I'm Not One For Chemistry, But I've Got Equation For You
F + D + R(h) = Grace
....But first lemme talk for a second...
This week was wild. We went on double exchanges (I went to Mt. Vernon with Sister Manalong, and stayed here the next time with Sister Todd) yup! Sister Todd is serving in Alexandria so she is in our stewardship. Cool eh? Funny how that worked out.
We also had a snowstorm. Some Sisters car got towed so we had to go help hem get it. It was my fifteen month mark and we also had an MLC meeting on Friday. It was a jam packed week. We had some sweet lessons shuffled in there as well, but lots of meetings and training and etc.
Oh yeah, we got our new iPads too. Well the Missionary Leadership Council did. There really isn't much of a difference as far as I can tell. They have 32 GB now, and maybe some new programs. They do not have Facebook however, we will probably be off of Facebook for several months. President said... as we revamp and restart and get trained on how to be better proselytizing missionaries. I don't even know if I will have Facebook again on my mission because I come home in three months. That's a wild thought. Sister Eddy goes home in three weeks. Time is cruising right along.
IS BIZARRE.
Saturday was nice outside. The sun was out so all the snow that came down all day Thursday was melting away. Which resulted in me having wet feet the majority of the day. There are puddles everywhere. But I'm just happy the snow is melting and the sun is out. I'm getting incredibly tired of leggings and tights. I can't even tell you how excited I am for summer.
Especially because this summer I get to wear a swimsuit.
Mmmmmm yeah I miss the idea of that. You can bet I'll be getting my skim boarding game on at the river. I hope Ty has his board and his Go pro ready. Because I'm so pumped. Ah. I've missed that. It's going to be a legendary summer. Probably even a legendary year. 2015. What a good one to remember.
I hope you liked my guitar video. I was laughing when I was on exchanges we visited this Filipino family and they had guitars. They were not tuned at all but it was whatever, we jammed anyway. Enrique Iglesias who sings Hero is half Filipino or something so the family was stoked and wanted to play it over and over. Fun times. Anyway I didn't want to loose the video so I sent it to you before iPad checks. That's all.
I can't pass a jam sesh time up.
I'm having withdrawals because I haven't seen Karlee Gooch in forever.
SMH
I do what I can.
I've found a few super great new buys you guys should check out:
1. Blue vanilla almond cereal from Trader Joe's
2. Salted plantain chips
3. Basil hummus from Trader Joe's
Mmmmm. New faves.
I'm getting cultured mom.
Trader Joe's cultures me.
Lolol.
I will try to send the memory card this week... Sorry it's taking so stinking long.
Um if you have any questions please send in list form in an email at anytime during the week so I can think about it and get back to you on Monday. I don't even know what to talk about anymore other then the obvious. Sorry if you're bored but I don't know how to entertain with my thoughts.
I'm out of ideas of things to talk about because I feel like I have no time to think lately. Shoot me some ideas. Or. Don't. Either way I'm not mad and hopefully you're satisfied.
ON AN EXCITING NOTE
Last night we had a really great lesson with J. at the Rothermel's home. We read Alma chapter thirty six with him. Have you ever read that chapter? I can't remember if I've talked much about it before but it is one of my favorites. First of all it is a form of poetry called a chiasmus which automatically makes it super cool. But on top of that I think it's one of those chapters that can relate to anyones life, really.
It's about Alma talking to his son. And he's telling his son about his conversion story. He goes on and on about how he used to be such an awful person and felt so much guilt from the terrible things he had done and the times he turned away from God, but then at some point in his life he had a life altering experience where he used the atonement of Jesus Christ, because frankly he was at rock bottom, and the weight of he world, all his sins and mistakes and guilt was taken away from him.
He said that his joy exceeded his pain. He said,
"...I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea,
and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds,
and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me."
I love this chapter because...
WE ALL SIN.
none of us are perfect people
Face it.
And sin leads to uncleanliness, guilt, shame, remorse, sadness, disappointment, whatever.
But we don't need to be carrying these burdens.
There are things we can let go of, and move past, because of the atonement of Jesus Christ and his grace.
