Iokwe from OK! Oops!

Iokwe!

Update from Tulsa! It's pretty nice up here. I've been enjoying it a lot, actually. The area mostly involves biking, which is a nice change from our last area. Elder Ellermeier is my new companion and he is so great. He's super nice and so willing to do anything for you. He's also pretty smart and a good elder. I'm happy to be with him. 

This week I hit my physical limit. It was the day after transfers and I had recently lost a lot of sleep and was running pretty low on energy. I thought I was doing okay while we were biking to someone's home, but I suddenly started getting light headed and losing my senses and ended up nearly passing out. It was at that point I realized that I was low on sleep and had no gloves on biking in the cold and hadn't really had much to drink recently either (*sheepish emoji*). Haha, oops. We made it back to the apartment okay, but that was my incident for the week. Lesson learned (probably). 

I've got to get running to respond to a bunch of other emails, but I want to let you know that I know for myself that God really loves us. He doesn't ask us to do things or to sacrifice or obey commandments because we are to earn His love or merit blessings. He loves us and that is why He asks us to change, be more, and follow guidelines on how we live. It is the means to bless us, not the price we are to pay to get something down the line.

I'm so grateful for this knowledge! I invite you to follow what God has asked you to do, not because it's required, but to trust that He loves you and that He will bless you through what He asks. 

Have a great week doing that! Love you all!

Elder Josh Kilmer
Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Mission, English-Marshallese speaking
不動心
Fudoshin:  immovable spirit

Iokwe from OK! Transfers!

Iokwe!

This may be the last I really get to claim "iokwe" as part of my mission! Transfers are coming this Wednesday and I am heading to Owasso, near Tulsa! I've only got one and a half-ish transfers left (transfers are 6 weeks), so this may be the end of my Marshallese work on my mission. I've only been out to Tulsa once for a meeting, so I'm not sure what it will be like (but they do have a Sprouts!!! Thank goodness....). I also don't really know much about the area itself or the missionaries I'll be serving around. It's out of the Stillwater area, which is where I've spent all but 3 months of my mission! 

The Marshallese areas have Elder Lazarus, Elder Springer, Elder Watterson, and Elder Magleby. Elder Springer is pretty new - he came a few weeks ago. They'll do great up there and I'm excited for them. 

Elder Leavitt is staying in the Guthrie 1st area and he'll be joined by Elder Theurer, whom we both know. I'm excited for them.

I'll have to give you more updates when I get up there and have some information to give you. At the moment, I want to say thank you for all of the comments you've all given recently - they've been really uplifting. I have experienced a lot of growth this last while (I know that due to the growing pains). It's not been easy, partially because of the pain of leaving comfort zones and pushing limits, but also because I've moved on to new areas on my journey that I didn't expect to be in. It's as if the path has opened up to a view of an entirely different direction that it curves in that I had not expected on my hike upwards. I'm not always sure where to go. But one thing I am loving is my ever-increasing testimony of the Savior. I have not known Christ the same way as I am learning to. My understanding of who He is, but also why He is important and has value in my life, and why I am happiest as I turn to Him and rely on Him has broadened and deepened past what I thought was really important or could help me. 

I will be continuing to seek for greater light that comes from Him as I study His life and His words, both from the past and in the present. I believe ever more that He lives and loves us. He is the light of the world, and we can have that light ourselves and hold it up for the rest of the world to see. Seek for ways to do that, especially this Christmas time! He is really there!

Jeramman!

Elder Josh Kilmer

Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Mission

不動心 Fudoshin:  immovable mind

www.mormon.org