Off to the MTC!

Dear family and friends, 

This week kind of took a huge unexpected turn! But hey, that's kind of been my life for the past little bit so I'm used to it :) This week was absolutely incredible! I won't bore you all to death with my random stories, but I do want to share one special experience. On Thursday I went to the doctor and had another MRI. We all looked at it afterwards and compared it to the one I had about a month ago and he said that if we were to give my MRI results to a doctor who didn't know I had a stress fracture that they would tell me that my hip looked completely normal!!! YAY!! That means that my hip is healing!! I am so so so beyond happy! Then I asked him the real question... could I go back on my mission and when????? He said I would be able to go back if I heal completely and the pain goes away but I have to wait at least 12 weeks from now. That was a tiny bit depressing because I was ready to leave the next day, pero por lo menos (but at least) I GET TO GO BACK!!!! I am absolutely thrilled!!! I know Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers... HOWEVER it is always in His own time. 

Ok, now for the neat part of this story... For the past three months I have been trying to figure out why in the world I have been having this problem with my hip. I have seen little blessings and miracles that have come from it along the way but nothing compared to what happened this past week. Since I have been home I have been praying to find the reason that I had to come home... whether it was for me to learn something (which I definitely have learned A LOT) or to help my family or because someone here needed me. On thursday after going to the temple and praying more about it I had the strongest feeling that I needed to do a service mission. The church sometimes lets missionaries who are home for medical reasons do a service mission so they can keep being a missionary while they are recovering. So we talked to the people in charge of the program and then to my grandpa zwick. I thought after mentioning it to them that it would take about a week or so to find the right thing for me to do. But they called me back about an hour later to tell me they found what they needed me to do. There is an hermana who is from Brazil and was serving in the Florida Tampa mission (which I toured with my grandparents last year) but something happened to her hip. She had to come to Utah to get surgery from the same doctor that I am seeing for my hip and now she has to stay here to recover for about 8 weeks (which is close to the amount of time I need to recover) in the MTC. She speaks perfect spanish and is companionless right now!!! How perfect! Heavenly Father must have planned this all out or something! ;) I honestly could not be more excited!!!!!!! We are going down to the MTC on Tuesday and I think that's when my parents will drop me off and I will live there for 8 weeks and my companion and I will do everything we can with both of us having broken hips :) After all of these months of praying to know what I need to be doing, the answer is finally here! Getting to this point has definitely taken a lot of patience but I know that through patience, faith, diligence, obedience and prayer answers truly do come. And I couldn't be happier with this miracle He has given me! 

My favorite scripture from this week is in 1 Nephi 15:11... Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

Heavenly Father truly will send answers if we pray in faith... whether those answers are to know what to do for an investigator, member or menos activo, or if it is during a trial we are facing and we need to feel loved. It may be an answer to a life question or to what step we need to take next in our life. Whatever answer we are looking for I know the answer will come and we will receive help from on high as we call down the powers of Heaven with 1. a soft heart 2. asking in faith and 3. with diligence in keeping the commandments. I know this is true and I have witnessed it in my own life many times and I am grateful for the experience I have once again had helping me remember the goodness of our loving Heavenly Father and the miracles that can come about if we will but do our part. 

I just spent the day at the MTC with my sweet new companion Hermana de Jesus :) She is adorable and I am so excited to be her companion and learn from her. So basically what I will be doing for the next 2 or 3 months is working in the referral center.... where all the referrals from all over the world come! Also we get to chat online with anyone who wants to talk to the missionaries and we teach lessons via skype! We taught one today to one of our investigators, Isaias! He is progressing quite rapidly and has a fecha (baptismal date) for March 12th! I am so excited! I also got to be part of district meeting which was really fun! I have missed missionary work SO much!! I saw a few friends in the MTC as well and I can't wait to keep seeing more over the next few weeks! Hermana de Jesus and I found out that both of our birthdays are in April AND we both reported to our missions on the esact same day!!!! I feel so blessed to be companions with her! I also found out today that she was supposed to leave on February 16th to go back to her mission, but when they tried to clear her to see if she could go they found the same problem in the other hip and had to do surgery on it as well! So now she needs to stay for 8 MORE weeks to recover again! I know that this was all part of Heavenly Father's plan so that we could be companions and learn and grow together. I will be set apart tonight as a missionary again and I couldn't be happier or more excited at the thought that I GET TO BE A MISSIONARY AGAIN!!!!! Miracles really do happen! It has been a long three months waiting for lots of answers, but all of the pieces are finally coming together and I can't wait to see what this next part of my mission has in store! I know this is what I am supposed to be doing and where I am supposed to be and I couldn't feel more grateful that this wonderful opportunity has been placed directly in my path! I know this church is true and I can't wait to be a full time missionary again and share this message with people ALL over the world! 

