Hello my wonderful family!
How is everyone? I haven't gotten your huge letter yet so I haven't heard anything about Thanksgiving but I hope it was full of happiness and joy :) Thanksgiving here was pretty great as well. The food was not quite the level I'm used to with the fam, but what do you do? The best part was definitely being able to hear Elder Holland speak. He came to our devotional in the morning and talked to us about all the things he's grateful for. It was amazing. One of my favorite things he talked about is being grateful for being alive at this time. This time on the Earth is so exciting. We have so much at our fingertips. We are so blessed for all we have. Even the poorest among us have much more than the normal inhabitants of this earth in the past. And the question he posed along with this is why? Why are we so blessed to live in this time. A time where the world and everything in it is growing so fast. A time where the church is growing at a rate that no one could have ever imagined. Why us? Why now? He actually didn't give a direct answer to that question, and neither will I. It just something that I think we should all think about and be grateful for. One thing Elder Holland did mention that I will mention too because it was amazing, is about prophets of old. Every single prophet that has ever lived knew they were going to lose. Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Moroni, Nephi, even Jesus Christ. All knew that in their lives, they would not see a organized church that would last. That seemingly all they did would be for nothing. They were Prophets of captivity, martyrs for their cause, and yet they knew that during their space of time, they would not win. So why did they do it? Why did they continue forward? It was because of us. They saw our day and knew, even though we won't see it happen, someone, somewhere along the line will win. Our dispensation has that ability, we will win. The church will not be destroyed. We will be able to help all the people we need. The Prophets continued onward for us. They knew we would need their words someday. They suffered things beyond our comprehension. Many were captive for much of their lives, Peter was crucified upside down, Alma and Amulek watched as evil men burnt women and children to death, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, sacrificed his life and suffered everything for us. So what are we going to do with that sacrifice? What are we going to do to win, to make it worth it? We cannot sit back and relax in this world where we have all the comforts of life. We cannot be apathetic and say, I'll do that later, I'll help them later. WE MUST ACT NOW. We cannot disregard their sacrifice. If we do, condemnation will be upon us. I'm here because I am supposed to act. That's what I'm striving to do. Whenever I hear a devotional I think, that was great, now what can I do with it. This gospel is a gospel of action. We must do what our Father asks of us, and when we do so, we will be blessed beyond measure. 
I am so grateful for this gospel. I am so grateful for the knowledge we have. To know that we are not alone. That we are never alone. Our Father knows each one of us exactly. He knows each of our names. I know that because I have heard Him call me in my heart and in my mind. And I know all of you can experience the same thing. He will never leave us. Nor will our Savior leave us. I truly marvel that my older brother suffered so much for me. I cannot describe my feelings for the atonement and I never will be able to. But I know that I must do more than just be grateful for it. I must share it. His atonement was for every one of us. He suffered every single thing that we have ever suffered. I often have thought to myself, how many drops of blood were shed for me? What kind of pain did I cause Him to experience? I wish with all my heart that I could say that I didn't, but that would be a lie. He suffered so much for me, for my stupidity, for my sin, and I wish with all my being that I could take it back. It makes me sick to know how much I could have prevented, how much needless suffering he did for me. But I cannot let that be my focus. He suffered so that I could be whole. He suffered so that I could come back to live with him. Elder Holland's 15 year old grandson bore his testimony in our meeting and he said, "I think Jesus suffered the atonement because he knew it would be pretty lonely in heaven without His family." I couldn't agree more. He wanted to do this. It was his choice. He could have said no, he could have stopped it. But he didn't. He submitted to the will of the Father and He did it. And not only did he do it, but he did it completely alone. That is how it had to be, he had to be alone. But He has been alone for too long. It is our time to step into the olive press with Him. We must do His work, we must try all we can to ease his burden. We need to spread the word. There is a Balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, there is a Balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul. We must bring that message, that Balm of Gilead, to the world. I exhort that every one of you does this. Find that Balm for yourself, and after you have done so, share it with others. I love this work. It is truly the work of God. I love you all so much. Please continue to strive to live the best you can. To be clean from sin. Therein lies the greatest joy. 
Con Amor, 
Elder Flint