No such thing as bad things

We are all human, and here, or there, but living...that thing we call life right? Sometimes it's good and sometimes not so much. All depending on how we see the circumstances before us. Lets be honest. Some pretty terrible things can happen, or may have already. Maybe you've been through the worst of the worst. there are lots of bad things that happen to people, i know that you know that. I've seen it, you've seen it. Whether on the news, in the paper, in real life, or just heard from a friend of a friend. Some argue why. Why do bad things happen? Especially to good people. Not saying we don't care about the bad people! But hey, you blow up the two tallest towers in the the most industrial city in all of America....i wouldn't exactly say good things were coming for ya. So anyway. Good people. Why do they suffer sometimes. Well i don't have that exact answer. I don't think you'll find anybody who does. At least not here on earth. You know where you could find out though...maybe? Through your father in heaven, and through the relationship you have with the savior. It is hard sometimes...because we want to know so badly "why". But really...it isn't even necessary for us to know. We already know enough. We know that he lives, that he loves us, that he has a plan for us..individually, and as long as we are faithful and true to the commandments and what we know to be right, that plan will surely not fail. I mean, yeah...we might have this big idea of how we see our lives, where we see ourselves going, all the things we want to accomplish, the people we want to meet, and things we want to see. We have a plan for ourselves, at least i would think so. But let me ask you something...Who's plan is better? Despite what you may think when devastation or trial strikes you,

("And also my soul delighteth in the ^acovenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers; yea, my soul delighteth in his^bgrace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan" 2 Nephi 11:5) 

The timing might be wrong, the situation/event might be life changing...but it is apart of HIS plan, for YOU. Trust in that. And know that God wont throw something at you that you aren't capable of handling. He is cheering for you. He is your number one fan. He wants nothing more than for you to succeed and be strong, enduring what may come your way, so that one day you are worthy to stand in his presence...knowing you have been through the ups and the downs, knowing you have endured willingly, knowing that you have took upon you the redeeming/healing power of the atonement, and created that personal relationship with christ.

Think about this. trial and affliction is hard. So hard that it breaks you down, physically, emotionally, and spiritually unlike anything else. It brings out vulnerability and weakness. But you take that vulnerability and weakness and you turn to the savior...who once was so vulnerable, so weak, experiencing more pain and sorrow than mankind would ever know. 

I know i talk about this quite often, and it really is silly probably to most and when you look at the big picture. But there has never been a time when i felt so lonely and so helpless than when i found out my high school basketball and softball career were over due to an ACL tear. At that moment I was so distraught because that was something that had been such a huge part of my life. And just like that it was gone. Not just the game itself, but the teammates, the coaches, those relationships, the feelings that those sports brought out, the competitiveness  the happiness. It was over. I had never cried so hard, for so long. I just remember laying in my bed crying, after my mom and dad had done and said everything they possibly could have to make me feel better, and thinking no one knows how i feel. HELLO AUTUMN. was i stupid? It took me a few moments to realize how terribly wrong i had been. How dare i think such a thing. How could i be so selfish? So blind. How could i be feeling so sorry for myself when christ had undergone my exact experience and every physical/emotional/mental/spiritual pain known to mankind. it is so hard to even try and comprehend. I will never understand the entirety of it. But i do understand that he knew how i felt. I was not alone. And for a tiny minuscule fraction, i knew how he felt. I  could not comprehend how he did it. But i knew if he could go through that, out of pure love for his brothers and sisters. I could get through my little trial out of pure love for my savior. I learned to see the atonement in a whole new light. It wasn't just for repentance and the chance to be forgiven for sin. It was for comfort and strength through things that cannot be gone through alone. 

Now think how strong you are for having those experiences. Think how far your testimony has come or may still have to go because of that. Think about the relationship you have or could potentially have with the savior if you lean on him and his example. I know him better, because of that bad thing that happened to me. I know my plan is better, because of that bad thing that happened to me. I know i am better, because of that bad thing that happened to me. 

Bad things are bad, until you find the good that can come from them. Bad things are bad, until you realize that the Lords plan for you, can never be bad. 

One Last Huzzah

video link: https://vimeo.com/69478979


holy smokes. did that really happen? did our parents really let us road trip to california BY OURSELVES?? yes. it happened. and it was SO wonderful. Me, Callie, Sydnee, and Macey had quite the time in the ol CA. Just thinking about it makes me laugh, so many funny things. Wednesday we got up and drove there real early, not to mention we would've been on the road much earlier had sydnee not slept through her alarm and had we not had to go throw literal rocks at her literal window. yeah, that happened. i mean, it wasn't all that romantic, but it'll do. We just jammed the entire 6 hours or so. we went straight to the beach and oh was it ever so lovely. we spent the whole day there, even the night. we watched the most perfect sunset from the pier and then chilled on one of the lifeguard posts in the misty air right up next to the tide, and just took it all in. There is just something about the ocean and your best friends all in the same place together, that is perfect. We hit up the manhattan beach creamery several times. it was fine, really. We went to six flags one day. oh my. what a day to say the least. 3 RIDES. 8 HOURS AND 3 RIDES. so lets do the math on that one. hmm...we averaged about one ride every 2 and 1/2 hours...not even. the lines were insane, and not to mention it was one hundo outside with like 300% humidity. so as you can imagine, all we did was complain the entire day about how hot, how tired, and how pissed off we were. it was so funny. so so funny. 3 RIDES. the people around us in the lines were probably so annoyed with us, because we were acting ridiculous. HAHAHAHAAH im just sitting here dying because, well...i guess you just had to be there. i wont even say anything about the food part...cause that is a whole other story. BUT it was fun, i mean the 3 rides we rode were way sick. it was REALLY hard to pick our top three. so then, naturally, we had to redeem ourselves of the "awesome" day we had...so naturally we went to the ocean at night, and naturally we got in, "naturally" i don't know if you are catching my drift or not, but it was a thrill to say the least. plus it was on my bucket list. SO CHECK. Friday we just spent the entire day at the beach, played soccer, volleyball, boogie boarded, watched some highly attractive surfers do there thing, we body surfed and laid out. oh and how could i forget the part where i lose my phone. so im just out there in the water recording my friends ya know, then all of a sudden out of nowhere i get WORKED by an unexpected wave. it was one of those ones that just thrashes you every which way right? so yeah, as you can imagine my phone gets launched from my hand and all he*k broke loose. not really but kinda. i started to freak the freak. we looked for it for a solid 30 minutes when we realized there was absolutely no way we were going to find the dang thing. but HEY! it was in a waterproof case, so thats good. (i secretly kept searching for it the whole rest of the trip hoping that some miracle would happen) we went shopping and to a movie that night, which was definitely a blast. So then saturday rolls around, which was callies 18th birthday. HOLLA ATCHA GURL. so operation 'find callie a birthday kiss' was in action the entire day. with absolutely no luck at all. it was a failure. but we tried. we really did. sorry callie. maybe next year!;) we went to this way sweet place for her birthday dinner, she scored a free meal which is wayyyyy better than a birthday kiss if you ask me. am i right or am i right? sunday we went to church and headed back home. it was really sad actually, we didnt want to leave. We were just starting to feel like we were real life californians...hahahahaha...i dont think any of us washed our hair once. which is the best. anyway, we made some dang good memories, and i love my friends. it was a great time to say the least.