Hello family!
So it´s kinda weird writing you when in just a couple of days we will be talking face to face, but no biggie, I´ll write anyway. I loved the picture of Peter Pan! It looks like it was super fun. And Ammon, don´t sweat the smaller role, just remember that´s it´s just your junior year. Next year you´ll be leading man in all the shows. And I´ll be there to see them. Weird. But I suppose that´s life. So to father´s request, I´m going to tell you about a normal day. I get up at 7 like normal, and from that point until about 9:30 everything is normal missionary. Getting ready, personal study. Then we head into the office. I have enough work that I could be in here all day every day and never get it all done. Organizing of files, different projects that I would like to do and always the constant phone calls from all the missionaries asking for money and help. But it´s fun. The normal things I do are to pay for the utilities of the 90 apartments we own and refund some money to missionaries and journal. Not sure if you all know what journaling is, but is basically just the technical accounting away to know where all our money is going. I have to journal everything. Every single cent that goes or comes into the mission, I know about. Kinda fun. But sometimes not really at all :) Lots of work though. From that point onward, it all depends in the day. Some days we eat a small lunch in the office and continue working until like 5 or 6 other days we eat at 4ish and other days we just forget to eat all together. We usually try to get some proselyting time in, and usually we get a few visits, but sometimes we are here in the office all day. Those are the long days. We also try to be done with everything on the normal schedule. At about 10 we finish and by 11 we´re in bed. Usually we´re pretty good with that, but sometimes things happen and we are up later. During transfers I hear they are often up until almost 2 in the morning getting everything figured out. But we´ll see how much truth there is in that when we get to a transfer. But that´s my life right now. We work hard, but on pdays we play hard too. Today we went bowling, which was a lot of fun, and you know all about the monkeys, so that is fun too. Sadly I believe I would be arrested and thrown into a British rocky island prison if I stole one of their monkeys. But we´ll just buy one when we get home :) Oh and the monkeys bite. They bit my comp actually. Kinda funny. So I hope you have a wonderful next couple of days and I´m super super excited to talk to you all. Keep up all the good work with all you are doing there (basketball, drama, physiology).
Love you lots,
Elder Flint
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
life in the office
Hello my family,
Sounds like you guys had an awesome missionary type week. One of my favorite parts of the mission is being able to see people make that first sacred covenant with the Lord. It´s such a joyous occasion and the spirit always testifies strongly of the goodness of the step they are taking. Super awesome! Thank you for sending the package, I´m excited to get it :) And thanks for taking care of the international driver´s permit, I´m really anxious to drive! I´ve missed it a lot. And driving here is a little crazy at times, but I´m a good driver ;) And we just got a brand new car here and I´m itching to take it for a spin. But in a completely safe way :) So to answer a few questions. Do I think I´m going to Morocco. Honest answer is, not likely. The area has been closed for over a year and it´s still a little dangerous for Americans to go there after that stupid Muhammad movie that guy made. But it would be really funny and kinda ironic if I did. I remember president Deere telling me ever since I got called to Valdepeñas that I´d get the chance to serve in a bigger ward. Still haven´t :) Valdepeñas: branch of about 25, Badajoz: branch of about 50, Mijas International: branch of about 20...I guess we´ll see what comes next :) But I love branches, I just love missionary work. It´s hard at points and at points I beat myself up because I don´t feel like I´m doing my best, but I know that I´m trying and that it´s just that dumb Satan guy that tries to convince me otherwise. So let me tell you about our schedule here in the office. We try to get out and teach whenever we can. The last few weeks have been really crazy because we received new missionaries and stuff so we hardly had any time to do anything other than be in the office figuring things out. But this is the normal (new) schedule for us. We get up like normal (most days. I´ll explain later) and have a normal morning up until about 10 o clock. Then we head into the office and work up until about 1ish. Then we take a little lunch (in the office) and continue working until 5ish. At that point we go to our piso to eat dinner (it´s super weird because we´re now on kinda an American schedule) and at 6:30-7ish we are working until the end of the night. Now that is our schedule, but there are times where it just doesn´t work out. There are times where we are in the office finishing things up to the early hours of the morning. From what I´ve heard there have been weeks where the Elders have had to be here until 2 in the morning to get things done before transfers. With 229 missionaries that are traveling all of the southern half of Spain, things get crazy. So when that happens they are usually commanded by the mission nurse to sleep in a little. Obviously they are getting the same amount of sleep as the other missionaries, just at a later time, but it´s super different. But we are just normal missionaries with a lot of responsibility :) Kinda crazy how much actually. But it´s interesting. It´s hard at moments, because it doesn´t feel like missionary work, but then you remember how absolutely vital it is that you are doing this so that everyone else can get their work done. Our main purpose is to save other missionaries proselyting time, and that allows us to fulfill our other purpose of bringing others unto Christ. And honestly there are many moments where I really love the office. It allows me to serve others all day every day, and even though there are moments of very high stress, it´s really nice to know that you are helping.
