Week 11...

We Are Children of a Loving Heavenly Father

We were singing to a Sister...I guess she didn't like it(?)

My Valentines Kiss :)

Our couch has a gross sheet over it...
so we started writing the "best lines" we get from people on it.

Thanks for writing me!

I try to write you back

Loading Reminders...

Hi Family,

So this week was greeeaaaaaaaatttttttttt.

(aka - difficult)

Monday:

I got a haircut..it was supposed to be a trim.  But she chopped a hundred years off of it so that was cool. Pictures to come soon. We are at the library today so it won't let us upload anything but you'll get pictures other ways eventually.  

Be patient, it's a virtue. We went to the DC temple with Sister Thatcher. She is a Saint. We love her. It's like a hundred stories tall I swear. It's pretty sweet though! Very updated.  The STG temple is ancient...#loveit

Tuesday:

We went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and I had to lead out:/ It was quite the experience. There is this area known for its crime rate / murder rate called G. I've heard stories about it. Nobody is allowed in there past dark and Sisters are advised not to go in at all. 
Anyways we got lost and as were driving.  
I saw this sick street name and I was like 

"Hey! look! Hood street! Lets take a picture!"

Then I was like wait a second..I've heard stories about Hood street...

Then I was like oh shoot...Sister S. we are on Hood street

*dun dun dun*

Yeah we bailed out of there purdy quick.

On Tuesday we also met with the R. family and they are so awesome. They are converts and have the coolest conversion story ever. They are so sick. The Spirit is so strong in their home.  Which is Amazing. 

They told us all about their conversion.  The wife was about to become a Preacher for a different church.  She preached about how God loves us and they were just like uhhhh no - because they were more about fire and brimstone ish. She was super upset about that...
...and then low and behold the missionaries knocked on her door and of course the first thing they say is 

We are Children of a LOVING Heavenly Father.  

She was converted Instantly. So it was pretty sweet. 
We have lots of awesome members in our ward like that.

Wednesday:

We did service at K.  house and she gave us all this spray paint because she was just gonna trash it!!! I was like dude we can paint our table. Cool eh?  That's what I think. Wednesday was a long night. Lots of drops and door slams. and crazy people. yeah enough said there.

Thursday:

We had Zone Conference which went from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon..........talk about long day it was like General Conference all in one sitting. We had to practice teach too. The Assistants to the President sat in on both of my practice teaches which was super awkward?? We had dinner at the T. house.  We talked to a lot of  'already decided' religion people.

Friday:

We weekly planned and got dropped by just about everyone! no bueno.

Saturday:

We accidentally knocked on the wrong door when we were checking on some people and we met 'S' and his family. They are from Syria. We asked if we could pray with them. They said if they could pray their way first.  So they did. The Muslim prayer thing.  I think they are Muslim. I don't even know. All I know is they pulled out rugs and started washing their feet and faces and stuff. 

It was interesting. 
They were really nice. 
It was a very interesting lesson.  
He had a hold up on Prophets because he believes only Jesus Christ and Muhammad were Prophets. It was the first time he had ever heard of Modern Prophets. 

We also stopped by our Ward Party. It was a dinner dance. So we ate dinner and bailed because it was so awkward! 

Sunday:

We had Ward council and then we went and picked up our good friend S.  
(: funniest thing ever. I guess we never mentioned church was 3 hours long. And we were staying:)

Later that night we had our little miracle! 

We stopped by a less actives house we've been trying to visit with named N. She was finally home!  We stopped and talked to her and the conversation went into Rock Climbing.  Her friend came over that was a rock climber and we showed him a Mormon message...about rock climbing. weird right? yeah. 

Well anyways come to find out he has had Mormon friends and was interested to learn more. So we talked to him about it.  He was on his way to Las Vegas to climb so he has this long flight and he said he will read the Book of Mormon on the flight. Sweet. Right? Yeah.  We thought so too. He was awesome. We are going to talk with him next week. 