I love that.
It still shocks me that so many people don't know, or don't care about our Savior. Who already suffered for each and every one of us. And some people are not taking complete advantage of the grace that we can have to help us feel happiness and joy.
J. asked an interesting question as we were talking. He asked why God decided to have an eternal sacrifice of his only begotten son? Why he would allow that to happen? Why did it have to be that way?
Honestly, God is all powerful and I definitely don't comprehend Gods infinite power, and wisdom. But one thing is for sure... I am so grateful. I think all too often we are too casual about the fact that we can be saved through Christs infinite love, mercy, sacrifice and grace.
At Mission Leadership Council we actually talked about grace. My favorite definition of grace is from the bible dictionary it says Grace is..
"Divine means of help or strength given through the bounteous
mercy and love of Jesus Christ."
"It is through his grace that individuals receive strength and assistance to do good works
that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means."
Hmm. Reminds me of serving a mission.
I know that there is no possible way I would be able to serve a mission if I was unable to access Christs atonement and grace to enable me to keep pushing forward. We actually ran into three guys out knocking doors, when we were knocking doors this week. The difference was they were selling security systems. The one guy was persistent that we join his group after our missions because he said Mormons are legendary door to door salesmen. *true*'
BUT... I refused ten times over because boy, money isn't motivation enough to knock doors all day and entice people to join. It's the fact that this work is the most important work on earth (missionary work) and it's the fact that Christs infinite grace is what gets me through the day.
It's what gets me through the
door slams,
and bible bashes,
and rude comments
and dumb remarks
and name calling
and angry faces.
It's also what gives me to motivation to
see the hearts humbled,
tears shed,
lives changed,
perspectives altered,
spirit felt,
and happiness seen.
All of it is through the grace of Jesus Christ.
All of this is made possible through his infinite atonement.
So how do we access grace?
President Riggs showed us this nice fancy little acronym.
Now I'm Not One For Chemistry, But I've Got Equation For You
F + D + R(h) = Grace
It stands for Faith plus Diligence plus Repentance (and humility) equals grace.
We call this the grace equation in our mission. We are teaching it to the zone this week. What's the purpose of it? Well, to remember. To access grace we first have to have faith that Jesus Christs atonement, and love and mercy can enable us, and strengthen us.
Next, we have to be diligent. In using it! In acting. In trying. Trying to what? REPENT!
Repent / change. Jesus Christs sacrifice made it possible for us to repent, to ask for forgiveness. And change. To become better, to strive to be like him. To be a better person. And to do this HUMBLY. Accepting Gods will for us.
When we do these things...
Strengthen our faith
Diligently act
Repent humbly
We will literally feel his grace working in our lives.
As Brad Wilcox said...
"The grace of Christ is sufficient. Sufficient to cover our debt, sufficient to transform us, and sufficient to help us for as long as that transformation process takes.
The Book of Mormon teaches us to rely solely on "the merits, and mercy,
and grace of the Holy Messiah"
As we do, we do not discover--as some Christians believe--that Christ requires
nothing of us. Rather, we discover the reason He requires so much and find the strength to do all He asks. Grace is not the absence of God's high expectations.
Grace is the presence of God's power.
God's grace is sufficient. Jesus grace is sufficient. It is enough. It is all we need.
Don't quit. Keep trying. Don't look for escapes and excuses. Look for the Lord and
His perfect strength. Don't search for someone to blame. Search for someone to help you. Seek Christ, and, as you do, you will feel the enabling power and divine help
we call His amazing grace."
I believe we could spend our entire lives learning about the atonement of Christ and still not fully grasp the concept. There is always more to learn. But are we taking full advantage of what we do know? And do we really understand how important this knowledge is? How important it is to share it with others?
Like I said earlier it is sad to see so many people not knowing, or not caring about Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. But whose job is it to share that information? To share testimony? To share experience?
We don't talk about it enough!
We don't thank God enough.
We don't use it in our lives enough.
Honestly.
There is so much power in this knowledge that we have.
What are you going to do because of it?
I love you!
Sister Madison Stucki
March 9,2015
Sent from my iPad
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