Llamado a Servir en España: My First Transfer Day!

HOLA DE BARÇELONA!!

How is everyone doing this fabulous week?? I hope everyone is happy and having a fantastic last few weeks of summer! I can´t believe it is almost over! I will forever feel like it is May 26th because that is the day I got here! But somehow it is the middle of August! Next week I will have been here in Spain for 3 whole months! AHHH! Time definitely needs to slow down!

It's my first day of TRANSFERS! That means I've been in Barcelona 6 weeks already! I didn´t get transferred because I have one more of training with Hermana Lee and then she will probably leave after this one and I will stay here. BUT you never know! We had an unexpected thing in our piso... Hermana Een is now going to Bilbao to be a sister training leader AND to WHITEWASH!!!! She is a little scared but she will do great! Hermana Wiseman... is staying here.... THANK HEAVENS!!! I am pretty sure it was a blessing right from heavenly Father! He knew I needed her for at least one more transfer!! Hermana Wiseman´s new companion is Hermana Fernandez from Madrid. She is so cute!! I can´t wait to spend more time with her!! We went to the train station today and saw all of the missionaries getting transferred and all the ones going home! I saw Elder Slauson one last time... Derek and Emily...He is super excited to come see you :)

So last week we had intercambios (exchanges) again like always and I was companions with Hermana Wiseman! I love that girl! We saw so many miracles when we were together! Jen... (one investigator from the Philipines) is incredible! She has three kids with autism and her husband left them. She is literally super mom and reminds me so much of my sweet mom. She never thinks about herself and just wants to help her kids be good. It is hard to teach her sometimes because her kids are always screaming and literally bouncing off the walls and drawing all over the walls and floors, but I love it because it makes me feel right at home. She is having a hard time progressing because she literally has no time so we haven´t been able to visit her as much. But when we do have time to visit her she LOVES hearing about the gospel and always cries when we bear our testimonies or pray. She is incredible. It makes me realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing family and to have the gospel at the center of our home. Jen has to wake up every morning to these 3 kids who scream and do crazy things all day. But she is so patient with them and just loves them! She has a tiny little apartment and she doesn´t have any money but she is trying to be happy and just raise her kids everyday. We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives!!! It makes me realize that not a single day I have should ever be "hard" for me! If Jen can do what she does everyday for the past 10 years then I can do any hard thing that comes my way... especially since I have the knowledge of the gospel. Don´t forget how lucky and blessed we are to have the gospel!! Try really hard this week not to complain about anything and if you find yourself complaining think about the blessings you have in your life and then look for someone to serve!!

Hermana Lee and I had an activity for the mujeres jóvenes (young women) last week and it was AMAZING!!! The theme was "share your light". We did lots of fun activities in our pjs and then played games and we all DIED laughing with each other! We had different object lessons about light and then had a testimony meeting together! Then we walked them downstairs where we had set up a TV and popcorn and cookies and candy and christmas lights and blankets and they all watched Tangled together since that is about light (kind of sort of haha it was more of a bonding and uniting experience). Hermana Lee and I obviously couldn´t watch it so we went to coordination :) But the girls absolutely LOVED it!! It was so fun and I really think it helped them to get excited about loving each other and sharing their light especially with their friends who we can teach!

We had our first district meeting last week with our HUGE district and it was SO fun!! Elder Maurer, from Australia, is our district leader and he is AMAZING!! Dad, he reminds me a lot of you. He comes up with these incredible ways to teach us where we all just look at him and listen to what he has to say and he immediately captures our attention because it is so interesting and fun and spiritual and uplifting all at once!! I love it!! He truly is inspired and such a great leader!! Last week we learned all about the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion and how the Holy Ghost plays the most important role in working with us, members AND investigators. After transfers today we now have 3 new missionaries in our district and I am so excited to get to know them!