That was our little tender mercy after a ridiculous week! 
Plus it was sixty degrees yesterday so that was convenient.

Also..I'm out of Oreos. It's a problem. 

I'm getting fat but I can't live without Oreos. 

Thanks for running the blog and all you do. I'm still getting some awesome emails from blogger and readers and girls getting ready to go on missions which is great!! There are a lot of girls in our Ward that go out on splits with us and are thinking about going on missions now too! Which is fantastic. I love hearing that. It is so great that we can be an example as well. 

So that's my weekly rundown. It was quite the interesting week! 

Missions are so awesome!

Sister Stucki
(email February 24, 2014)

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Don't Pass 'Em UP

I've tried this new thing called having an (incredibly) open mind......

IT IS AWESOME.

My mom is reading some weird book, but she told me the basics of it is "To have peace with yourself you must act on all impressions. If you do not act on impressions and continue throughout your day, you will not have peace of mind. Therefore you are puting yourself in a box."

Weird book right? But its true. I'm pretty sure every single person on this earth even YOU gets little impressions throughout the day. "I should do that.." "I should say hi to her.." "I should shoot him a text..." But we ignore them because they are inconvienient or we do not know what will come of it. Well, my track record has turned out great with acting on impressions! Because even if i never know what will come of it... it somehow influences my life. I feel at peace, and it gives me something more to think about.

Impression Numero Uno: Lady walks into PFPV (My Work) She asked when it got cold around here. SOO we talked about weather. I had an impression to ask her where she was from, i shook it off at first, but of course... I could hear my mom telling me YOURE PUTING YOURSELF IN A BOX. Sooo i did. Turns out shes from the glorious east coast SOUTH CAROLINA. Why on earth did she wind up in Utah??? We talked about all the amazing things to explore back east, i told her i was moving to Washington DC here in a couple months. She asked why? I told her for a mission. And for the 6787654567876545678 time i got that look of "Like james bond or...?" So i added, LDS Mission, for my church. You could see her face was a little bit puzzled. But we continued on our conversation. She was really nice and had a family. Nothing more came from my experience in talking with her about the church. But it planted a seed because guess what??? SHE KNOWS WHAT A MORMON MISSIONARY IS NOW. And she left a five dolla tip so holla.

Impression Numero Dos: Sit by the Loud Rowdy Kids in the back of Youth Meeting ;)

Yes. I was asked to speak a little bit to the youth of my ward with the Elders and my dad on sunday. The WHOLE TIME there was this couple boys sitting in the back being so obnoxious. I could hear them laughing and talking and poking at eachother and i was sitting clear in the front! Silly boys... so the next half of the meeting i decided, hey, i'll go sit next to 'em. So i did. And their faces? PRICELESS. (I hope they are reading this hahaha!) There wasn't even room for me so i pulled up a chair as close as i could and smiled at them. I continued to raise my hand and make comments every five minutes or so, because everytime i did, all eyes went to the back corner and the boys all went silent. I even got a few of them to put their phones up in the front and pay attention imagine that??!! I told them they would get something from it. I think they expected candy or something... i meant scriptural knowledge? And at the end of the lesson one of them looked at me and said... "Its blessings isnt it?" I smiled and he rolled his eyes. It was picture perfect. Gotta love them highschool boys getting blessings doncha? It was an awesome lesson. 

Afterwards, i did hold a really good conversation with a couple of them. I told them that it took me til my senior year to realize if you actually LISTEN TO YOUR SEMINARY TEACHER you will gain something. Weird right? They were amazed too. I don't know if i changed their opinion on serving a mission or even listening to seminary. But at least they know that I KNOW the church is true, and that I KNOW how much it has affected my life. Hopefully someday they will feel the same. Goes to show you can be a missionary and example even to the members of your ward! They are awesome (:

Impression Numero Tres: CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL RANCH BBY

So me and my brother... well okay let me start over. MY BROTHER talked me into taking him to CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL RANCH right before it closed last night. So, off we went. We were looking for some new 'Boots' and started talking to this kid that works there. He was a nice kid. And low and behold our topic of conversation turned into missions. I told him where i was going and etc. Said goodbye, didnt even catch his name. Well, this little experience actually turned on me. I think he was the one who had an impression he didn't pass up, and i gained immensly from it. I got a text in the middle of the night, it was from this kid. He mentioned i probably didnt know him and it may be weird that he was sending this, but he felt like he should send me these specific scriptures because they have helped him immensly within the church and in regards of serving a mission. They were right on key, exactly what i needed to hear. How cool is that?