Thank you all for your prayers and support especially in these past few months! I am so grateful for each of you and the time I have been able to spend with some of you here at home for a little bit during my mission! Thank you for your examples and for blessing my life. I love you all and can't wait to write emails and letters otra vez (again) :) 

I love you all! 

Love, 

Hermana Eyring 

ps. my email is allison.eyring@myldsmail.net and my mom will send out my address once she gets it! 

Outings with the kids

Proud supporter of JB's mission call :)

Shopping with Abby

Temple with Sarah

She just has to drop wherever she finds a spot

The whole family (minus Audrey) after JB's mission call 

The Call is Here!!

Dear family and friends,

This past week has been another wonderful learning experience! Even though I wish with all my heart that I was still in Spain, I am grateful to be here with my family and friends. I know I am here for a reason and I think one of the biggest reasons is to learn and grow as I am around so many of you. Thank you for teaching me through your examples to me! I feel so blessed to be with you all during this experience in my life! Thank you all for your prayers, texts, notes, gifts, and visits!

Some of the highlights from this week: Olivia in high school musical jr at her elementary school, seeing more family and friends as they came to visit me, celebrating Liza's birthday, going to the temple for the first time since I went in madrid 7 months ago, and Jb getting his mission call! (hence the title of this email.. He has been called to serve in the France Paris Mission and reports to the Provo MTC on June 22nd:). Also having my dad sit on the same row as us at church for the first time in about 8 years was definitely one of my "happy moments" from the week :)

I haven't heard much from the doctors this week. I am still just resting and praying and hoping that it gets better with a lot of faith :) But no matter what happens, I will keep smiling through it all because I know that Heavenly Father loves each of us and has a perfect plan!

I never thought I could learn so much lying on a couch all day long! It's actually quite incredible. I have been able to study my scriptures everyday (sometimes all day:) and my testimony has been strengthened ten fold. Something I am really trying to focus on lately is Charity and loving as the Savior did. Which is perfect today since it is Valentine's day :) I just finished the Book of Mormon and I started over reading through this time to find examples of how the Savior loved and how I can apply that into my life with the people around me. One of my favorite things I learned this week was in 1 Nefi 7:2-3 and 12-13. The Lord commanded Nephi and his brothers to go back to Jerusalem not only once, but TWICE. I never thought about this before, but it's a lot like my experience right now. The Lord asked me to go on a mission so I went. And then somehow he asked me to come back to Utah for a time. It's just like Nephi and his brothers! I am sure Nephi and his brothers didn't want to go back and make the trip to Jerusalem 2 more times, but they did it. And why did they do it? Because Nephi LOVED the Lord and he would do anything to show his faith in the Lord. I know that as we follow what the Lord has asked us to do or go through... whether it is commandments, revelation through prayer or scripture reading, or even through trials, that we will be blessed and we will come to find "at some future period" the 'why' behind everything that He asks us to do.  I am still finding 'why's' of this whole experience with my hip and coming home early from my mission, and I know that I will continue to find the reasons that I needed to go through this for the rest of my life. I know that Heavenly Father has a specific plan for each of his children and as we follow him we will be blessed and led to the "promised land" just as Nephi and his brothers were. I know that is true. I am so grateful for the scriptures and especially for the Book of Mormon. I know that as we feast upon its words we will truly be able to begin to see Heavenly Father's hand in our lives and recognize what His will truly is. I know this church is true and I love sharing this restored gospel message with everyone around me!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Share your testimony with someone this week and I promise you it will bless their life!

Love,
Hermana Eyring
(Allie)





Fmaily sunday photo (without Audrey)


Birthday lunch with Liza


New scriptures for her birthday


What I do when I am bored at home... heart attack Emma and Audrey's room!


Temple trip with mom and dad :)


Lunch at Zupas (my favorite) with my cousin, Alyssa

Weekly updates from Utah!

Dear family and friends all over the world, 

I decided that I am going to keep doing a weekly email as if I am still on my mission #1 because it would be weird not to since I am so used to it now and I still feel like I am a missionary. And #2 because I want to keep you all updated so you know what is going on :) 

I got home really late on thursday night and it was such a bitter sweet moment. I am so excited to be here with my family again, but it is also really hard and sad not to still be in Spain. I miss it a whole montón (a lot), but I know that this is what needs to happen in order for me to be better and I am grateful for this time that I have to spend with family and friends and continue to share the gospel here in utah. This is all part of Heavenly Father's plan and I am grateful for everything I am learning from this experience everyday.

