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00:00:00 My name is Mitchell Birdwell. 00:00:03 I personally thought I had it all together. 00:00:06 I had a perfect little family 00:00:08 —a son and a daughter, and my wife was regular pioneering. 00:00:11 I was serving as an elder. 00:00:13 I was working as a custom home builder, 00:00:15 and I had just finished building 00:00:17 my dream house. 00:00:19 Everything I ever wanted, I had. 00:00:21 I was assigned to go to a construction project 00:00:25 in Japan as an international volunteer, 00:00:27 and that project changed everything. 00:00:34 When I got over there, I realized 00:00:35 that everybody on the site was a regular pioneer. 00:00:40 It really began to have an impact on me. 00:00:43 I tried to justify it personally by saying: ‘You know, I’m doing OK. 00:00:46 ‘I’m doing what I should be doing. 00:00:49 They’re just overachievers.’ 00:00:52 One day, my interpreter approached me, 00:00:55 and I said, “Well, let’s interview 00:00:57 the committee today.” 00:00:59 I only had one question that was burning in my heart. 00:01:01 How could they be balanced and be regular pioneers? 00:01:04 He asked the question. 00:01:07 They asked me to turn to Matthew 6:33, 00:01:10 so I go to read it. 00:01:11 He says, “No, read it out loud.” So I read it out loud. 00:01:14 He says, “Read it again.” So I read it for the second time. 00:01:18 Then he says: “The Scriptures are clear. 00:01:22 If you truly ‘seek first the Kingdom, these other things will be added.’” 00:01:28 That had a major impact on me. 00:01:30 I was just standing there with my Bible and my thoughts. 00:01:33 I felt so little. 00:01:37 That night, I couldn’t sleep. 00:01:39 I kept playing that over and over in my head, 00:01:42 ‘Why don’t I believe?’ 00:01:45 I remember as a kid, we used to play the game where you lean back and people catch you. 00:01:49 I never liked that game. 00:01:51 But that’s serving Jehovah —you’ve got to lean back. 00:01:55 You know he will catch you 00:01:59 —you don’t know how, though, and you don’t know when. 00:02:03 Well, the next day, the chairman shows up 00:02:08 to speak to me privately. 00:02:10 He says, “May I analyze a day in your life?” 00:02:14 And he describes my life in detail accurately. 00:02:18 He says: “You start off, the phone is ringing. 00:02:21 “All day long you’re busy 00:02:23 with elders’ activity, the RBC, and your business.” 00:02:26 He says: “You come home from work, your children are trying 00:02:30 “to communicate with you, but you’re so busy. 00:02:33 “Because maybe it’s late at night (about 10:00 p.m. at night), 00:02:35 “you’re down, and it’s time to spend some time with your wife, 00:02:38 but you fall asleep.” 00:02:40 And then he just stopped and asked me a question. 00:02:43 He says, 00:02:45 “Why do you only spend tired time 00:02:49 with your wife and your children?” 00:02:54 So from that moment, I started thinking, 00:02:57 ‘What can I do personally to start making some adjustments?’ 00:03:01 We had to find a way to get involved 00:03:03 in full-time service as a family. 00:03:06 I do feel 00:03:08 that we have a lot 00:03:10 of our brothers and sisters in the organization 00:03:12 who maybe can’t pioneer, but they’ve given Jehovah everything they have. 00:03:16 And that’s all he asks—give me your best. 00:03:21 Immediately, when we got back, we started making adjustments, 00:03:24 and it wasn’t easy. 00:03:26 We gave up a lot of things 00:03:28 that we thought were important to us. 00:03:32 Regular pioneering opened up a lot of doors for us as a family. 00:03:36 My daughter and her husband 00:03:38 are construction servants with the LDC Department. 00:03:43 My son and his wife 00:03:46 —he’s a regular pioneer and also serving as a remote Bethelite.. 00:03:50 Currently, we’re serving as construction servants 00:03:54 with the LDC Department. 00:03:55 We get to serve Jehovah 00:03:58 in this assignment as a couple. 00:04:00 We pinch ourselves sometimes thinking, ‘What a life we get to live!’ 00:04:05 Even with our children, to this day, we still discuss this. 00:04:09 They say that for them it was the best decision we ever made as a family 00:04:13 —giving up the stuff to serve Jehovah full-time. 00:04:18 And as I look back, it was that decision, 00:04:20 that scripture at that moment 00:04:23 —that defining moment— that started it all.
