Unanswered Prayers

Transfers are this week on Thursday.  Hold all mail because I have a feeling I may be leaving Burke. This past week we watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 on New Year's Eve
#dontstoptheparty *airhorn*

I must apologize that I have not yet completed a full length post about "Why I decided to serve." Quite frankly it's not THAT exciting of a story, and I'm not sure which details to leave out. YA know like TMI. So I'm still working on that and it will be up shortly. As in the next couple of weeks. There's just so many side points I want to go into depth on but I promise to stay majority on topic.

I guess it's supposed to get pretty cold this week.  Like not even go above freezing. So that will be fun. W. & Y. took us to a Japanese Steakhouse where they cooked food in front of you. That was entertaining as well. It was a fun week. Lots of new stories and things. I wish I wrote them all down to tell you guys.  But I get enough complaints that my posts take a month to read. And the pictures explain that part enough (I think?)

If you have any questions about things send them in list formation to me via email during the week and I'll think about them. And get back to you soon. 




I want to share a story from my childhood.

I have four younger brothers.  They love animals. My parents would never let us have pets when we were younger. One of my brothers especially loved dogs. He begged and begged and begged my parents for a dog. For years. Finally they made a deal with him, that if he worked on a specific attribute (for almost an entire year) and did good at it, they would buy him a brand new boxer puppy for his birthday in March. So he did. He worked especially hard for a ten year old boy and accomplished this specific thing they asked him to do. 

Come March he had his very own puppy.  Only a couple weeks old. He named her Daisy. Daisy was a hoot. Our entire family loved her and babied her like maybe no other dog had ever been babied. She was a spoiled little puppy. If Dylan wasn't outside playing with her, one of the other five of us were. Most of the time it was all of us together chasing her around.  Teaching her to stalk bunnies and chase deer and cows out in the field. We would run up the mountainside behind our house and created these wild fantasies of her being this boss hunting dog (I don't even like hunting but we each had a wild imagination) We couldn't WAIT for her to get big and muscular so she could pull us up the hill with our roller blades on and be our guard dog. We had so many great plans for Daisy. She was our favorite. And Daisy loved us too. I'm not much of an animal person and I don't know much about them. But I can sure tell when a dog is excited to see people. And whenever Dylan came home from school Daisy was there waiting for him to come outside and play. To go on another adventure through the fields and mountains and have some fun.

At this point Daisy was only a month old. She was just barely beginning to grow but was still a very small pup. In April, it was the Annual Pinewood Derby for my brothers scout troop. They were so excited because my Dad gets really into making his cars smooth, fast and beautiful. So they had these little race cars and were prepared to win the whole thing. Our whole family got ready to pile into the car and head over to the Derby. 

Daisy was in our garage that day along with my baby sister Makenna and younger brother Ty. My parents opened the garage to start loading up and leave. They all watched the garage door go up and bolted out into the front yard to play before we took off.  Not seeing however, that there was a car racing down our street. 

Ty, Makenna and Daisy all ran straight outside.  Ty and Makenna were on the sidewalk and Daisy was just off the sidewalk in front of them.  All of a sudden a high school boy from our neighborhood was racing home in his red jeep. He saw his brother out on a skate board and starting talking to him while he was driving.  He was not paying attention and veered across to the wrong side of the road and in an instant he ran over Daisy.  He slammed on his brakes. All within a second he saw the situation at hand play out before him. A devastated mothers face, the swift movement of a running fathers pace, a five year old boy only a few feet away from the car, and a three year old toddler, Makenna, standing right next to his vehicle looking down at Daisy. Who was curled up next to his front tire.

There was really nothing to say as Daisy just lay there whimpering. My Dad scooped her into her kennel struggling to find the words for the horrific situation at hand. My mom piled five scared, crying children into a car. Now, not so much concerned with any Derby.  Instead headed to the vet. Everyone a little in shock at what just happened. Each of us kids were diligently praying.  Positive that God would hear the prayers of five innocent children and would recognize their current needs.