Alex got the priesthood this past Sunday and He was so excited!!! He told us later that day that he was so excited before church that he punched the wall and he accidentally made a big hole in it. hahaha. He is so funny! He wants to be a missionary so so bad! He calls us everyday to tell us about the people he talked to or prayed with on the streets. He says whenever he sees someone crying he always goes to talk to them to see if he can help them! So cute! And he invites everyone he talks to to clases de ingles and also to church. What a great missionary!! We gave him lots of tarjetas and also a predicad mi evangelio. He reads it all the time and wants to start doing practicas with us so he is ready to be a missionary in a year! I love it!! Too bad this was my first baptism because now after this I don´t know if every recent convert is this dedicated to the work and the church. BUT you never know. I will do my best to help them all be this dedicated! Alex´s family is now letting us teach them in his home. Jessica, his sister who is my age said the closing prayer the other night and I loved it!! We are also teaching His cousin and Aunt and they are ready to be baptized within this next month! I am so happy for them! Alex tells us at least twice a day how he can´t wait to baptize his whole family since he has the priesthood now! I love it! Definitely a huge miracle from Heaven! Oh also... He called us the other night and told us he was sick but that he was just sitting on the couch and watching conference talks! We had never even told him about conference. He said, "oh I am just watching President Monson and Hermana Eyring´s grandpa talk about how to be a good missionary because I want to be the best missionary I can be". AWWWW! That just melts your heart, huh??

AUDREY!!!!! She is our newest investigator! (I'm sorry I don´t tell you about all of them! There are just way too many and there isn´t enough time to type all about them each week!!! But just know this area is SO SO blessed!!). Anyways, Audrey is incredible! I loved her from the very start because her name is Audrey! I think I started crying when she told me her name ;) I sure do miss you Auds! It is fun to teach her and call her by name and think of you! Anyways, she came to church last Sunday and it was the first time we had seen her. We asked her if she was a member and she said "no". I sat by her in RS and she told me that it was her 2nd day in Barcelona but she had visited before and remembered loving the church and wanted to come back. She came four times when she visited last april and took lessons from the Elders here. Then she went two times while she was living in Brazil and now she is back here to actually live here! She looked at us and said, "I would really like to be baptized". Oh, really? Ok... I think we can help you with that!! haha. We are going to visit her tonight and I am so so so excited!!!!!!!

We also are going to visit another one of our investigators tonight... Yahaira! She is pregnant and due in october and wants to get baptized SO bad! I am really excited for her!! She is just the sweetest ever!!!

We have 14 baptisms scheduled for the next month! I am so excited for all of them!!!! Please pray for these sweet people here from all over the world who are preparing to enter into the waters of baptism and make and keep covenants with their Heavenly Father and start back on their pathway home to him! I will keep you updated with them!

I wanted to share one scripture to close... John 14:31 "But that [Spain] may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me [this mission], even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." I love this scripture. I think Hermana Smalley shared it with me in the CCM... where she changed it to "Spain" and "this mission". It really helps me to put things in perspective and it is my testimony of a mission! I am here in Spain because I love my Heavenly Father and Savior and I want to help them in any possible way I can to bring their children back home to them. I know that this church is true. I am so grateful and blessed to have it in my life! I know that my Savior, Jesus Christ, atoned for me and each one of us and through Him we can change and be better every single day. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and just like Joseph Smith said... we can draw nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than any other book. I know this is true. I hope you will all take the time everyday to read from it and strengthen your testimony and then share that testimony with others around you! It will bless your life and theirs as well! In the name of Jesus christ, Amen.

Love,

Hermana Eyring

random and funny things:

1. There are SO many mosi´s (mosquitos) here - we are itching all day long!!

2. We basically eat ice cream everyday! But this transfer we are going to be healthy! I already said no to someone who tried to give me ice cream the other day! I was very proud of myself :) Lynds is not going to like me for this one haha. One day you´ll have to come to spain and eat all of this amazing ice cream. You´ll love it!

3. They only teach Catalan and English here in Barcelona Schools. I find that so funny but these Catalan people really don´t like the Spaniards and I find it quite hilarious.

4. They are changing our church to have sacrament meeting first at 9!!!! AHHH we won´t ever have investigators at church on time haha.

5. I have a problem. I can´t do stairs. I have fallen down the stairs I think 3 times now this week! One time was in the metro and those are A TON of stairs! haha it was quite a funny sight I am sure. I have a HUGE bruise all down my leg now and I can´t really sit down. Good times good times :)

Ok love you all!