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