00:00:00 My name is Mitchell Birdwell. 00:00:03 I personally thought I had it all together. 00:00:06 I had a perfect little family 00:00:08 —a son and a daughter, and my wife was regular pioneering. 00:00:11 I was serving as an elder. 00:00:13 I was working as a custom home builder, 00:00:15 and I had just finished building 00:00:17 my dream house. 00:00:19 Everything I ever wanted, I had. 00:00:21 I was assigned to go to a construction project 00:00:25 in Japan as an international volunteer, 00:00:27 and that project changed everything. 00:00:34 When I got over there, I realized 00:00:35 that everybody on the site was a regular pioneer. 00:00:40 It really began to have an impact on me. 00:00:43 I tried to justify it personally by saying: ‘You know, I’m doing OK. 00:00:46 ‘I’m doing what I should be doing. 00:00:49 They’re just overachievers.’ 00:00:52 One day, my interpreter approached me, 00:00:55 and I said, “Well, let’s interview 00:00:57 the committee today.” 00:00:59 I only had one question that was burning in my heart. 00:01:01 How could they be balanced and be regular pioneers? 00:01:04 He asked the question. 00:01:07 They asked me to turn to Matthew 6:33, 00:01:10 so I go to read it. 00:01:11 He says, “No, read it out loud.” So I read it out loud. 00:01:14 He says, “Read it again.” So I read it for the second time. 00:01:18 Then he says: “The Scriptures are clear. 00:01:22 If you truly ‘seek first the Kingdom, these other things will be added.’” 00:01:28 That had a major impact on me. 00:01:30 I was just standing there with my Bible and my thoughts. 00:01:33 I felt so little. 00:01:37 That night, I couldn’t sleep. 00:01:39 I kept playing that over and over in my head, 00:01:42 ‘Why don’t I believe?’ 00:01:45 I remember as a kid, we used to play the game where you lean back and people catch you. 00:01:49 I never liked that game. 00:01:51 But that’s serving Jehovah —you’ve got to lean back. 00:01:55 You know he will catch you 00:01:59 —you don’t know how, though, and you don’t know when. 00:02:03 Well, the next day, the chairman shows up 00:02:08 to speak to me privately. 00:02:10 He says, “May I analyze a day in your life?” 00:02:14 And he describes my life in detail accurately. 00:02:18 He says: “You start off, the phone is ringing. 00:02:21 “All day long you’re busy 00:02:23 with elders’ activity, the RBC, and your business.” 00:02:26 He says: “You come home from work, your children are trying 00:02:30 “to communicate with you, but you’re so busy. 00:02:33 “Because maybe it’s late at night (about 10:00 p.m. at night), 00:02:35 “you’re down, and it’s time to spend some time with your wife, 00:02:38 but you fall asleep.” 00:02:40 And then he just stopped and asked me a question. 00:02:43 He says, 00:02:45 “Why do you only spend tired time 00:02:49 with your wife and your children?” 00:02:54 So from that moment, I started thinking, 00:02:57 ‘What can I do personally to start making some adjustments?’ 00:03:01 We had to find a way to get involved 00:03:03 in full-time service as a family. 00:03:06 I do feel 00:03:08 that we have a lot 00:03:10 of our brothers and sisters in the organization 00:03:12 who maybe can’t pioneer, but they’ve given Jehovah everything they have. 00:03:16 And that’s all he asks—give me your best. 00:03:21 Immediately, when we got back, we started making adjustments, 00:03:24 and it wasn’t easy. 00:03:26 We gave up a lot of things 00:03:28 that we thought were important to us. 00:03:32 Regular pioneering opened up a lot of doors for us as a family. 00:03:36 My daughter and her husband 00:03:38 are construction servants with the LDC Department. 00:03:43 My son and his wife 00:03:46 —he’s a regular pioneer and also serving as a remote Bethelite.. 00:03:50 Currently, we’re serving as construction servants 00:03:54 with the LDC Department. 00:03:55 We get to serve Jehovah 00:03:58 in this assignment as a couple. 00:04:00 We pinch ourselves sometimes thinking, ‘What a life we get to live!’ 00:04:05 Even with our children, to this day, we still discuss this. 00:04:09 They say that for them it was the best decision we ever made as a family 00:04:13 —giving up the stuff to serve Jehovah full-time. 00:04:18 And as I look back, it was that decision, 00:04:20 that scripture at that moment 00:04:23 —that defining moment— that started it all.
