Hey there guys!

Hey there guys!
So...you decided to go on a cruise...nice. Well I guess I can´t really complain, I´m living on the Costa del Sol of the Mediterranean Sea. I guess I have it pretty good :) But really, no worries, you can just send me a package to make up for it ;) But if you do use mymissionaryshipping.com okay? You would get amazing deals! But have fun! And take lots of pictures. Just remember, in Mexico they say Que Padre! To say cool. And if you don´t understand what they are saying say ¿Mande? And eat lots of mexican food for me, that´s really the one type of food that you can´t really find here. At least not good Mexican. So mom, I don´t know how I´m going to be able to keep up with you in school. You are setting an incredibly high standard. I am going to study my bum off to keep up :) So Pride and Prejudice was a success! Great! Send me some pics! And Savannah and Sophie are adorable. I am going to have to fight off all the boys with sticks when they get old enough :)
So my week here has been pretty normal. Got some good things done here in the office (ps I´ve been here for about 14 weeks and will be here for probably another 10 weeks.) It´s a different kind of missionary work. Elder Castillo said today that there are some missionaries that come out to just be a good missionary and get lots of baptisms and stuff, and there are others that come out to keep the mission functioning. That may not baptize as much but keep things steady and moving forward so others can come and baptize afterwards. I feel like I´m one of those missionaries. I haven´t had lots and lots of baptisms, I´ve had relatively few, even for Spain. But when people hear where I serve, they say, Eesh! That´s tough. But I have seen it as a blessing. I haven´t built large gorgeous buildings, but I´ve sure poured a lot of foundations :) That´s the incredible thing about the gospel, everyone plays a part. And not just an unimportant part, but a vital one. No matter what your calling is, or you position or influence, you are making changes in the lives of others. And to the Lord, every little thing matters.
So a thought for the week (kinda already gave a thought, but I´m the missionary so you have to listen anyway :) ) You know I don´t really know what to write about, so I´m just going to go with whatever pops into my head. I´m really going back and forth between a few things, but one thing that I´m thinking about right now is humility. In 1 Nefi (sorry Nephi) an angel asks Nephi if he understands the condescension of God. And Nefi goes, hmm...no, but I know that he loves us! And that he does. But it is interesting how closely related are the question and the answer. Through study we come to know that the condescension of God is the fact that Jesus Christ, the Almighty Creator of the universe, Alpha and Omega, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, would come down in the form of a weak, frail, human baby to save us. If that is not an example of love I don´t know what is. He came, knowing full well what he was to go through, yet He pressed forward with faith and hope, knowing that through his own stripes, we would be made whole. It is incredible to think that. It is also incredibly to think that we would chose to come also. I look at the trials that we face, that we are facing and I think at times, this isn´t fair! I didn´t choose this! But didn´t I? Didn´t we know full well what we would be facing? Didn´t we know full well that coming to earth wouldn´t just be a cocktail party of assorted games and pleasantries? We CHOSE to come. We knew that it would be hard. But we had faith, and trust, and HUMILITY to accept the things we knew would make us stronger. We cannot see the end of the tunnel during our trials (many times the is because we are looking down at our feet though) but when we open our eyes and try to see us as God sees us, we can understand that there is a higher purpose. And as Nephi we don´t have to understand it all, we just have to know that our Father in Heaven loves us, as does our brother Jesus Christ. I love you. I truly do. And I hope you all have a fantastic week and cruise!
With love,
Elder Charlie Flint