I think what comes around goes around. Pray for experiences. And search them out throughout your day. Don't pass any up! You never know what can come from them, and you never know what you will find in return! Look at the little, simplest of experiences and blessings and apply them to your life. You will see differences in every situation. Its so cool who the Lord will bring into your life sometimes. Gods timing really is perfect. And people, they are awesome. Stay positive and love the little things.

Love you all! Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Sincerely Yours, Sister Madison Paige

Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence

"With any major decision there are cautions and considerations to make, but once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. “Cast not away therefore your confidence.” Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you."

I find it particularly interesting, the way Elder Holland explains through this article, our relationship with God, but also the adversary. I know that God knows me. He knows my strengths, he knows my weaknesses. He knows the intents of my heart. He knows my doubts and my fears. And frankly, the adversary knows as well.

This is frustrating, and at times completely.. UNFAIR. That God can provide me (or you) with this profound spiritual experience, where you just KNOW, you know who you are, what you want, where you're going. You feel absolutely sure, and so at peace with your life and your decisions. But nearly EVERYTIME, not long after these experiences, you walk right back into the everyday 'routine' of your life and the adversary begins to take his toll. He taunts you, places doubts in the back of your mind. You begin to feel like your at battle with your own self. Should I do this? Should I not? Is this really what I want? Your confidence wavers. And why? It felt so right before-


"There is a lesson in the Prophet Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision which virtually every Latter-day Saint has had occasion to experience, or one day soon will. It is the plain and very sobering truth that before great moments, certainly before great spiritual moments, there can come adversity, opposition, and darkness. Life has some of those moments for us, and occasionally they come just as we are approaching an important decision or a significant step in our lives.

In that marvelous account which we read too seldom, Joseph said he had scarcely begun his prayer when he felt a power of astonishing influence come over him. “Thick darkness,” as he described it, gathered around him and seemed bent on his utter destruction. But he exerted all his powers to call upon God to deliver him out of the power of this enemy, and as he did so a pillar of light brighter than the noonday sun descended gradually until it rested upon him. At the very moment of the light’s appearance, he found himself delivered from the destructive power which had held him bound. What then followed is the greatest epiphany since the events surrounding the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ in the meridian of time. The Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith, and the dispensation of the fullness of times had begun." (Holland)

I remember a few years back, I had the opportunity to listen to my bishop, who I am fortunate enough to call my dad, teach a discussion on this very thing. He began by talking about our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.. How they know us and love us. Then continuing to teach something that had never before occurred to me, he said "I believe it is just as important to realize the influence of the adversary, who wants to discourage us, and whose soul purpose is to make us miserable like unto himself." I think that was the first time I had ever really realized that, or put two and two together. That all thoughts of discouragement, fear, doubt and inadequacy came from him, the one figure who wants us all to be as miserable as he is.

Yeah I’ll be the first to admit, that freaks me the heck out. So there I said it.

And I’ll admit I was stunned when this all occurred to me like.. WHAT? But why? Why would a loving Heavenly Father LET this happen? If he has all power and control, if he can move mountains… why would he leave us here to be brought down and diminished by the adversary who is in opposition to everything good? And while we’re on the subject, why is there war? Why is there famine? Why do the innocent die young? Why are people unhappy? Why is there divorce? Why is there murder? Why is there pride and theft? Why is there people taking their own life’s because they believe this world is not meant for them? Why do we feel alone? There are a lot of whys, and a lot of people who believe these questions are unanswered, or simply do not believe there is a loving and caring God.