We each waited in the car as Dad took the puppy inside and had her x-rayed. It was a long wait before Dad came back out to share what the fate of our little puppy would be. Daisy was alive, but we learned that her entire pelvis and both hind legs were completely shattered and she had plenty of damage internally. If we were to try to save Daisy by doing countless surgeries, she would still never walk again. She would never run around and play like all dogs should. She would never grow and be our big guard dog, and pull us up hills on our roller blades and go hunting. She wouldn't be able to move, most of her bodily functions wouldn't work properly and we would manually have to help her all day everyday. She frankly would be miserable.The vets advice was to put Daisy down, to sleep.

This wasn't easy news to relay to five young children. We didn't understand why God didn't answer our prayers. The prayers of five innocent, young children, who didn't do anything wrong. This experience, was TRAUMATIZING in the eyes of a 11, 10, 8, 5 and 3 year old's eyes. But a few days later, a very wise Grandpa of mine pointed out a very important fact. 

Daisy saved Ty and Makenna's lives.  She had ran out right in front of them. She was protecting them.  She stepped into the street and was hit by the jeep. But if we recall the instance correctly, following Daisy had been three year old Makenna and five year old Ty. Only feet, maybe inches behind her. If Daisy hadn't been there, if the jeep was going three MPH faster, if the garage went up two seconds earlier, if the boy hadn't felt the bump of the dog first... what might have happened? Would Makenna still be here? Would Ty?

So what happens when your prayers to God go seemingly unanswered?
How do we react?

In that moment I recall us five kids being plenty upset because we prayed and prayed and prayed our little puppy would be okay, and seemingly to us God didn't answer our prayers. Because she wasn't okay! We went home that night with no puppy. 

But in a wider range perspective, God did answer our prayers. Because we went home that night with all five siblings in our family. Daisy was an answer to our prayers, we just didn't quite see that yet.

Similarly I want to relate the story of Shaderach, Meshach and Abednego. I was reading in Daniel in the New Testament this week and came across this interesting story. These three dudes were stellar. They believed in God and worshiped God. But the wicked King at the time commanded everybody to worship his golden image and not to pray to God. Obviously Shaderach, Meshach and Abednego were like...

...no.

So this king (after his raging furious tantrum) was like 
k. 
I'm throwing you into a fiery furnace then homeslice.


Still, Shaderach, Meshach and Abednego were steadfast. They were like k man, but we are still praying to our God. I think the King was quite baffled so he laughed at them and mocked them saying who is this God you speak of that can deliver you out of MY hands? Eh?

That's pretty much the condensed version of the story. But my favorite part is their reply to the King. Read it carefully. They said...

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy Gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." -Daniel 3:17-18

IF IT BE SO
our God is all powerful.
He can save us.
He can do anything if he desires it.

BUT IF NOT



but if not.

EVEN if not, we still will worship our God.
Even if we are burned in a furnace, even if we die for our beliefs,
Even if our prayer to be saved from THIS trial goes seemingly unanswered in this circumstance..
We still will worship our God.


Way to be a Champ boys!



It was the "but if not" that caught my attention. Do I have that attitude? Do I truly believe my God is all powerful to answer EVERY LAST ONE of my prayers, but if he has a different plan, do I have the faith and courage to continue serving him until MY dying breath?

Do I have that kind of attitude when I'm on my knees praying for help?
If it be so, God.
But if not...

Do I have the kind of faith to hold on? To trust his plan?


Well in case you want to know what happened to those three guys who faced the king.. The king was pretty ticked at their reply. So he told his people to crank up the heat. He was gonna kill these guys. So the Kings people bound them up and threw the three men into the middle of this fire. (SO FIERCE)

Can you imagine how much faith that would take? Like God....... Where are you......? I'm literally five seconds away from being cast into a fire pit....

THEN the King looked up. And saw not only the three men cast into the fire pit, but a fourth. He asked his people, didn't we throw three men in there? And they said YEAH Shaderach, Meshach and Abednego.

"He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, 

walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; 

and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God!" -Daniel 3:22

And there was Christ standing in the midst of that fire with them.
Not above or outside looking in.
But literally by there side.
And they were not burnt, nor hurt in any fashion.
They were protected and saved.