So you wanted to hear a little more about the obra de teatro. I´m not sure what else to tell you. Have you ever seen ¨My Turn on Earth¨. Because it was based off that. It was a grandmother reading a story to her grandchildren and then the rest of the people act it out. We used some of the songs from the musical but basically changed the whole thing. You remember that one church video we had with the kids and the worm and the bird that all sang primary songs? And there was the kid with cookies or something like that? Well some of the songs that are in that video are in the play too. Like "Once Upon a Time," and "Everybody Ought to Have a Body." But we had to translate it all and then I had to choreograph, direct and music direct it all! But luckily I had a co-director who was awesome! But that´s basically it.
So didn´t get much of a chance to tell you about my week, but it really wasn´t that interesting. We did explore an old abandoned castle type thing, which was pretty fun, but that´s about it. Other than that, just normal office/missionary work. But things are going great. Thanks for everything and keep me posted with details about everything. I want to see more pictures of Peter Pan when you can get them off facebook or whatever (who´s doing the photos now that Amy Paulson is gone?).
Love you all!
Elder Charlie Flint
Sounds like you guys had an awesome missionary type week. One of my favorite parts of the mission is being able to see people make that first sacred covenant with the Lord. It´s such a joyous occasion and the spirit always testifies strongly of the goodness of the step they are taking. Super awesome! Thank you for sending the package, I´m excited to get it :) And thanks for taking care of the international driver´s permit, I´m really anxious to drive! I´ve missed it a lot. And driving here is a little crazy at times, but I´m a good driver ;) And we just got a brand new car here and I´m itching to take it for a spin. But in a completely safe way :) So to answer a few questions. Do I think I´m going to Morocco. Honest answer is, not likely. The area has been closed for over a year and it´s still a little dangerous for Americans to go there after that stupid Muhammad movie that guy made. But it would be really funny and kinda ironic if I did. I remember president Deere telling me ever since I got called to Valdepeñas that I´d get the chance to serve in a bigger ward. Still haven´t :) Valdepeñas: branch of about 25, Badajoz: branch of about 50, Mijas International: branch of about 20...I guess we´ll see what comes next :) But I love branches, I just love missionary work. It´s hard at points and at points I beat myself up because I don´t feel like I´m doing my best, but I know that I´m trying and that it´s just that dumb Satan guy that tries to convince me otherwise. So let me tell you about our schedule here in the office. We try to get out and teach whenever we can. The last few weeks have been really crazy because we received new missionaries and stuff so we hardly had any time to do anything other than be in the office figuring things out. But this is the normal (new) schedule for us. We get up like normal (most days. I´ll explain later) and have a normal morning up until about 10 o clock. Then we head into the office and work up until about 1ish. Then we take a little lunch (in the office) and continue working until 5ish. At that point we go to our piso to eat dinner (it´s super weird because we´re now on kinda an American schedule) and at 6:30-7ish we are working until the end of the night. Now that is our schedule, but there are times where it just doesn´t work out. There are times where we are in the office finishing things up to the early hours of the morning. From what I´ve heard there have been weeks where the Elders have had to be here until 2 in the morning to get things done before transfers. With 229 missionaries that are traveling all of the southern half of Spain, things get crazy. So when that happens they are usually commanded by the mission nurse to sleep in a little. Obviously they are getting the same amount of sleep as the other missionaries, just at a later time, but it´s super different. But we are just normal missionaries with a lot of responsibility :) Kinda crazy how much actually. But it´s interesting. It´s hard at moments, because it doesn´t feel like missionary work, but then you remember how absolutely vital it is that you are doing this so that everyone else can get their work done. Our main purpose is to save other missionaries proselyting time, and that allows us to fulfill our other purpose of bringing others unto Christ. And honestly there are many moments where I really love the office. It allows me to serve others all day every day, and even though there are moments of very high stress, it´s really nice to know that you are helping.