I slept for about 4 hours when I got home and then got up early and went to get released by my stake president early Friday morning. I cried so hard (claro) but the spirit was so strong and both of us felt it and knew that this was the right thing to do. Right after he released me he extended a calling to me and set me apart as a mission prep teacher for the stake! I am so excited! I can't wait to start teaching and helping all of the youth in our stake prepare to serve missions! What better calling could I ask for? :) I kept my chapa (name tag) on for a few hours and then when I had to leave the house and go out in public I had to take it off... it was probably one of the saddest things ever!! But I know that I can still be a missionary and teach people the gospel and I am so grateful for that opportunity! 

I went to the doctor on Friday as well and they did more x-rays and tests. Although we still don't have the final conclusion, they are 90% sure it is a stress fracture, but they are going to do a few more tests just to be positive. If it is a stress fracture for sure then they said I really just have to rest it for 6-8 more weeks and we will see how it is doing after that. They might also put me in physical therapy. The good news is that I don't need any surgery!!! It's going to take a lot of patience during this recovery, but I am grateful to be here with my family for it and hopefully I will be able to keep busy through it all :)  

Everything here at home is going well! I am pretty sure all of you know abby... OH MY GOODNESS! She is probably the one who has grown up the most! She is so cute and I love being with her (and all the kids). She follows me around everywhere... and when she wakes up every morning she runs into my room and smiles SO big and says, "you are still here!" It is so adorable! She is such a good little companion for me- I love it! :) 

In my scripture study this past week I finished the Book of Mormon. I love Moroni 9:6 "And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God."

 We can all keep laboring diligently no matter where we are or what we are doing. We all have the responsibility to build up the Lord's kingdom every single day... even with a broken hip ;) I know that as we all keep working hard no matter where we are in the world that we will be able to bring so many more people unto our Savior Jesus Christ and teach them about this true happiness found in His Gospel. I know this gospel is true and I love it so much! 

Have a wonderful week! Let me know if I can do anything for any of you! (also visits are graciously accepted if any of you are looking for something fun to do :) I am always here!)

Love, 

Hermana Eyring

(Allie)

Dad was released as YSA bishop and our WHOLE family was together!

Play dough with Abby! 

        

Friends coming to say hi after a few years with missions.             Snuggling with Abby 

         

My sweet friends, Hannah and Laken took me to the doctors. 

             

My BYU bishop... Bishop Patch.                                 Abby holding my hand at the doctors. 

Making cupcakes with Abby

             

Looking at mission pictures together. 

Right after I got released by my stake president.                     Welcome Home! 

At the airport in a wheelchair with my family again! 

            

A transfer call to Utah...

Mis queridos amigos y mi familia, 

I never thought this week would have to come or the conclusion would end up being what it is, but I know the Lord has a perfect plan and I am ready to trust Him. Thank you ALL for your sweetest emails, thoughts and prayers! I have felt Heaven's hand and my Heavenly Father's love for me through all of you! I am so sorry to have kept so,e of you up late at night or not able to work or anything else just worrying about me. Thank you thank you thank you for all of your thoughts! I feel so blessed to have each one of you in my life and I am already feeling better because of your emails and prayers! Thank you! 

So here we go with the final decision... 

On Monday afternoon I had what will be my last interview with President Dayton for a little while. He asked me how I was doing and then told me something that I never wanted to hear. "Due to the injury in your hip that still hasn't healed, we need to send you home to recover for awhile". My heart has never pounded so fast in my life as it did then and I started to cry. I never thought I would have to hear those words come out of my mission presidents mouth in an interview with me. It was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to hear. But I felt at peace as pr side to continued to talk to me and counsel me on how I could continue to be a missionary at home and what our "game plan" is. I know that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan. To be honest, I have absolutely NO idea why this is part of that plan, but I'll just keep trusting Him every step of the way. 

I have a lot of fears about going home and I am really nervous about what will happen. But I will put all of those fears aside if that is what the lord wants because He knows better than I do and through this all He will teach me that none of those things really matter. What matters is being 100% dedicated and consecrated to whatever He asks of me and whatever His will is... Even when it is hard and even when it's not what I want to do. Elder Bednar said, "strong faith in the savior is submissively accepting of His will and timing in our lives, even if the outcome is not what we hoped for or wanted". This is definitely one of those moments in my life where I know what the will of the Lord is and even though it is not even close to what I wanted... I will do it. Because I want to show my faith in Him and I want Him to be able to trust me later when He needs me to do even harder things. I want Him to know that I am here to do what He asks of me and do it with a willing heart. Just like my dad's favorite scripture, "speak lord, for thy servant heareth". I have heard His voice and His will countless times and now it is time to act. I love my Heavenly Father and Savior and because of that love I have for them, I am willing to do what they ask of me even though it is hard and even though it will involve sacrificing a few of my favorite things and people and places. Why?? Because, If it is to do His will, then none of that matters. I will be dedicated and consecrated and let Him steer the course for my life. My hand is in His and I'm ready to follow. 

