00:00:04 I was born in 1943
00:00:06 as the eldest son of six siblings.
00:00:11 My father expected me to become a judge or a prosecutor.
00:00:18 I was baptized
00:00:20 on October 24, 1959, during my first year
00:00:23 of high school.
00:00:26 The more I did personal study,
00:00:28 I came to the conclusion that rather than
00:00:31 spending four years in higher education,
00:00:33 it would be more beneficial for me to pioneer,
00:00:36 while delving deeper into the Bible through personal study.
00:00:40 So instead of going to college,
00:00:42 I began regular pioneering in February 1962.
00:00:46 And 11 months later, in January 1963,
00:00:48 I was assigned to serve as a special pioneer.
00:00:52 I was convinced that I had chosen the best path.
00:00:55 That’s why when I hear of the successful careers
00:00:58 my old classmates have had, I don’t feel jealous at all.
00:01:01 Instead, I think of how nice it would be
00:01:04 if they too learned the Bible truths like I did.
00:01:07 I was assigned to the traveling work in 1971.
00:01:11 But because of adjustments in our organization
00:01:15 and because of my conscientious objection to military service,
00:01:18 I had to stop serving
00:01:21 as a traveling overseer on two separate occasions.
00:01:27 When I received a new assignment
00:01:29 as a field instructor,
00:01:31 I really enjoyed that work.
00:01:33 But we were reassigned once again as special pioneers in September 2014.
00:01:38 I was a bit disappointed at first,
00:01:40 since I really enjoyed teaching and I felt I could have continued
00:01:44 as a field instructor for another ten years.
00:01:47 Hoping to bring glory to Jehovah,
00:01:49 I prayed earnestly to be able to use the experience I had gained
00:01:52 over the years to bring glory to God and to find interested ones.
00:01:57 Unexpectedly, I was blessed with ten great Bible studies,
00:02:01 and that renewed my love of teaching.
00:02:03 We know that Jehovah
00:02:06 gives each individual work that is perfectly suited to them.
00:02:10 We feel that serving as special pioneers,
00:02:13 as we currently do, is a rewarding assignment that brings us happiness.
00:02:22 Looking back at all that has happened
00:02:25 and counting all the years we’ve been in special full-time service,
00:02:27 we realized that together we have been serving
00:02:30 for more than a hundred years.
00:02:32 One thing I learned from this was
00:02:34 that if you adhere to theocratic direction,
00:02:37 many blessings are sure to follow.
00:02:41 Just as he promised,
00:02:43 Jehovah has given us everything we ever needed and more.
00:02:47 He gave us not just a hundredfold
00:02:50 but a hundred times a hundredfold
00:02:53 —brothers and sisters who are like family to us.
00:03:00 We got married on April 1, 1968.
00:03:04 So as of this year, we have been married exactly 50 years.
00:03:07 In June 2017,
00:03:10 my wife was not feeling well and we went for a health checkup.
00:03:14 She was diagnosed with stage IV bone cancer,
00:03:17 and it had spread all through her back.
00:03:20 She felt very weak, and we had a very difficult time.
00:03:24 But Jehovah gave us strength and wisdom to endure,
00:03:26 and now her condition is more stable.
00:03:31 Now our health is not as good as it used to be,
00:03:33 but thanks to the loving infirm-special-pioneer arrangement,
00:03:36 we are able to keep serving Jehovah faithfully
00:03:39 without it being a burden.
00:03:41 Through economic troubles, health problems,
00:03:43 and all of the difficulties that we encountered,
00:03:46 we always felt that Jehovah was with us.
00:03:49 So we really feel that Jehovah
00:03:51 has securely wrapped us “in the bag of life”
00:03:53 and has watched over us throughout our lives,
00:03:56 just as he had promised
00:03:58 in 1 Samuel 25:29.
00:04:03 These days, we pray to Jehovah that we can serve him faithfully,
00:04:06 survive Armageddon together,
00:04:09 and enjoy everlasting life in the new system
00:04:11 as an eternally-married couple.