indicates) :) On monday we said goodbye to Elder Haskins who was here for a foot injury and is now back in his mission in Montana. He was the funny one of the group and was always talking and making jokes while we did chats here in the referral center. So since He left it has been a little quiet around here. Then on Tuesday Sister Earley finished her mission so her parents came and picked her up and she went home to Las Vegas. It was sad to see her go as well, but she will do great things in Las Vegas! On Tuesday night we welcomed our new companion... Sister Handley! She was serving in the Florida Tampa mission (just like Sister de Jesus) and has been having problems with her foot and ankle for 10 years. She thought it was better when she went on her mission but has found more problems since then. President Cusick sent her here to the Referral Center to see if she could get better. It has been fun having her here! She is from Tooele, Utah and is the middle of 5 kids! She is so sweet and I love working with her. Hermana de Jesus and I are teaching her Spanish and Portuguese :) 

I have seen a lot of people this week that I know which has been really fun! I saw the Quigley family, Aunt Amy and Kathryn in Deseret Book today, Millie Goldrup (who is here in the MTC now and on her way to Taiwan), and then at BYU today for preparation day I saw: Mette Lawrence, Krista Hansen (I think- from the eaglewood ward), Sarah Kunzler, and Marrissa Brunner. It was so fun to see them all! For our preparation day activity the referral center missionaries went bowling which was really fun but I think I had a little anxiety and panic attack every 2 minutes being on BYU campus as a missionary. It was the craziest thing ever. But it was fun to be back there again. The sisters and I couldn't really bowl because we were all in pain... but we tried to kind of do it and then the elders kind of took over for us :) 

This week I have learned a lot from my personal study and from Mormon messages that we get to watch while we bike in the mornings. I have been studying a lot about the will of God... I loved reading in 2 nephi 9:4, "For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God". I am the type of person who has truly "searched much to know of things to come". I want to know what is going to happen and I want to know right now. However, I have learned a lot, especially in these last few weeks, that the most important thing is that we just continue to trust in Him and do what He has asked us to. We need to keep doing the little things everyday and serve Him with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. And that is all that really matters. Then we don't have to worry about what the future has in store because His arm and His plan will be revealed unto us. We don't have to worry so much about the temporal things... as long as we are doing the spiritual things then His plan will begin to unfold in our lives! 

Going along with the Will of God... in the past few months I have felt at times that I have been "cut down" like a tree, when it begins to grow. I have started to grow and learn so much and then it just seems like I am being cut down again. However, if I can just take a step back I will recognize that I am being "cut down" so that I can "grow" into what heavenly Father needs me to be. Just like a gardener will trim the branches of a tree so that it grows into what He needs it to be. We have to trust Him and it will all be ok! We had a wonderful Tuesday night devotional from Elder Pino. (quick side note... he did it in Spanish and had an English translator and I understood the whole thing without the translator! It made me happy to know that I haven't lost my Spanish) :) Anyways, something he said really struck me. "Confia en Dios, y todo estare bien" Which means, "trust in God and everything will be ok". I loved that.... especially in Spanish! And it is so simple but true. When we will just trust in Him then everything WILL be ok. It might not turn out how we plan it to, but it will be ok because it will be how He planned it! 

Trust in God this week. More than you did this past week! When something doesn't go exactly how you planned don't get frustrated or give up. Just simply remember that God sometimes cuts you down to help you become who He needs you to become! Here is a short mormon message from Elder Christofferson that I would love you all to watch... 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-01-014-the-will-of-god?lang=eng

Hopefully you all get a chance to watch it! But if not, here is the story of Elder Hugh B. Brown told by Elder Christofferson:

President Hugh B. Brown, formerly a member of the Twelve and a counselor in the First Presidency, provided a personal experience. He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thought he heard it say:

“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.”

President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’”

Years later, President Brown was a field officer in the Canadian Army serving in England. When a superior officer became a battle casualty, President Brown was in line to be promoted to general, and he was summoned to London. But even though he was fully qualified for the promotion, it was denied him because he was a Mormon. The commanding general said in essence, “You deserve the appointment, but I cannot give it to you.” What President Brown had spent 10 years hoping, praying, and preparing for slipped through his fingers in that moment because of blatant discrimination. Continuing his story, President Brown remembered:

“I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, … I threw my cap on the cot. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?’ I was as bitter as gall.

“And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. …

“… And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.'

I have a strong testimony that our Heavenly Father loves each of us and has a perfect plan for us... we just have to trust HIm... y TODO estare bien :) 

Have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Hermana Eyring

We love our Saturdays in the temple

Sister Hatch made us yummy dinner

Welcome Sister Handley

Lots and lots of waiting at Doctors appointments

Thank you Aunt Amy and Kathryn for the treats

A visit from Mom to see the doctor

President and Sister Burgess are wonderful!

It's better to look up!