I'm sure that wasn't in their plans.
You know ACTUALLY being cast into the fire pit.


The cool part is, that this applies to each and every one of us. God ACTUALLY IS answering our seemingly unanswered prayers. Even when it doesn't feel so now. Because technically, he sent his son JESUS CHRIST who suffered everything for us. Every hurt feeling, heartbreak, sickness and pain. And Christ is literally there standing in our fire pits with us. Not on the outside looking in.


In Mosiah in the Book of Mormon it talks about a group of people who felt their burdens were too great to bear. They prayed and prayed for help and had faith their God would answer them. And he did, uniquely enough he said

"...I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, 

that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, 

do visit my people in their afflictions.

...And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." -Mosiah 24:14-15

We learn in the scriptures, and ultimately in life that God doesn't just wipe out all of our problems for us. But he is always there. To help us, to strengthen us. As we have the faith to turn to him, to ask for help he will ease the burdens upon our backs and strengthen us. And this he does and we can feel through our Savior Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice for us. 


As a kid, in a circumstance against my will, I didn't get it. I was confused at where Gods hand was in that situation. I knew he had all power, so why wasn't he using it? Only now have I discovered the bigger picture.


That all will eventually be made right. 
That right now is a period of testing, of faith, 
of building strength and courage. 
Of looking up to God and saying 

I KNOW YOU ARE THERE
and if it be so, 
I need you to take this one into your own hands 
because I can't do this anymore
But if not, I'm not giving up. 
I'm going to keep going. 
Because I trust you.



So what happens when your prayers to God go seemingly unanswered?
How do you react?

"...but if not..."

S.Stucki
January 5, 2015

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

thnx for the hats todds :=)

20 year old snowflake creating CHAMP. what.

the plague

my comp has perks

ayyo im sending out the Christmas cards and etc. holla back

because #stocking

12.22.14
Christmas Post

It's like déjà vu. Last year at this exact time, I had been out in the mission field for three days.  I picked up a cold and got sick, and received some home made toffee from the Rhoton family in a package. 
IT HAPPENED AGAIN. 
Except, I'm not three days old. I'm like...a year and three days. I've picked up the plague or something. I've been hacking and coughing all over everything and have a drip line out my nose. I KNOW I'M DISGUSTING IT'S FINE.

I swear I've been crazy with the soap and hand sanitizer. There's only one of three ways I could have picked this disease up. One, because one of the kids we are teaching started licking our object lesson and I had to clean up his slobber. Two, we did service and cleaned houses for a sick family. Or three, I got locked in a bathroom stall at a Chinese restraint this week and may or may not have crawled underneath the door to get out. My companion literally thinks I'm five. But what was I supposed to do, call 911? Yeahhh....no.

A few random thoughts: Happy Birthday Makenna.  I swear I have a letter
on the way..... eventually. The Post Offices are ridiculous right now. We've been getting a lot of Christmas treats so I'm getting fat. My companion has been giving me horse pills I don't think they're safe. She did my nails (again) though and they look awesome. All these RM's are coming home and it's making me kinda trunky. I sent Christmas cards to everybody so you should be getting them soon. Please note we do actually smile. Lolz. We spent like three hours last Preparation day cutting out snowflakes.  What 20 year old does that? We're making cookies today. And buying White Elephant gifts for the District Meeting so that will be interesting. I had a dream last night that I got married #swagga y'all should make sure to send me pictures from Christmas. Who still has mullets? Dylan.. Ethan? Make sure you text Madi about Skype on Christmas!

Also, this just in, we met this lady who is "another religion" she invited us in and was like "see that? That tells me when somebody is in my house that's not supposed to be. And your not supposed to be." We were like oh that's cool. And she was like "and if that security system don't catch em, my 12 gage will."

WELL THEN LADY
Why YA gotta be so ruuuuuude. 
Dontcha know I'm human toooo
(Heard it at Taco Bell, not apostate)

We decided to make all of the people and families we've been teaching a little Christmas gift that reminds them of the "Reason for the Season", and the Gospel message. We texted a bunch of members from our Ward and one of them invited us over for some craft time and had all these supplies ready to go. We made Nativity Christmas ornaments for every one's Christmas trees!

