Llamado a Servir en España: When there's a will, there's a way!

Querida familia y mis amigos,

This week was absolutely incredible and flew by so fast that I am not quite sure where the time went! We had specialized training last Tuesday and it was incredible! The spirit was so strong and I learned so much from other missionaries and from President Dayton. Hermana Dayton had to leave to Utah for family things so she couldn´t be there, but we have zone conference on September 4th and she will come to that. Anyways, there were so many wonderful principles and doctrines of the gospel that we talked about, but one of the main things I learned was how to better listen... As missionaries (and in life in general) it is so important that we take time to listen. We must listen to the spirit and also to our investigators, friends, parents, family, etc. People want and need to be heard. It was a very powerful lesson taught by our Ayudantes, Elder Dunn y Elder Skousen and also by Presidente Dayton. Hermana Lee and I decided to put what we learned right into action as we went to a lesson with one of our new investigators... Charlotte. She is amazing and so prepared to hear the gospel!! I love her! We were planning on teaching lesson one all about the restoration, but we ended up listening to her talk all about her life for about 30 minutes and then we did the first lesson in about 20 minutes because that was exactly what she needed. And the reason she accepted our message and set a meta for her baptism for Sept. 5th is because we listened to her talk about things in her life and then applied her life to the lesson and really taught according to her needs. LISTENING really does work!! I love it! Try harder this week to listen to the promptings of the spirit and listen to the people who need to talk to you! Sometimes it is hard, but it helps us to think less of ourselves and more of other people.

Charlotte and Raquel

This past Friday we saw SO many miracles!! I feel so incredibly blessed to be here on a mission helping so many people come unto Christ and enter into the waters of baptism so they can continue on the path home to their Heavenly Father. It is an amazing work and I am so blessed that the Lord has trusted me with a part of His vineyard to help build up. First on Friday, Hermana Lee and I went to visit Rubi. She is a 19 year old girl in our ward and is leaving on her mission next week. We thought we were going over to help her pack, but when we got there she said she just wanted to study PMG with us because she has never read it before. It was an amazing hour with her and I learned so much. We went over the how to begin teaching points and lesson 1 and Rubi and I taught Hermana Lee the first lesson together. I loved it! I loved helping her!! Missions are incredible and I can´t wait for her to get out into the field in Argentina.

Rubi leaves on her mission to Argentina on Wednesday.

After an eating cita with members, we had about 30 minutes before we had to meet Alex to practice for his baptism! We could have just sat and done language study since we didn´t have another time to do it, but instead we both felt prompted to start talking to people. Sooo of course we did. We met Patricia who was SO prepared and we have an appointment with her next week and she wants to meet one of the members in our ward who lives in her building! Then we met Maria and she just sat and cried to us about how much she misses her kids in El Salvador. She showed us pictures and everything and after we prayed with her we set up an appointment with her too. She is so sweet and I am excited to teach her.

We took Alex to the church for his interview with Elder Maurer (our district leader) and afterwards he couldn´t stop smiling because he was so happy and excited for his baptism!

Hermana Ines (my best friend in the ward who is a few years older than me and just got home from her mission and speaks english) came with us to a few lessons on Friday night. They were all INCREDIBLE!!!! The first one was with Rafaél and his family. We thought it was just him, his wife and his daughter... but when we showed up at their house we realized we were very wrong! They are a family of 8 from the Dominican Republic!!! It was our first lesson with them and they had food all set out for us and when we walked in they all sat on the couch and turned off the TV and looked at us and with enthusiasm said, "so... what are you going to teach us??" (in spanish of course). Wow!!! We taught them all about the restoration and they loved it and they all want to be baptized! We set a goal for their family to be baptized on September 12th... I´ll let you know how that goes! I can´t wait!!! We also met another family in the street. Hermana Lee pretended to know them and then we got talking and they ended up asking us if we could somehow possibly stop by their house to share more about our church because they have been searching for a church to join!!!! hmmm... I think we could make that work :) They had a little 4 year old boy who I played with - we were sword fighting with a balloon haha. I just love all the little kids here so much!! They have such a sweet spirit about them and it is incredible to me!!

Having lunch with Hermana Lisset and Ines before the baptism

We also met Candy and she is excited to be taught the gospel and we prayed with her! And we had a lesson with Gloria and Manuel (two other investigators... a mom and son) and they had a friend there with them who also wants to learn about the church!!! WOW! Miracles everyday and every minute!! This was only ONE DAY too... honestly... if I told you about the miracles from the whole week I think I would be here for the rest of my mission. The Lord truly prepares his people to hear the Gospel!