And that’s where we can apply everything, literally everything that the gospel teaches. 
Agency
The Atonement
The Plan of Happiness
Baptism
Eternal Families, Eternal Marriage
Temple Work
Covenants & Standards
Scriptures & Revelation

Our loving Heavenly Father, our God, sent us to this earth, as we AGREED before we came to be tested and to be tried. To learn and to grow, but only with the use of our AGENCY could this ever be accomplished. He set up a plan, of salvation a plan of happiness for US to return to him through the use of the Atonement, when Christ was sent to suffer for the sins of the world. We can follow his example through repentance and baptism, and by enduring to the end. By keeping and following all covenants and standards to the best of our abilities and being sealed through temple work, so we can live with our families and spouses because of the promises given to us, when we return home to that heavenly father who created us.

So there, is the gospel in a nut shell, it is a lot to take in. And that all hit me at once. But what touched me the most was the simple fact that we can all hold onto, that we are not alone. We are never alone.

“God will provide the means and power to achieve his purpose. Trust in that eternal truth. If God has told you something is right, if something is indeed true for you, He will provide the way for you to accomplish it. That is true of joining the Church or raising a family, of going on a mission, or any one of a hundred other worthy tasks in life. God’s grace is sufficient! The Lord would tell Joseph again and again that just as in days of old the children of Israel would be “led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched-out arm. … Therefore, let not your hearts faint. … Mine angels shall go up before you, and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land.”

What goodly land? Well, your goodly land. Your promised land. Your new Jerusalem. Your own little acre flowing with milk and honey. Your future. Your dreams. Your destiny. I believe that in our own individual ways, God takes us to the grove or the mountain or the temple and there shows us the wonder of what His plan is for us. We may not see it as fully as Moses or Nephi or the brother of Jared did, but we see as much as we need to see in order to know the Lord’s will for us and to know that He loves us beyond mortal comprehension. I also believe that the adversary and his pinched, calculating little minions try to oppose such experiences and then try to darken them after they happen. But that is not the way of the gospel. That is not the way of a Latter-day Saint who claims as the fundamental fact of the Restoration the spirit of revelation. Fighting through darkness and despair and pleading for the light is what opened this dispensation. It is what keeps it going, and it is what will keep you going. With Paul, I say to all of you:

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” 

“Fear ye not.” And when the second and third and fourth blows come, “fear ye not. … The Lord shall fight for you.” 16 Cast not away therefore your confidence.” (Holland)

(full article in link)
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/03/cast-not-away-therefore-your-confidence?lang=eng

Before I end this post, I just want to share my complete agreement with Elder Holland, and all of his insight shared in this article/talk. I know, now more than ever, and without a doubt that The Church of Jesus Christ is absolutely true. We are human, we have our faults and we are most definitely NOT perfect. But the gospel is perfect, and through it we may become perfect, and it is completely our choice. I am so grateful and blessed for the people in my life. The examples i have. From my parents, church leaders and friends. To the example of before prophets and leaders such as Joseph Smith. I know he restored the gospel to this earth, and i know that like him i can overcome anything that is thrown my way! And what a miracle that is in itself! I love the simplicity of the church and its teachings. It brings so much peace to my heart. I cannot wait to share it with anyone and everyone who is willing to listen and take in the happiness the gospel brings. I hope and pray that the Lord is preparing the hearts of the people that i will meet, and whether it be by fate or coincidence or an accidental occurrence, i hope the lord brings people out of their way to find missionaries who can help them along there way with the power of the spirit, and that they will find everything they are searching for.

"He whose name this church bears has promised that He will be in our midst, lead us along, go before us, and even fight our battles. He has further counseled, 'be not afraid of your enemies, for i have decreed in my heart... that i will prove hou in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy." (d&c 98:14) -Elder Neal A. Maxwell

The church is true. Love you all. I can't wait to be a full time missionary, I know, anything is possible with the lord on my side.