We took a small piece of wood
Painted it black
Printed a picture from home (Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus)
Used modge podge glue to press it on the wood
Used a label maker to add a scripture to the back
Used a mini screw in the top
Tied cute candy cane string to hold onto the tree
Sand papered the edges for a vintage look
And woola. You have a Nativity Christmas ornament!

Our members are awesome for helping us out. They turned out super cute, and have been a great gift to remind people of our Savior Jesus Christ and what Christmas is all about. It goes along perfectly with the "He is the gift" initiative as well.  Which is a message we've been sharing quite frequently as of late. We wrapped them all up and wrote letters to each family and individual and began delivering them.

Late one night we showed up at one individuals home. We hadn't seen the couple in a while and so we were excited to see how they were doing. It turns out, things had been quite rough the past while. Lots of problems occurring and they specifically had a major stress issue coming up the next day. As we sat listening to them and their lives as of late, we could feel their emotion and stress and tears began to build up and take form in their eyes. Obviously I won't tell the story because of privacy and sensitivity but you can probably get a feel for what I'm aiming at. They were burdened with a load, one almost to heavy to bare.

They couldn't quite take the subject anymore and seemed to be on edge like they both just might burst.  We carefully pulled out the gift we had prepared and wrapped earlier and gave it to them to open. Really quite shy feeling like right now probably wasn't the best time for celebration and happiness when all this stress was a downpour. They took the gift and unwrapped it to find Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus on a simple Christmas ornament. And on the back it read:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 

but have everlasting life." 

John 3:16

The atmosphere of the room changed. They smiled. One of them jumped up
with haste and ran into the other room. When he came back in he handed us a magnetic car vinyl. It was a Nativity scene that read 

"Keep Christ in Christmas"

This Christmas season isn't just about gifts
It isn't about money
Toys
Traditions
Activities
Decorations

It's about something so much more. It's about something that can change our lives. Lift our burdens. Put a smile on our face in the most upsetting of times. It's about the GIFT God gave to anyone who would believe on his name. It's about our Savior who came to save us all. To save us from temptation and sin and worldly sorrow and trials and hurt and pain. To save us from the fall, to save us from death, to provide us with everlasting life if we trust in him.

We come together to celebrate the birth of our Savior this Christmas season. And what else but the face of our Savior could put a smile on the face of those in the midst of adversity and affliction when two young girls come to their door?


I was truly excited when they handed us a sign back that read
"KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS"
because this is something that continually needs to be addressed.


So two quick debatable thoughts

1. Keeping Christ in Christmas shouldn't be offensive because it is
the whole reason behind the holiday season (besides the fact that it's
the whole reason behind the possibility that we can even have joy and
redemption here and beyond our mortal existence on earth)

2. Keeping Christ in Christmas shouldn't be offensive, period.


1.
Here's the trip about the District of Columbia. It is incredibly diverse. You will find someone from every country in the world at any time, just walking down the street. Everyone has different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. It's a giant melting pot of humanity. Along with this however, we find that there
are fewer people who have a firm belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior.

This causes a bit of a rife. School systems are constantly debating whether to eliminate the talk of religion, God and Christ from within their schools, at all. Even if it's the Pledge of Allegiance. Even if it's calling Christmas break CHRISTMAS BREAK (it's "Holiday" break now, mind you) Even if it's simply putting up a Christmas tree. I recently learned even the NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE ON THE MALL has been debated over. Yes, the massive tree that's been set up outside the White House for years and years is now considered 'offensive' to some people. This is happening all around the world.  Businesses, school systems, the government all professional buildings must watch what the say, how they address and what they advertise. Even the music at work Christmas parties and on the radio will get complaints because
some people don't "Believe in Christ." Different symbolism's of Christmas become controversial because they relate back to the story of Christ. And people don't want to celebrate Christmas with religious aspect, rather, for the fun and tradition of gifts and surprises.


Hm.