Ok, ok, ok. Now the moment you have all been waiting for!! ALEX´S BAPTISM!!!!!!!!! This was my first baptism here on my mission. I have been to 3 other ones but this was MY real first baptism!! It was such a beautiful day!! I definitely won´t do it justice trying to explain it all... but I sure can try. Hermana Lee and I got everything ready in the morning and throughout the day... ironing clothes for him, filling up the font, cleaning the church, making Korean food and cookies for afterwards, making the program, practicing musical numbers, etc. It was such a busy morning but so wonderful too. Alex´s family has been telling him for the past few weeks that they weren´t going to come but then he texted us 30 min before his baptism and said, "I have a surprise for you". And he showed up at the church with his whole family!!!!!!!!!! They were a little nervous to be there at first because they thought we would try to convert them haha. But once they found out we were nice and normal (ish) people they calmed down a bit. His mom actually started crying during it. The spirit was SO SO SO strong during the whole entire service. Hermana Lee and I had to walk out at one point because she was crying so hard! It was so amazing! She told me that it was the most spiritual baptism she had ever been to on her mission (and she has been to over 20). There was so much support from the ward that I couldn´t even believe it!! We did a musical number with all the missionaries and then another one with me, Ines and Hermana Lee (come unto christ). It was amazing! Alex cried during both of them and usually he never cries! While Alex was changing after the actual baptism (which by the way had to be done twice because Alex is a pretty big guy and Limber is a pretty small guy haha) Hermana Lee and I had prepared a book for him... everyone wrote a note in it for him and testimony and welcome to the ward and then we gave it to him along with a triple set of scriptures with mine and Hermana Lee´s testimonies in it. He loved it and carries it around now wherever he goes and reads it whenever he can!! Honestly it was such a special day for all of us. I am so so happy for Alex. He kept telling us over and over and over again how happy he was. Then last night we went to visit him to see how he felt after being confirmed and he just looked at us and with tears in his eyes (but a smile on his face) said, "I want to say thank you. I don´t know if we will see each other after your missions. But I know I wouldn´t be here without you two. Thank you for sharing this message with me. I am going to go to the church for the rest of my life. I want you to know that I will never leave! Also, you know what... remember how people were standing up and talking all about Jesus today in church? I hope one day I can be that person too and stand up and talk about Jesus to people. And everyday right now I am preparing for my mission. Even today in the metro on my way to church... I talked to the people about the ¨mormon book¨ and the Bible. I want to serve a mission RIGHT NOW! But I will wait patiently until next year and keep doing whatever God needs me to". WOW. He is such a good example to me and Hermana Lee and all of us! I am so grateful I had this opportunity to teach Him and learn how to become a better disciple of Jesus Christ.

Alex with his favorite picture of the Savior

Surprise! Alex's Mom, Dad and Sister came to his baptism

What a special day!

We fasted and prayed for Alex and his family and received a miracle as they were all there to be part of this memorable day!

I know that this is the true church. I know that it has changed my life and continues to do so everyday! A challenge for this week is to try your hardest to share the gospel with someone because just like Alex said... it will change their whole entire life!!! I promise you it will... even if it is scary, it is so worth it! I know that as we truly strive to be humble and obedient disciples of Jesus Christ that we will see Milagros cada día! En El nombre de Jesucristo, Amén.

Love,

Hermana Eyring :)

Random things:

1. I almost got pick pocketed by someone this week! Haha. Their hand was in my bag on my wallet but I caught them in time and my first instinct was just to take my finger nail and stab them! AHHH. What was I thinking?? Whoops! But it got them out of my bag... so I guess that´s good? EEK!

2. We caught one of the cockroaches and gave it to the Elders! It was so funny! I was so scared to do it... but the mission is helping me overcome all fears :)

3. We eat homemade popcorn every week for weekly planning! I love it! Traditions!

4. I talk on the phone in spanish to people now everyday!!!!! AHH! It´s kind of nerve racking but I love it!

5. Thank you Brother and Sister Call (in my ward) for my letter in the mail this week!

6. I have had some weird bite on my head for awhile and it is finally starting to go away... but EVERYONE has asked me... "are you from India or something??" because it is right in the middle of my forehead. haha. good times!

Love you all! Let me know if there is anything I can do for you!!

Noche de Hogar with our ward family

We love being companions!

Our awesome investigator, Gloria!

Alejandra - an adorable member of the ward!

Me and Hermana Een ready for the day and matching!

We weeded in a menos activos garden with our whole district and then had
lunch with them! It was so so much fun!! I worked so hard and I am grateful
for such amazing parents who taught me the principle of hard work!