Puzzle pieces

Dear Emmia and Kirk,
 I love to do puzzles. My mom and I could zone out for hours in front of a 5000 piece puzzle. We do one every year for New Years. One time we did 7 (varying from 250 to 5000) I was dreaming in puzzle pieces :) Whenever I see this:

I think: Challenge accepted.

I've learned a lot of life lessons from puzzle doing.

 #1: Frame comes first!

When you start working on a puzzle always ALWAYS work on the frame first. If you don't it will take you SSOOO much longer to complete the puzzle and its pretty much chaos. You'll get more frustrations, anger, and puzzle piece throwing than enjoyment and accomplishment out of the puzzle if you get the frame done first.

In life you should start with the frame also. For me my frame is Jesus Christ, His teachings and His restored gospel and church. When I frame my life with Christ and His simple commandments my frustrations, anger and tantrum throwing are less and the enjoyment and accomplishment of my life increases.

No matter what you frame is work on it improve it make sure its a good frame and structure your life in that frame. It will make you so much happier :)

#2: Take the dark with the light.

If you look at an individual piece of a puzzle you its a mini representation of the force on Star Wars. It has a dark side and a light side. And those little individual pieces make up a whole picture of complementary light and dark.

Life has dark days and light days. and those individual days make up a whole life of complementary light and dark.

In the Missionary Training Center one of our teachers Bailee then Brinkerhoff now Morris, pointed this picture out to us that was on the classroom wall.

She pointed out that if it wasn't for the dark places the focus point (where Joseph Smith is) wouldn't even be the focus. The painting wouldn't have focus. She related that to our missions that if we made this painting into a puzzle and each piece was a day of our mission then one day might be filled with dark: everything going wrong, nothing going right, bad hair day and you just want to kneel down in fetal position and cry. But some days would be filled with light: smiling like the barbie at the end of Toy Story 2 but you don't ever want to stop. and most days will have both but they all come together to make an epic picture; a picture of a mission that you will be proud of. I've realized that's not just an analogy for my mission but for my life.

2 Nephi 2: 11

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility."

#3: Follow the blueprint.

Doing a puzzle without a picture of the end product its harder to complete just like life! If you don't have something for reference you lose the way and even motivation to finish.

One time my mom and I couldn't find the reference picture to a puzzle. (puzzles usually come with them) We had lost it and when we didn't have it the puzzle slowed down. We actually stopped working on it for about a week before we finally found the reference picture in the depths of the couch.

If I don't have a reference picture or blueprint for my life I can lose my way and sometimes lose motivation to continue. In Junior High I had lost the blueprint of my life. I wasn't building my life at all on any blueprint. I was lost and I wasn't happy. But as soon as I found a  blueprint to follow in my life I could move forward to building my life and put together all the small things because I have the big picture.

#4: Life is a puzzle.

    Sometimes when working on a puzzle you lose a piece or you think a piece should go where you think it goes. . . but it doesn't.

Sometimes when going through life I lose things: people, things, places, etc. or I have a plan for my life and I'm positive it will go the way I want it . . . but it doesn't. Which is probably a good thing. With God's plan for my life I can focus on fitting in the pieces. God has already made the puzzle; designed it, created it and worked it all out. All I have to do is put it together.


#5: Cherish the small things.

My mom and I whenever we got a piece of the puzzle in we would do a high five or pound it. Sometimes a mix of both (hahaha:)

That taught me to cherish the small accomplishments. You got out of bed this morning? WOOOHOOO!!! congratulations:) Those small little moments make up a whole day. that small little day makes up a whole life and that life is a puzzle that when completed can be a gift to my Heavenly Father.

1 Nephi 21:16

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

My life and puzzle is in His hands. He has given me everything I need. There are so many more lessons I have gained from the life time of doing puzzles but I hope you can take this pieces and apply them to your life puzzle.

Love,
   Ryn