Dear family and friends, 

The title of my email comes from a book that my sweet young women's president, Sister Callister, gave to me while I was home for those short 2 weeks. I love this book so much with inspiring stories from many general authorities and it has helped me so much through this experience with my hip! The title of this email also relates to the "challenge" that I am going to give to you at the end of this email.

So I want to start off by telling you a little bit about how the days go here in the referral center (well at least how it goes for Hermana De Jesus and I as we are here recovering). So we wake up at 6:30 and do personal study for an hour. Then we go to breakfast. And right after Hermana de Jesus and I go to the gym and we ride the bikes for 30 minutes like Dr. Jackson told us to do. Then we get ready for the day and do companionship study. Then we have language study. Then we go to lunch at noon. After that we get on the computers and "chat" with people (go to mormon.org and look at the big purple button that says, "live chat". That's where you can talk with the missionaries). We get chats from all over the world. They say that our mission "area" is the whole world! Aren't we lucky?! Also... google translate is our best friend! Especially for languages that NOBODY speaks... like Croatian or Hungarian or other hard languages like that! The referral center is actually a place where BYU students work too and every three hours new ones come in! So it is fun to get to talk to them! If any of you are looking for a job and you are a returned missionary I would HIGHLY recommend looking into working in the referral center! You get to be paid for teaching the gospel! It would be a great job! And everyone loves it! It is so fun! Anyways, then we chat with people for a long time and have lessons over skype with our investigators. We just had our two baptisms last week so now we have 3 recent converts and 5 progressing investigators (which is pretty good for online proselyting) :) We have a baptism coming up next Sunday with our investigator Isaias. He lives in Idaho but is from Mexico and doesn't speak English! SO we teach him in Spanish! It is SO fun to use my Spanish so much here! Ok, back to the schedule. After we chat and teach lessons for a few hours then Hermana De Jesus and I go on our "daily temple walk". For our physical therapy we have to walk at least a half mile everyday. So we walk to the temple at 4pm every day then stop to take a break for a minute so we don't die, and then walk back! It is probably my favorite part of every day. Why? Well first of all it is nice to get out of the MTC. Also it is fun to have EVERYONE stare at us because we are known as the "crutch companionship" haha :) The other day we even had people following us taking pictures and trying to be secretive about it... that didn't work out for them though because we definitely saw and started laughing SO hard! Anyways, temple walks at 4pm everyday are the BEST! Then we go straight to dinner and afterwards come back for more chats and lessons from 6-9. Then on to planning and journaling until bed time! I really do love it! It was a hard schedule to get used to at first because it is different than other missions, but I am learning more and more everyday! 

Also! Every Saturday we get to do a session in the temple at 9am! The Elders work as veil workers so while they are working we get to do a session! I absolutely LOVE the temple and feel so blessed that part of my mission is being spent going to the temple every week! Then we usually wait for the Elders and we all leave at 11:30 :) It is such a wonderful blessing to go each week and feel of the wonderful spirit there and help with missionary work too! 

We had a Tuesday devotional this week from Elder and Sister Nielsen (he is part of the missionary department and works with Grandpa Zwick). Their talks were absolutely amazing and He shared different things he has learned from different apostles over his years as a general authority! I loved each principle and lesson that he taught to us! There were 6 that He really focused on. I don't have my notes with me but maybe I can remember... 1. The doctrine of proximity (President Packer). We won't truly receive revelation for what we are supposed to do until we are UP AND GOING and OUT AND DOING. We have to be doing our very best at what we think the Father's will is... then the revelation will come. 2. Always focus outward (Elder Andersen). Don't talk about yourself at all in conversations unless you are asked questions. Focus more on other people. 3. Bury our weapons of rebellion (Elder Bednar). Don't look back! Bury our weapons of rebellion and be willing to sacrifice. Repent and then keep going. Be better everyday. If we want our children to turn out like the stripling warriors then we need to bury those "weapons" and don't "dig them up again". 4. Remember Lot's wife (Elder Holland). Don't dwell on the past! MOVE FORWARD. Don't think about what happened last week or last year. Focus on how to be better now! 5. The Church of Jesus Christ has NO FEAR (Pres. Packer). Simple. Don't have any fear. And I can't remember the last one! But they were all amazing and helped me have a new perspective here on my mission! 

On Sundays Hermana De Jesus, sister Earley and I attend the YSA ward across the street. Which just so happens to be the BYU foreign language ward! So we went to sunday school in spanish! it was so fun! I loved it! It made me miss Spain A WHOLE MONTON! But it was really good! It also felt like a crazy flash back to my first year at BYU. It is really strange being in a BYU ward as a missionary... especially after having gone there! And everyday looking out and seeing where I went to church and where I lived and where I had Relief Society presidency meetings! So many memories! But it's good... I am learning to make new ones too :) 

Kylie Smoot and I see each other three times a day which is really fun! Also I saw Jayne Edwards this week and we took a picture together! I have yet to see Alyssa though and anyone else I might know here! I am sure they will keep coming though :) I love being in the MTC surrounded by all these missionaries with a new energy for missionary work! They are all going to be great! The other day we came back from our walk and some sisters needed help with Spanish and memorizing the First Vision so we stopped and helped them with their language study for a little bit! It was SO fun! It made me really want to work here one day as an MTC teacher when I am done with my mission! 

