I wuz born in one small town by Chicago, Illinois in 1927. My faddah an maddah had five kids, Jetha, Don, me, Karl, an Joy. We wen all make up oua mind fo go all out fo Jehovah. In 1943, my sistah Jetha wen go da secon class of Gilead. Don wen go Bethel in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944, Karl in 1947, an Joy in 1951. Dea good exampo, an my parents one, wen help me fo do moa fo Jehovah.

My faddah an maddah wen read da Bible an wen love God, an wen teach us kids fo love Him too. Afta my faddah wen serve az one soldier in Europe in World War I, he wen lose respeck fo da churches. My maddah wuz so tankful to God dat my faddah wen come home from da war, so she we tell him, “Karl, we go start goin church again.” My faddah wen say, “I walk you dea, but I not goin inside.” She wen ask, “How come?” He wen say, “During da war, religious leadas from da same religion wen bless da soldiers who wuz fighting agains each odda! Who’s side God wuz on?”

Wen my maddah wuz at church, two Witnesses Fo Jehovah wen come my house. Dey wen ask my faddah if he wanted dese two books called Light, dat would help him study da Bible. Dose books wen talk about da book Jesus Show. My faddah wuz interested an he wen take um. Wen my maddah saw da books, she wen start fo read um. Den one day she wen see someting in da newspaypa dat wen invite peopo fo study da Bible using dose two books. She wen go, an wen she got dea, one old lady wen come to da door. My maddah wen hold up one of da books an ask, “You studying dis?” Da lady wen say, “Yeah, honey girl, come inside.” Da nex week my maddah wen bring all us kids wit her, an den we wen go ery week afta dat.

At one of da meetings, da conducta wen ask me fo read Songs Fo God 144:15. Da ting say dat da guys who worship God goin be happy. I wen like dat scripcha an two odda ones. 1 Fo Timoty 1:11 dat talk  about how Jehovah stay good inside, an Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:1 dat tell us fo “make jalike God.” I wen figga dat I should be happy fo serve da One dat wen make me, an be tankful fo da chance fo do dat. I wen try do dose two tings my whole life.

Da local hui mos closes to us wuz 20 miles away in Chicago. But we still wen go, an I wen learn plenny about da Bible. I rememba dis one time da braddah wen call on Jetha fo ansa. Wen I wen lissen to her ansa, I wen tink, “I kno dat. I coulda raise my hand an ansa.” I started fo prep fo da meeting an ansa from da heart. Da mos importan ting wuz, like my two braddahs an two sistahs, I wen come moa close to Jehovah. In 1941, I wen get baptize.

I speshly rememba da big kine meeting we wen go in Cleveland, Ohio in 1942. Oua ohana wen sleep in tents wit plenny odda families close by wea da big kine meeting wuz. Braddahs an sistahs in moa den 50 odda cities in da United States wen lissen in on da phone. Dat time, World War II wuz raging an peopo wuz goin agains Witnesses Fo Jehovah an giving dem hard time. Nite time I wen see da braddahs park dea cars wit dea lights facing away from da camp. Dey wen make one plan fo have somebody in ery car fo be on guard tru da nite. If look like wuz goin get trouble, da braddahs wuz goin turn on dea headlights fo blind da guys an honk dea horns. Den erybody else could rush ova dea fo help. Notting bad wen happen an cuz of dat I wen feel safe an could sleep good.

Tinking back about dat big kine meeting, even way layta, I wen realize dat my maddah wuz neva sked or worried. She wen full on trus in Jehovah an his hui. I neva goin foget da good exampo she wen set.

Litto while befoa dat big kine meeting, my maddah wen start fo regula pionea. So she wen lissen real good wen had da talks about serving Jehovah full time. Wen we wuz goin home, she wen say, “I like keep pioneering but I no can do dat an take kea of eryting at home same time.” Den she wen ask if we could help her out. We sed can, so she wen give ery one of us one or two rooms fo clean befoa breakfas. Afta we wen go skool, she would check da house fo make shua eryting wuz clean, an den she wen go field service. She wuz busy but she wen always take kea us kids. Wen we had come home fo lunch an wen we wuz pau skool, she always wuz dea fo us. Sometimes afta skool we would go field service wit her, an dat wen help us fo undastan wat one pionea do.

I started fo pionea wen I wuz 16. Even tho my faddah wuzn’t one Witness yet, he wanted fo kno how my preaching wuz goin. One nite, I wen tell him dat even tho I wuz  trying hard, I no could find nobody fo study wit me. He neva say notting, an I wen ask him, “You like study wit me?” He wen tink about um litto bit, den wen say, “I no see why not.” Yup, my firs Bible study wuz my faddah. Dat wuz so unreal!