That idea is seemingly out of context. Christmas began when Christ was
born. Christmas continued because he lived. Jesus Christ is Christmas.
The fact that Christmas has become a marketing solution is definitely
an error and a mistake in our society. If we take Christ out of Christmas, we have an empty holiday with no meaning.  Just lots of empty banks and pockets. Plenty of money spent. There's no reason for Christmas without celebrating our Savior.

There's no reason to take Christ out of Christmas.


2.
If an individual doesn't particularly "Believe" in Christ, why celebrate the holiday traditions? And if you celebrate the holiday traditions, why find offense in the underlying meaning behind them? I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I've never complained to the manager at the City Creek Mall for setting up a display and throne for the largely built man with a fake beard in a red suit taking pictures with children. So what?

On a different note, not comparing the Savior to Santa but rather the idea of one unbeliever of something to another... if Christians desire to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, who came here to share goodness, and happiness and peace and joy and eternal life and salvation, so what? It's a beautiful truth that promotes Goodness and Service and Joy. Our Savior is the motive behind all that is good. And besides, whatever happened to freedom of religion? And freedom of speech?

There's my controversial rant for you so I'll stop and get back to
bright and beautiful things.
{I've missed debating, sorry, this is uncouth }

Jesus Christ is the REASON for Christmas, period.

Do you ever get super stressed out when Christmas time rolls around?
And why do you get stressed out? Does it have to do with all the gift
giving? And lack of green paper in your wallet? The Christmas season
isn't meant to give you a heart attack and go bankrupt. Quite honestly
there is so much more we can be giving than anything you can find in a
store or online.

For starters, being an example of Christ. Go about doing good, give
service. Help someone in need. This week for Christmas we don't go
home as missionaries, we stay out in the field. So we are going to
this church across the street and are volunteering to help feed,
befriend and help the homeless and the needy. I'm super excited I've
never done such a thing for Christmas before.  But what better way to
show Christlike love?

It could be little things too. Write someone you love a letter. One
year for Christmas we each drew names and rather than drawing a name
of a sibling and buying them a present that would probably get broken
or unused in the next couple months.  We wrote that person a letter and
opened it on Christmas Day. It was a great way to begin Christmas. By reading a letter from someone you care about.  A letter that is personal, heartfelt and honest. That's something I won't forget, rather than a gift that would have been forgotten about after the excitement of the holidays wore
down.

Christmas is a great time to share the gospel message as well. The church made it easy as ever with this new "He is the Gift" video. Take a plate of cookies and a "He is the Gift" pass a long card to your neighbors and friends. Simple as that. And it's inspiring and beautiful and powerful as well.


Share the kinds of gifts that won't be forgotten or overlooked. The gifts of Christlike love and understanding and joy. There is nothing wrong with the holiday traditions and gifts and fun. But remember the purpose of it all. Remember that without Christ and his perfect love and without his birth and life, Christmas would be an empty holiday. Keep Christ in Christmas.


Share that message with somebody new today.

A lot of things happened this week but idk what you want to know about
and idk what readers want to know about so if you have any suggestions
HMU @ madison.stucki@myldsmail.net and I'll try to be cooler and more
informational next week.

Thanks for the Rolo cookies. I almost died and went to heaven

See u on Skype in 72 hours
Love you, bye

S. Stucki

P.S. Dads post is due on the blog in t minus 14 days. Y'all ready for this?

...who next?!
Sent from my iPad

Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight

I hope you all learned as much as I did from the last post, by Momma Stook.

I'm telling you, I have the most AMAZING MOTHER ON THE PLANET. 
She just has this way of inspiring everyone she talks to. 
I know her story and example has touched many people.  
I hope it has stood out to you also. 
If you missed last weeks post by her, click 

Mom's Post
to read up and don't forget to share, by copy and pasting the link above. 
Or click join page on the left side column.

For feedback shoot me an email at madison.stucki@myldsmail.net

I would love to hear your comments you have about past postings, hear
your stories, share inspiration or thoughts, as well as answer questions you may have about past blogs, The Plan of Salvation, The Gospel of Christ, The "Mormon" Church, Eternal families and Missionary work.  I try my best to respond to all emails and comments within eight days.