So you wanted to hear a little more about the obra de teatro. I´m not sure what else to tell you. Have you ever seen ¨My Turn on Earth¨. Because it was based off that. It was a grandmother reading a story to her grandchildren and then the rest of the people act it out. We used some of the songs from the musical but basically changed the whole thing. You remember that one church video we had with the kids and the worm and the bird that all sang primary songs? And there was the kid with cookies or something like that? Well some of the songs that are in that video are in the play too. Like "Once Upon a Time," and "Everybody Ought to Have a Body." But we had to translate it all and then I had to choreograph, direct and music direct it all! But luckily I had a co-director who was awesome! But that´s basically it.
So didn´t get much of a chance to tell you about my week, but it really wasn´t that interesting. We did explore an old abandoned castle type thing, which was pretty fun, but that´s about it. Other than that, just normal office/missionary work. But things are going great. Thanks for everything and keep me posted with details about everything. I want to see more pictures of Peter Pan when you can get them off facebook or whatever (who´s doing the photos now that Amy Paulson is gone?).
Love you all!
Elder Charlie Flint
Monday, December 2, 2013
Gibraltar pics
Picture 2: Baby monkey!
Picture 3: Monkey on my head!
aloha!
ALOOOOOHAAAAAAA!!!!
Not sure why I said that, but maybe it´s because I´m on the coast now and see the ocean quite often. So let me tell you all a little about my week. So first thing. I was pretty sure I was going to be moved. I had been with my comp for two transfers (which is usually the max) and I just felt like a change was coming. It was. So president usually calls on Friday or Saturday. Most of my calls have come late Friday or on Saturday at any time. So on Thursday night, my comp looses the cell phone. So I´m like a little stressed that the call would come and we wouldn´t have the phone, but not too bad because usually he calls later. Or so I thought. Friday we are looking desperately for our cell phone and call the Hermanas from the church. They tell us that president had called at 8oclock that morning. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!. So we eventually find out where our phone is, but aren´t able to get to it until 4 that afternoon. Eventually we get in contact with president and he tells me that I´m going to be the new financiero (a huge responsibility) AND that I was going to be leaving the next day right after the musical. Woah. That´s pretty intense stuff. So I a nut shell this is what happened. Saturday morning, we had a baptism with Mané. It went smoothly and we had not problems with anything. He got baptized and I was able to see as the spirit worked within him and allowed him to feel the purity and love of his Father in Heaven. Later that afternoon we had a musical. The chapel was full (it´s not a very big chapel, but we were still excited for it). Lots of investigators came and things with the actual play went great. It was short, but a lot of fun. I basically directed, musical directed and choreographed the whole thing (well choreographed half). It was intense. But a lot of fun, and a good learning experience. The hard part came after the play. I hadn´t told anyone I was leaving. So I said afterwards to all the "good jobs" and stuff like that, hey, I´m leaving, can you sign my journal? They weren´t too happy. But that´s life I suppose. I only had about 24 hours notice and I didn´t want it to affect the play at all, so I kept quiet. But I think they probably got over it. It´s hard to leave an area, especially when everything in front of you is hard to see and a little menacing (meaning the office) but we made it through. We also had the chance to talk with Elder Ruiz de Mendoza, an area seventy. He told me something that I really liked. He talked about joy. He talked about what joy is and how we can use it or feel it. Basically what he said was that joy is more than happiness. Joy is something we can feel even through tears, pain, grief, and in the middle of whatever trials we are passing through. Sure we might not be happy about the situation, but we can still have joy. Because joy comes from a knowledge of what is up ahead. And what is ahead? Eternity. Eternity as a family, eternity with our Father in Heaven. So as long as we are doing what is correct, no matter what happens, we can feel joy. And right now I feel it. The mission has allowed me to feel joy. Even in the moments where I am not happy, and they do happen, I still feel joy. And sure there are even times where I loose that joy, but those are the moments that I need to change what I´m doing. Sin is the only killer of joy, and the way to fix joy is to repent. I love repentance. So much that I use it every day :) We all need it, and the fact that it is available to all of use is amazing. So keep on repenting, I´m right there with you all! I love you all so much and hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I sure did! We had a turkey dinner with all the missionaries in the Málaga and Granada zones and then we played football with our mission president. The highlight of the game was a trick play by president Deere. He was the quarterback and after snapping the ball he handed it off to his 17 year old daughter Annie and shouted, " DON´T TOUCH HER!!" So we didn´t :) And she ran into the end zone for a touchdown. Super funny. But things are great. Oh I have one more request for the Christmas package, if it is not yet sent. You know those "That was easy," Staples buttons? Well you can buy them at Staples and for some reason I really want one for my desk here in the office. Add some comic relief for the long hard days. Thanks for everything and send me some pics of Peter Pan! And the baptism!
