2 weeks

 August 4, 2014

Hello Family,
So you´re already dreaming about me coming home! Sheesh, I still have a few months left! :) Just kidding, I suppose it is just natural. But no worries I´m working hard. As hard as I can really. It sounds like your vacation in Oregon was awesome! It is a little disappointing that you couldn´t wait one year to have me and Cassidy and Sarah there too, but whatevs :) We´ll have our own return missionary cousin party. And AJ´s not invited! Just kidding, that would be mean. I do miss the beauty of nature though. Here in Spain, and really Europe in general, the beauty is found in the creations of man. Often times inspired by God, but what I really miss is the beauty of what God has created. When I get home I´m going to take a tent and go into the mountains. No really, I just decided this. Hear ye, hear ye, all who are interested. A few weeks after I get home, I am going to plan a weekend camping trip. It will begin a Friday and end on Saturday night or very early Sunday morning (so we can still get to church). I just want to be in the mountains. I know it will be cold, freezing cold, but it´s something I want to do before my life goes absolutely insane with school and stuff. I promise I´m not trunky, I just want to inform you. There are three things I want to do when I get home. First; share some awesome stories and talking time with all of you (meaning my family :) ), Second, go to the mountain of the Lord (meaning the Temple) as quickly as possible, and third; go to the mountains of the Lord (meaning the mountains). So now you know. Plan accordingly :)
So my thought for you all this week comes from the Bishop of my ward here actually. Well it doesn´t come from him, but was inspired by his teachings. Yesterday we were in the church doing numbers (my favorite part of the week :p) and afterwards our Bishop was giving a fireside talking about works of art and the doctorine found within them. We did not plan on going, but my comp entered while we were doing numbers and I couldn´t convince him to leave afterwards. I soon understood why. Our bishop is an amazing teacher, and the things he taught, using old catholic paintings was incredible. The biggest topic was the trinity. For me that has always been a confusing subject. God the Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. They are different, but one. What? That makes no sense! They aren´t the same, but they are one. I always just stuck with the generic, they are seperate beings, but one in purpose (which is true) but I never actually understood that. I said it, I taught it, and I testified of it, but I didn´t really know what it meant. I came to understand what it really means and the simplicity of it as the Bishop taught, and more importantly as the Spirit helped me understand it. I don´t want to rob any of you of the opportunity to find your answers for yourself, so I´m not going to talk now about all the things I learned but I do invite you to investigate the subject. My purpose for bringing this all up is this. It allowed me to understand the idea that we have to come to know God to receive eternal life. "To know" in Hebrew is a much more powerful term than ours in English. In Spanish it is a little more powerful, but not nearly as powerful as the Hebrew. It is a relationship much more intimate. So intimate that at times it is used in the Bible as a euphamism for a sexual relation. To know in Hebrew is to truly understand and commune with that person. Enoch and his people walked with God, Moses spoke with him face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend. We must come to know God. And how does that relate? Well first off, who is God? I always thought of it as just the Father, but it is not so. God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, who is one Eternal God without end. We must come to know each of them, who are one. That is my challenge for each of you, and what I am working on right now. Coming to know my Father in Heaven, my elder brother Jesus Christ, and my ever faithful companion the Holy Ghost. Search the scriptures and search to find those things that can be learned, but not taught, as Pres. Packer puts it. I love you all and hope that you all have a deep love of the scriptures, I do and that love grows every day as I find the hidden treasures that lie within. Have a fantastic week!
Elder Flint





 July 28, 2014

Hello Family mia,
Sounds like you guys had a good week and are in for a great time in Oregon. I´m glad Ammon didn´t forget Spain again. Embarrassing. I´m liking the ideas about the vacations and what not when I get home. I would quite enjoy that :) I also believe that BYU does not have a spring vacation, so that is kind of a bummer, but we´ll figure things out. I hope you have a great time in Oregon and that things go really well. So about the money thing. Umm, I don´t know. I feel awkward telling you how much I want! Basically I´m just spending most of it on you guys anyway haha. So it all depends on how many souvenirs you want :) But I definitely think the best thing would be just getting stuff that I will use and that will be great. Also, if you could look into FAFSA financial aid. I´m not sure if I´m even elegible not being a high school senior, but if I need to do something to apply for it and I need to do it soon, that would be good to know. Oh and by the way, we get fed pretty often, and they always give us LOTS of food. I´m gaining weight :( But I´m hoping to hit up the gym when I get back and I´m hoping to be able to control my diet a little better when I´m making my own food. 
So these last couple of weeks I have really been able to see the hand of the Lord in the work. I am not the perfect missionary, nor am I the perfect son of my heavenly or earthly parents. I have made many mistakes and sadly, I continue to make many mistakes. My heart is in the right place and I desire to do that which is right, but the flesh is weak and many times I fall. But like Nephi I have seen many tender mercies from my Father in Heaven. It constantly amazes me how much patience and love our Father in Heaven has for us. How many times he lifts us up, brushes us off and sends us back into the ring. And not only that, but he is with us in the ring, fighting side by side so that we can return to our Father in Heaven. This last week we were stopped by some missionaries of another religion in the street (I won´t say what religion, you can imagine that on your own) and they began "teaching" (more like bashing) us. As we calmly explained our beliefs and the reasons behind them, they (quite flustered really) threw scriptures and explanations and justifications at us from every side. We did not fight, because that drives away the spirit, but kindly listened for a moment, shared our testimonies and left. But one of the things they said surprised and saddened me. They talked about how only 144,000 people will truly be saved (a false idea from Revelations) and they rest will remain on the earth. They will live with Jesus Christ, but they will not be truly exhalted. And they told me that they had no hope of being saved. They said it had been revealed to them to know that they were not one of these "chosen ones." I testified to them of the love of the Father and told them directly that He wants to save every one of his children. That there is always hope, and that he loved each of them. My words fell upon hard ears, but I felt the spirit testifying of that truth. The Lord does not pick favorites. Each of us has the same opportunity to receive all that the father has. I´m sure if it would do us any good, he would save each of us (but we must remember who´s plan that was!). But he knows the importance of our own growth and the importance of agency. Let us make our Father proud and happy. Let us do all we can to return to Him. I am not perfect, none of us are. But we can become perfected through the atoning sacrafice of our elder brother Jesus Christ and an effort on our part. I love you all and desire to be with you for eternties. Let us all strive for that gift, the gift of eternal life.
Con amor,
Elder Charlie Flint