This past week was my ONE YEAR MARK of serving as a Missionary. Only six months left to go. We did lots of service this week. My companion has her nail license...like she does nails... So we went to D.'s house for Preparation day and gel polished all of our nails. It was quite fun actually. We got to meet her family and my nails look awesome. We also got a wreath to hang on our door from a member this week. Which is exciting!!! We also got Christmas lights for our apartment and started lighting up the tree and candles. Yay for Christmas. 19 days until Skype time :)

I’M SO EXCITED. 
We are going to the G. home to Skype at one o clock our time. Which means... Eleven’ish your time. 

We also had a Big Mission training this week on Charity and Love.
Maybe I will formulate it into a future Blog post because it was really
quite good and I know y'all wanna hear what the Riggs have to say
about CHARITY & love (#AMIRIGHT?)

Little Miss Sister Rossi was there! It was great to see her, can you believe she's already been out six months! (Mind. Blown.) Like remember her first day in the mission field? Remember when I trai(hazed)ned her? Whaaaat.

this must be what getting old feels like...

We went to a different church to do service this week and there was this guy there named S. who was in charge of the whole service project. Super funny guy. And he taught us all the "Santa Claus Song" for Christmas. I thought it was hilarious.  So let me virtually sing it to you....

"Ho, ho, ho, hosanna

Ha, ha, hallelujah

He, he, he, he saved me

I have the joy of The Lord,"

??
Deuces

So anyway... as of lately, giving advice to other people seems to resolve my own concerns. And bearing testimony to others, seems to strengthen myself more abundantly. Maybe this has always been the case for humanity. But this week I've felt the power behind sharing. Sharing thoughts, feelings, beliefs. Sharing a part of yourself with another, seems to take you beyond yourself and allow your own soul to expand.

We should all do it more often.

It seems lately things I've been concerned about, or maybe reluctant
to understand, have been proposed to me by others. I've seen my own
concerns in the lives of those around me.  It's interesting having
questions, or concerns arise, that seem to be exactly how you've been
feeling. It's funny, really. How God answers our prayers. Or maybe the
prayers of another. So that we may all learn together, grow together,
become together.

This past week my friend "Cary" we will call him (for privacy sake, we
won't use his real name), an older gentlemen proposed a question. Or I
suppose it may be considered more of a statement. As we were discussing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, discussing the Mormon faith and simply discussing in general, he stopped and said,

"I'm not good enough to be like you folks."

WHHHAAAAATTT?????????

He must not know very many people like me then…
LOLOL,
But really.

That phrase has been on my mind ever since! It's stuck with me. As he
formed the words “I'm not good enough“ My immediate reaction was "OF
COURSE YOU ARE!" But by the time he finished his sentence "I'm not
good enough" I heard My own voice, in My own mind, telling ME the
same exact thing.

I'm not good enough.

It was more of a flashback statement. Not necessarily a current agreement, with Cary. I feel like personally I have let that phrase define many insignificant aspects of my life. 

Like the time I wanted to try out for a school sport… 
but saw the other girls playing and thought to myself 
"I'm not good enough" 

or

when I had a crush on that boy in high school…
but he had a thing for my gorgeous friend and I thought 
"I'm not good enough" 

or 

when I wanted to get a scholarship to go to my favorite college…
but the kid sitting next to me had a 4.0 GPA and 32 ACT score 
so I convinced myself  "I'm not good enough" 

or 

even the day I met MY trainer and saw the kind of missionary she was…
and thought heeeccckkkk no. 
"I'm not good enough!"

AND THEN

..I settled.

So what? 
We settle for what is adequate? 
We become just mediocre?
Naw, girl.

Can we drop this whole I'm not good enough thing? 
And just go for it?

You have no idea how Grateful I am I let go of the "I'm not good enough" slogan and came out on a mission. Even though I continually find things I need to improve on, and people that are way more qualified for this than I am. I'm grateful I've given it a shot, stuck it out. I've learned so much, more then ever, and I've learned so much about myself as well.