Love ya,
Elder Charlie Flint
Not sure why I said that, but maybe it´s because I´m on the coast now and see the ocean quite often. So let me tell you all a little about my week. So first thing. I was pretty sure I was going to be moved. I had been with my comp for two transfers (which is usually the max) and I just felt like a change was coming. It was. So president usually calls on Friday or Saturday. Most of my calls have come late Friday or on Saturday at any time. So on Thursday night, my comp looses the cell phone. So I´m like a little stressed that the call would come and we wouldn´t have the phone, but not too bad because usually he calls later. Or so I thought. Friday we are looking desperately for our cell phone and call the Hermanas from the church. They tell us that president had called at 8oclock that morning. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!. So we eventually find out where our phone is, but aren´t able to get to it until 4 that afternoon. Eventually we get in contact with president and he tells me that I´m going to be the new financiero (a huge responsibility) AND that I was going to be leaving the next day right after the musical. Woah. That´s pretty intense stuff. So I a nut shell this is what happened. Saturday morning, we had a baptism with Mané. It went smoothly and we had not problems with anything. He got baptized and I was able to see as the spirit worked within him and allowed him to feel the purity and love of his Father in Heaven. Later that afternoon we had a musical. The chapel was full (it´s not a very big chapel, but we were still excited for it). Lots of investigators came and things with the actual play went great. It was short, but a lot of fun. I basically directed, musical directed and choreographed the whole thing (well choreographed half). It was intense. But a lot of fun, and a good learning experience. The hard part came after the play. I hadn´t told anyone I was leaving. So I said afterwards to all the "good jobs" and stuff like that, hey, I´m leaving, can you sign my journal? They weren´t too happy. But that´s life I suppose. I only had about 24 hours notice and I didn´t want it to affect the play at all, so I kept quiet. But I think they probably got over it. It´s hard to leave an area, especially when everything in front of you is hard to see and a little menacing (meaning the office) but we made it through. We also had the chance to talk with Elder Ruiz de Mendoza, an area seventy. He told me something that I really liked. He talked about joy. He talked about what joy is and how we can use it or feel it. Basically what he said was that joy is more than happiness. Joy is something we can feel even through tears, pain, grief, and in the middle of whatever trials we are passing through. Sure we might not be happy about the situation, but we can still have joy. Because joy comes from a knowledge of what is up ahead. And what is ahead? Eternity. Eternity as a family, eternity with our Father in Heaven. So as long as we are doing what is correct, no matter what happens, we can feel joy. And right now I feel it. The mission has allowed me to feel joy. Even in the moments where I am not happy, and they do happen, I still feel joy. And sure there are even times where I loose that joy, but those are the moments that I need to change what I´m doing. Sin is the only killer of joy, and the way to fix joy is to repent. I love repentance. So much that I use it every day :) We all need it, and the fact that it is available to all of use is amazing. So keep on repenting, I´m right there with you all! I love you all so much and hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I sure did! We had a turkey dinner with all the missionaries in the Málaga and Granada zones and then we played football with our mission president. The highlight of the game was a trick play by president Deere. He was the quarterback and after snapping the ball he handed it off to his 17 year old daughter Annie and shouted, " DON´T TOUCH HER!!" So we didn´t :) And she ran into the end zone for a touchdown. Super funny. But things are great. Oh I have one more request for the Christmas package, if it is not yet sent. You know those "That was easy," Staples buttons? Well you can buy them at Staples and for some reason I really want one for my desk here in the office. Add some comic relief for the long hard days. Thanks for everything and send me some pics of Peter Pan! And the baptism!
Love ya,
Elder Charlie Flint
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