I had my first interview with President Burgess this week! President Burgess is over the whole MTC as the MTC President, but he is also our mission president (for the ten of us missionaries who serve here as full time missionaries in the Referral Center). He is incredible and has such a strong testimony! I loved being able to meet with Him. Our Branch President also works really close with us and is here about every other day. His name is President Thomas and He is amazing! He strengthens us all everyday... and makes us all laugh which is good too :) And then there is Kristin Hatch. She is one of my best friends here! She is the boss of all the employees who work here but she is only like 26. She served in Chile :) She is so sweet! I love taking walks down the hall to her office every once in awhile to get some good insights! So many wonderful and fun people here! 

So, now my challenge for all of you! Missions are kind of hard in general... it is a lot to keep up with spiritually, emotionally, mentally and especially physically. But then when you put an injury on top of all of that, each of those categories gets just a tad bit more difficult to handle! So Hermana De Jesus and I were talking in companionship inventory about how we could be better together and what we needed to do about this whole situation (it's nice because we pretty much have the same exact thoughts sometimes! Also we sometimes just sing together... ok we sing together ALL the time! And tell stories and talk in Spanish and Portuguese and English! it is the best). Anyways, we decided that the best thing we can possibly do is just BE HAPPY. We need to look for the "happy moments" everyday. We say them every night (thanks Hermana Larsen) to help remind us why we are here and what makes us happy! And the truth is those are the moments when we recognize the hand of God in our lives and realize that He really is guiding us everyday! Then we thought about the Elders here in our district. They are incredible! 5 of them are here for their whole missions! Each of them has some sort of physical disability that kept them from going out to a normal proselyting mission. But they are some of the strongest missionaries and members I have ever met! They all work so hard everyday. They knew that they didn't have to be here but they chose to be because they knew it was a commandment from God and they weren't going to let any physical problem stop them from following through with a commandment. So they are all here! But the most incredible part is that they are some of the happiest people I know! They are in pain a lot and uncomfortable, but they serve all day, everyday... day in and day out for two whole years doing this same thing! It truly amazes Hermana de Jesus and I and we are both so so grateful for their examples and realized that we honestly have nothing to complain about. We need to look to their examples and just be happy! We need to choose to look up. Not only "look up" meaning be happy, but Look up to God. He has a perfect plan and once we begin to understand that then we can truly do what the scripture says in DyC 123:17 "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

We must choose to do everything that we can that lies in our power. But not just do it... we have to do it CHEERFULLY. THEN we can stand still (not stop doing things. But we can be at peace) and know that God's will and His hand will be revealed in our lives! I know that is true! So my challenge to everyone is to smile! Smile through every moment of the day... through the good times and the bad times because it is all part of God's plan! Look for the "happy moments" in the day and tell someone at night what your happiest moments were! Then watch the puzzle pieces all fall into place and God's will be revealed! 

I know this church is true and I am so grateful for it in my life! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!! 

Love, 

Hermana Eyring

oh my goodness I got so busy talking about everything at the MTC that I forgot the "hip update". So I decided to go a day without my crutches because we are supposed to be off of them completely on Monday. So I needed to see how it would go. It didn't hurt terribly bad throughout the day... just a little painful. I was SO happy! I felt SO SO free! I haven't been off of the crutches for TWO WHOLE MONTHS!!! it was a wonderful day March 3rd! But I think I got a little too excited about it because then the next day I woke up and couldn't walk... whoops. Probably not the best idea. I was really really really sad about it that day because my hip was hurting SO bad and I thought it was getting better! But then I had to remind myself what I just bore testimony to you all about... to be happy and grateful in every circumstance. Heavenly Father knows I want to go back to Spain, but right now I just need to be patient and happy and one day I will see the whole picture :) So for now I am back on the crutches but hopefully I will be off of them on Monday! I'll keep you posted! Have a great week!

Our Preparation Day Hike 

We hiked for about 10 feet and that was about all we could do...

Happy March cookies sent from Mom and Parsons Bakery

Companions

Lunch at Cafe Rio

Daily exercise on the bikes

Companion Lunch

Thanks Mom for the yummy cookies!

This is Sister Gatoloai from Samoa - Her little brother is named "Eyring"
after Grandpa Eyring who gave her mom a blessing when she was
pregnant with her little brother. She was very sick and about to die
but both she and the baby ended up living so they named him "Eyring"!

Preparation Day at Kiwanis Park

Love my Companion

We painted a sign for JB - way to go WILDCATS!

Companionship Study

My visiting teacher from BYU