We wen study da book “The Truth Shall Make You Free.” Da moa we wen study, I wen see dat my faddah wuz helping me fo be betta at studying da Bible an teaching odda peopo. Dis one time afta we wen read one paragraph he wen say, “I kno wat da book say, but how you kno da ting iz right?” I no wuz ready fo dat. So I wen tell um, “I no can prove um now, but da nex time we study, I goin have one ansa fo you.” An I did. I wen find scripchas dat wen prove da point dat we wuz talking about. Afta dat I wen make ready real good befoa oua study an I wen start fo do research. Dat wen help me an my faddah fo grow spiritually. Eryting he wen learn he wen try do, an he wen get baptize in 1952.

Wen I wuz 17 I wen leave home. Jetha a wuz one missionary, an Don wen go Bethel. Both of dem wen love dea assignments an dat wen encourage me plenny. So I wen apply to Bethel an Gilead, an wen let Jehovah choose wea he like me go. I wen end up goin Bethel in 1946.

Tru da years I had plenny diffren assignments in Bethel, so I wen learn all kine tings. In da 75 years I wuz in Bethel, I wen learn how fo make books, an do accounting. Anodda ting I wen learn how fo do iz buy stuff Bethel wen need, an how fo ship importan stuff to odda places. Moa den anyting, I love da Bible education we get at Bethel, tru morning worship an odda talks.

I wen learn too from my younga braddah Karl, who wen come Bethel in 1947. He wen study da Bible real hard an wuz good at teaching um to odda peopo. One time I wen ask him fo hlep me wit one talk I had fo give. I told Karl dat I had plenny material, but I neva kno how fo use um. He wen help me figga um out wit ony one question, “Joel, wass da theme of yoa talk?” Ony fas I wen get da point. Jus use da info dat wuz goin explain da theme of da talk, an foget da res. I neva wen foget dat lesson.

 Fo be happy at Bethel we gotta go all out fo preach, an wen we do dat good tings can happen. One ting I rememba good wen happen early one nite in da Bronx in New York City. Me an one braddah wen go visit one wahine who had take The Watchtower an Awake! befoa. We wen tell who we wuz an tell her, “Tonight we helping peopo learn good tings from da Bible. She wen say, “If you like talk about da Bible, come inside.” So we wen read an talk about some scripchas about God’s Govament an da new world. Cuz she wen like wat she wen hea, she wen invite some of her frenz fo come da nex week. Layta on, her an her husban wen come Witnesses Fo Jehovah.

I wanted fo get married, an 10 years layta I wen find da right sistah. Wat wen help me find one good wife? I wen pray to Jehovah an tink about wat me an my wife could do fo Jehovah afta we get married.

Afta da 1953 big kine meeting at Yankee Stadium, I wen meet one sistah name Mary Aniol. Her an Jetha wen go da secon class of Gilead togedda an dey wuz missionary pahtnas. Mary wuz all excited wen she wen tell me about her assignments in da Caribbean an all da Bible studies she had ova da years. Da moa we wen get fo kno each odda, we wen see dat we had da same goals. Oua love fo each odda had grow, an we wen get married in April 1955. In plenny ways, Mary wuz one gif from Jehovah an one exampo fo copy. Wateva assignment she wen get, she wuz happy doin um. She wuz one hard worka, wen kea about peopo, an always wen put Jehovah firs in her life. (Mat 6:33, NWT) We wen do da circuit work fo three years an in 1958, dey wen ask us fo go Bethel.

Mary wen teach me plenny. Like wen we firs wuz married we wen read da Bible togedda, about 15 verses at a time. Afta we wen read da scripchas, we would talk about um an see how we could use um in oua life. Plenny times Mary wen tell me about da stuff she wen learn in Gilead or wen she wuz one missionary. Times lidat wen help me fo give betta talks an kno how fo encourage da sistahs.​—Smart Guys 25:11.

In 2013 my sweeheart Mary wen die. I no can wait fo see her in da new world. Till den, I not goin stop learning an trusting in Jehovah wit eryting inside me. (Smart Guys 3:5, 6) Wen I tink about wat Jehovah goin do in da new world, it make me happy an help me fo hang in dea. Garanz we still goin be learning from oua Bestes Teacha. I no can tank him enuff fo all dat he wen teach me an do fo me.