I can remember countless moments in my life, countless self reflections, countless prayers where I've cried out "I'm not good enough!" "Forget it Mom, Dad, Heavenly Father, I'm done." Without regard to what anyone has to say about the matter. How silly it is to go to a parent for advice only to say NEVER MIND I’M SETTLING. I'm not good enough. And even more so, to go to your Father in Heaven in prayer, on your knees, seeking for answers, only to be closed minded, closed hearted and declare "I'm done trying!"

When Cary voiced that sentence "I'm not good enough" flashbacks throughout my lifetime popped into my head. All the times both minute and HUGELY IMPORTANT, where I have convinced myself I'm not good enough to even try.

I feel like God was just pushing the replay button on all his many recordings of me stubbornly telling him I'm done trying. For a split second talking to Cary, I felt like I was talking to myself. And I realized, for myself, I'm not done trying. I'm not inadequate. I'm not mediocre. I'm definitely not settling, and I truly am "good enough."

Let me explain.

Our God has given us a way to make it past
ADEQUATE
and
MEDIOCRE
and
Settling
and
"I'm not good enough"

Our God didn't send us here to conform to mediocracy. He most certainly didn't send us here to fail. To be tested and tried? Why yes. But to fail? Absolutely not. He set high expectations because he wants us to do good and to be good. To become someone, to become something more.

And sometimes that's a daunting task.

But our God has provided us A WAY to be good enough.

"Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how
can we know the WAY? ...Jesus saith unto him, I AM THE WAY, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -John 14:4-6

JESUS CHRIST
is the WAY
The truth
The life
And may I add
'The gift'

The Gift
{see video clip}

The Gift from God.
To provide us a WAY
To be good enough.
And eventually, even more than that.

We all make mistakes. We all mess up. Seriously, reflect on the past week and I'm sure several moments will pop into your mind of instances you wish you could redo or take back. Whether they be big or small, we are all imperfect. We all can do better. But does this mean we are not good enough? Absolutely not. We are good enough, we just have a ways to go. And there's nothing "wrong" with that. It's improvement.

THIS GOSPEL IS 
THE GOSPEL OF CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT AND PROGRESSION
(I'm pretty sure Elder Holland said this to President Riggs one time or
something anyway..)

The best part about the Gospel of Christ is there isn't this set bar that qualifies us to be "good enough" rather, the gospel of Christ is personal and tailored to each of our individual needs. What is my best and what is your best is completely different. What you struggle with and what I struggle with are completely different. My strengths and your strengths are completely different. Thus, making it illogical to set a bar of "good enough" that is the exact same. We have different bars, different categories, different strengths and weaknesses, and our God has provided us a way that is personal to each of us individually.

A Savior,

He is the gift.
He is the way the light the truth

As we turn to the Savior and rely on him to give us strength, to help us change and become, we are good enough. And better than good enough.
Because with him we are continually improving. Toward becoming a Christlike person, a true Christian, a follower of him that is perfect. That is our goal.

Will we ever reach perfection here?

Oh heavens no.
Look at me?
I'm a mess!
But I'm trying

I feel we are all in a relatively similar conundrum,
Can I get an amen?

"We labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." 2 Nephi 25:23

Do what you can,
Control what you can,
Try your best,
Give your best effort.

God knows that you are trying. He knows that you're giving it your all. He knows when you feel like you simply aren't good enough. And he's provided a way for us, when we feel like we just can't do anymore, can't press on, aren't good enough, to be lifted up by the grace of Christ and carried on.

We are here to try
Not to fail
Sometimes we slip up
Or get discouraged

But Ya know what they say..
Fall seven times
Stand up eight

Don't fall and stay fallen
Not when you have The Lord on your side!

Some of my favorite empowering scriptures are in Peter. One in particular says,

"The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that 

perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and 

honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, 

ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter 1:7-8

The trial of your faith is more precious than gold
Imagine that?

Fall seven times
Stand up eight

Try, and try again.

He's there to pick you back up
He is the gift of God to all those who love and believe in his name
Turn to HIM

"...for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall."

2 Peter 1:10

You're good enough.
Fall seven times, stand up eight.

(Love You More!)
S. Stucki
(December 8, 2014)
P.S. Who's down to read a blog post from Daddy Stook? 
Can I get a head count? ;)