I truly do know with all of my heart that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan. Just like one of my friends, Jessi, said to me this week, "You may not end up where you thought you'd be, but you'll end up right where you're meant to be". I know that Heavenly Father is leading and guiding me to where He needs me to be. President gave me a blessing this week of comfort and I love that in it I was told that my offering of my mission so far has been accepted by the Lord and now I just need to put my trust in His will and everything will be ok. When I heard those words, I felt like I was being wrapped in a big hug from my Heavenly Father and I felt at peace. The Dayton's and Morejons stood around me talking to me and gave me advice for about 30 minutes. It was the sweetest experience and I loved every moment of it. 

There have been so many thoughts running through my mind ever since President told me I would be going home, but I don't know what the future holds, only Heavenly Father knows.  I am willing and ready to trust in my Heavenly Father because He can see the big picture and I cannot. Just like Grandpa Eyring always says, "there are no coincidences, there are no accidents. Heavenly Father runs our lives in detail and in advance." There is a reason for all of this, I know there is. Even though it is a hard trial to go through and will continue to be hard, I know Heavenly Father is in charge and as I put my life in His hands and align my will with His then everything will be alright in the end. And if it's not alright then it's not the end :) I am so sad... So so so so so so so sad (I can't even express how sad I am) To have to leave my incredible country of Spain. With my whole heart I want to stay here and keep serving. BUT, with even more of my whole heart I want to do the will of my Father in Heaven and I know that I will see blessings as I do so. This is His work and not ours. So we must do His work in His way. Right now "His way" is for me to be at home to recover.  Mark 10:49 says, "Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee." Right now I feel like I am blindly stepping off of a cliff because this was not ANYWHERE in my plan and I don't know what is going to happen. But just as Christ called the blind man to come to Him, He is now calling me. And as I follow Him He will one day "heal me" that I might "see" clearly the wonderful blessings that come from this trial. I know that as we take little steps of faith into the darkness that Heavenly Father will "catch us" and little by little the blind fold will come off and we will be able to see what we couldnt see before. I am grateful for challenges. I am grateful for the past 8 months of my mission and I can't wait to continue this wonderful mission... Not just here in Spain, but my life long mission to strive to do the will of the Lord at all times. I know He has a perfect plan for each one of us, and I can't wait to see what lies in store in the perfect plan He has for me. I know as I rely on my savior Jesus Christ at all times that I will have access to the atonement in cualquier momento. He loves each one of us and understands every pain that we go through and is there to comfort us. I know that is true and I am so grateful for the Atonement. I have learned to apply the atonement in a different way than I ever have before in my life. Elder Oaks said (in this last general conference), "Sometimes His (Jesus Christ's) power heals an infirmity, but the scriptures and our experiences teach that sometimes He succors or helps by giving us the strength or patience to endure our infirmities." I wanted with all my heart to be healed here in Spain so I wouldn't have to come home. But because I was not healed immediately, through the Atonement I have been given the strength and patience to endure this trial (and I might just still be working on that strength and patience) :) I hope we can all strive to use the Atonement daily throughout our lives in the hard times as well as the easy times. My challenge for you all this week (and forever) is to recognize the Hand of The Lord in your every day lives. Be grateful in every circumstance. Love everyone around you. Be happy. Don't take anything for granted. Share your testimony. And most importantly rely on your Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. They love each one of us so much and as we strive to accomplish their will we show our love for them too. I know this gospel is true and I love it with my whole heart! I want you all to know that I have a testimony of this gospel and it is stronger than it ever has been before! I know this Church is true without a shadow of a doubt. I love being a missionary more than anything I have ever done before! I'm going to miss Spain and wearing my chapa everyday, but I will continue to teach the gospel to everyone I can because I am a missionary no matter where I go in the world. Heavenly Father loves each one of His children and will guide us as we trust in Him. Sé que este es verdadero con todo mi corazón y digo estas cosas en el sagrado nombre de Jesucristo, amén. 

I Love you all! Thank you for all you have done for me.  REMEMBER... Heavenly Father knows best so just do His will and keep on smiling! :)

Con muchísimo amor de España, 

Hermana Eyring 

Celebrating Elder Allman's Birthday in the office

Lunch with Hermana Morejon, Larsen and Iverson at Hollyburg

My wonderful daytime companion Hermana Morejon

My night time companions

I love this country!

I will be forever grateful to Hermana Morejon for
taking such good care of me. 

Out for sushi with President and Hermana Dayton and
the ayudantes.

Lunch with Silvia