How's everybody doing? The MTC is going really well. Nothing special has really happened in the last week. Just more learning and stuff. It was kinda a hard week. It's hard to be able to see Woodland Hills from the campus and to know that Amaya is just a few blocks away, but it's worth it. What's the price you're willing to pay for one soul? For me, it's a lot. I've decided, from an inspired letter from Amaya and a conversation that I overheard, that the MTC has become my refiner's fire, so to speak. Amaya talked about the difference between being sanctified and purified. When you are purified it is like washing a piece of wood. You can do it an infinite amount of times, and while it helps, it is never permanent. But sanctifying yourself is like polishing that wood. When you do so it changes the wood in a way that is permanent. And although it can be chipped at my outside sources, as long as you take care of it, it will remain polished for the rest of time. But I'd like to add this. While I've been here at the MTC I have realized that life is all about progression. To become like our Father in Heaven you have to progress constantly. If you aren't progressing, you aren't at a standstill, you are actually moving backwards. So I say that polishing or sanctifying is a vital step, but you constantly have to make it even better. You can stain the wood, allowing it to become strengthened and keep that polished state in it's most perfect form. We have to do this in our own lives. After we have been sanctified and given our lives to Christ, we aren't done moving forward. We must always move forward. We must constantly remind ourselves of our purpose and how we can improve. Constant progression is vital to our salvations and our eternal lives. But anyway the MTC is my refiner's fire because at times it kinda sucks. It's hard work, I'm always tired, and the food makes everyone really gassy (supposedly they put laxatives in it). And of course I get feelings of homesickness at times and feelings that I'm not good enough. Sometimes I wonder how a punk kid like me could really make a difference and it's hard. But in the end, it will turn me into the missionary I need to become. The MTC is hard. Really hard. But the field will be just as hard or harder. It's hard being so close to you all, but it will probably be even harder being thousands of miles away from you. This experience here will refine me, it will sanctify me for the rest of my mission, and I'm so grateful for that. 
I've decided my true reason for coming on a mission finally. Before I knew I was coming so I could serve the Lord and give Him two years and all that jazz, but that's not the real reason. The real reason I came on a mission, is so I can help the lost sheep of the world come back to my Savior, just as he allowed me to come to Him. I want everyone to feel of the joy that comes from finding and using the atonement of Jesus Christ. I want people to accept my message and be baptized and all that good stuff, but if I could only do one thing while I'm out here it would to be to let one person know that they can become clean. That our Savior, Jesus Christ, wants them back. I don't need to baptize a single soul, I don't need to convert the masses, I just need to tell someone, one solitary person, that our Savior loves them, and wants to bring them back to the fold. Not only that, he wants to carry them back to the fold. The picture of Christ carrying the lamb is one of my favorites. I love the fact that he is carrying the lost lamb. He's not walking beside it, he's not pulling it by a rope, he is carrying it in His arms. He does the same thing with us. He doesn't pull us to salvation, he carries us there. All we have to do it let him. We have to humble ourselves enough to submit to Him. I heard a fantastic poem. Basically it said this, our lives cannot reach the potential they have, until we put them in our Father's hands. The poem was much better than that. Maybe you could look it up. It talks about things in your hands and the same things in other people's hands and stuff like that. Definitely worth a few minutes on Google trying to find it :) I'm so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. Because of it, I am able to repent and become clean. I was able to be clean to serve a mission free of guilt and pain. That' s one thing I always kinda worried about. I always heard that as you go into the mission field all your flaws become magnified. It's like looking at a car hood in increased light. The more light you have, the more dents you see. But through the atonement, your dents can be fixed. Your sins washed away. And now my dents are gone. And I'm so grateful for that. I could not do this with any extra baggage. Along with the 10 pounds of extra books they give us, comes the baggage of missing your life outside and the countless baggage that comes from learning Spanish. Anything more would destroy me. I'm so grateful to be clean and I intend to stay clean throughout the rest of my life. If any of you have something that is weighing you down, get rid of it. It's all up to you. You don't have to take my word for it, just try it. Just drop it and never pick it back up again. It will help you feel so much better. I testify that the atonement is real and that it is meant for every single person on this earth. I now that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true way to pure happiness and joy. I'm so excited to take that message to Spain and help anybody I can there. I love you all so much. I miss you will all my being, but this is what I'm supposed to do. I know that. I want all of you to go on missions. Mom and Dad included. It will change you for the better. I've only gotten a taste here in the MTC, but I know already of the deliciousness of serving my Lord. Follow the advice of Spencer W Kimball and Do It! I love missionary work, I love you all, and I love this gospel. Sacrafice brings forth the blessings of Heaven, I've seen that already.  
Con Amor, 
Elder Charlie Flint