Iokwe aolep!
It's actually really weird writing that Marshallese greeting, having served in English for a while now.
Some updates: Still. So. Hot.
In other news:
Danny and his family are progressing so well. I love going over to teach them. We taught them the Word of Wisdom this week (the commandment we received that helps us to know what to put in our bodies and what to stay away from); and Danny has stopped drinking. He had an alchoholism problem a while back (is that right? can I say that? English phrases seem so wrong now...) and recently he liked to drink every night. He has tried to quit before, but had major withdrawal symptoms--shaking, sweating, cravings, grumpiness. This time he told us he said a prayer that he would be able to give it up and has had no symptoms whatsoever since. His whole family seems so happy now. It's clear that his wife, Elizabeth, is so grateful for the changes he is making.
On our way to our appointment with Danny, we were running really late (it was a busy day) so we were biking hard. We reached an intersection where we needed to turn right, but we saw a man walking up ahead and at first I thought, "Nah, we're running late. Danny's family is really important. We'll just turn." But I felt like we needed to see him--the feeling hit me pretty hard. Elder Larsen must have felt the same because he also didn't turn, but kept going straight. Turns out that the man's name is Greg and he has been feeling like he can't find the right church where he feels welcome and excited to learn and grow. Too bad we don't know any churches like that....Not! We told him that those are some of the things we love most about our church and he allowed us to schedule a time to meet with him this week. We told him it wasn't an accident that we had met with him. I know it wasn't. I know we were led to him after he had been prepared because God knows His children.
Recently, we have been focusing on helping people to make habits of daily personal and family scripture study. I have such a huge testimony of consistent, daily scripture study. It has changed my life. My family can attest to that. I used to be the family member everyone wanted to avoid. It was all about me and what I wanted and I had no time for anyone else's needs. After I started reading daily, it took a while, but I slowly started to change. My family started to enjoy having me around. I was no longer someone you needed to tolerate. Scripture study has continued to bless my life and to help change my heart ever since then.
Challenge time: Make a habit of consistent, daily scripture study individually and with your family. I am a great example of the change it can bring. It will improve your life. When you demonstrate to the Lord that you are willing to make time for Him each day, He will take care of you; you will invite greater light, peace, and happiness in your life. I have promised several people that as they build up the habit of daily scripture study, they will be able to break their habit of drinking or smoking (hopefully they start acting on that so I can have evidence of the power behind that). I've seen it bring Danny's family closer together.
Start off by setting a goal that will still help, but will be so easy that you can't say no. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 verses, 1 page, etc. Set a time of day to do it. This is not my promise. This is the Lord's promise. He consistently commands us to feast upon the scriptures and He promises to bless us. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I testify that the Lord keeps His promises.
Love you all. Life is great. Always remember that.
Jeramman!
Elder Josh Kilmer
Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Mission, Marshallese/English-speaking
不動心
Fudoshin: immovable spirit
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