Good Tings We Neva Expeck An Stuff We Wen Learn From Servin Jehovah

Durin World War II my parents wen leave Estonia an wen move to Germany. Dass wea I wuz born. Afta dat dey started fo get ready fo move to Canada. Oua firs house wuz in one chicken coop close by Ottawa, Canada. We wuz so broke but we still could grind eggs fo breakfas.

One day, Witnesses Fo Jehovah wen read Jesus Show 21:3, 4 to my madda. She wuz so happy wen she saw dat, she started fo cry. My madda an fadda wen keep studyin da Bible an fas kine afta dat, dey wuz ready fo get baptize.

My parents neva undastand English dat good, but still yet dey wen go all out fo serve Jehovah. My fadda would work all nite in one factory in Sudbury, Ontario, wea dey would melt nickel. But almos ery Saturday mornin afta workin all nite long, he would take me an my bebe sista, Sylvia, out field service. We wen study Da Place Fo Watch From ery week togedda az one ohana. My madda an fadda wen help me fo love God. Cuz of dat, in 1956 wen I wuz ten, I wen give my life to Jehovah. Wen I tink about how much dey wen love Jehovah, dat wen help me thru my whole life.

Afta I wen grad from school, I wen get small kine distracted from servin Jehovah. I wen tink dat if I pionea, no ways I would live my dream an make nuff money fo fly an see da world. So I started fo DJ at one local radio station, an I wen love dat job. But I had fo work nite time so I erytime would miss da meetins, an I wen cruz wit da guys who neva love Jehovah. Afta a while my conscience started fo bodda me cuz I knew wat da Bible wen say, so I wen change tings up.

I wen move to Oshawa, Ontario, wea I wen meet Ray Norman, his sista Lesli, an odda pioneas. Dey all wen show me aloha. Cuz dey wuz all so happy, it wen make me tink about wat I wanted fo do wit my life. Dey wen make me like start fo pionea, an I wen do um in Septemba 1966. I wuz happy, an erytin wuz all good. But some tings I neva wen expeck wuz about fo happen.

WEN JEHOVAH AKS YOU FO DO SOMETIN, JUS TRY UM

High school time, I wen apply fo go Bethel in Toronto, Canada. Layta on wen I wuz pioneerin, Bethel wen aks me fo come fo four yeas. But I had my eye on Lesli an I wen tink dat if I go, I neva goin see her again. I wen pray long an hard about um, an den I wen choose fo go Bethel. So I had fo say aloha to Lesli, an so sad dat wuz.

In Bethel I wen go work in da laundry an den az one secretary. Same time, Lesli wen come one spesho pionea in Gatineau, Quebec. Plenny times I wen tink about wat she wuz doin an if I wen make da right choice. Den sometin I neva wen expeck wen happen. Lesli’s bradda, Ray, wen come Bethel an he wuz my roommate! Cuz of dat, me an Lesli wen come close again. An on February 27, 1971, da las day of my four yeas in Bethel, we wen get married.

Dey wen aks me an Lesli fo go Quebec to one local hui wea dey talk French. Afta a few yeas ova dea wen I wuz 28, wen catch me off guard wen dey wen aks me fo be one Circuit Ovaseah. I wen tink I ony young an I not good enuff, but Jeremiah 1:7, 8 wen help me plenny. On top of dat, Lesli had hard time sleep cuz she wuz in couple car crashes. So how we goin do circuit work? But she wen say, “If Jehovah aks you fo do sometin, jus try um!” So we wen try um an wen love doin um fo 17 yeas.

In da circuit work we wuz supa busy, an sometimes I neva spen nuff time wit Lesli. Had sometin else I had fo learn. One Monday mornin real early, da doorbell wen ring. Nobody wuz dea, ony one basket wit one table clot, fruit, cheese, bread, couple glasses, an one bottle wine. Had one letta too dat wen say, “Go take yoa wife holo holo.” Wuz one perfeck, sunny day. But I wen tell Lesli dat I no could go cuz I gotta write some talks. She wen undastand but she wuz litto bit bum out. Wen I wuz sittin at my desk, my conscience started fo bodda me an I wen tink of Efesus 5:25, 28. Dat wuz Jehovah tellin me fo tink about how my wife feel, o wat? Afta I wen pray I wen tell Lesli, “We go!” She wuz so happy! We wen drive to one spot by da watta, wen put erytin down, an had one of oua bestes days eva. An I still wen pau my talks.

Circuit work wuz good an we wen go all ova, from British Columbia to Newfoundland. My dream from hanabata days fo go travel wen come true. I wen tink about goin Gilead School but I neva like move to anodda country. Missionaries wuz unreal, but I neva feel like I wuz good enuff fo be one. On top of dat, I wuz sked dey would send us to Africa wea get plenny wars an sick peopo. I wuz happy wea I wuz.

WE NEVA EXPECK FO GO ESTONIA AN DA BALTICS

In 1992, Witnesses Fo Jehovah wuz able fo preach again in some of da countries dat used to be part of da Soviet Union. So dey wen aks us fo move an be missionaries in Estonia. Dat wuz one shocka, but we wen pray about um. One moa time we wen tink, “If Jehovah aks us fo do sometin, jus try um!” So we wen go, an wen tell ouaself, “aah, at leas not Africa.”

Fas we started fo learn Estonian. Afta ony couple monts ova dea, dey wen aks us fo do circuit work. In da three Baltic countries an in Kaliningrad, Russia, we had fo visit 46 local huis an groups. Dat wen mean we had fo learn fo talk litto bit Latvian, Lithuanian, an Russian. Wuz real hard, but da braddas an sistas wen help us cuz dey wuz so happy dat we wen try learn dea language. Dey wen open one branch office in Estonia in 1999, an dey wen aks me fo be one of da braddas who kea fo da branch wit three odda braddas, Toomas Edur, Lembit Reile, and Tommi Kauko.

We got fo know plenny of da Witnesses dat got kicked out an sent to Siberia. Even tho wuz hard ova dea an dey got treated real bad, even split up from dea ohana, dey neva come all salty. Dey wen stay happy an wen go all out fo preach. We wen learn dat even tho times get real hard, you can keep goin an can stay happy.

We wen run um hard fo long time an hardly wen res, so Lesli wuz feelin buss up. She wuz feelin lidat cuz she had fibromyalgia, but we neva know dat. So we wen start fo tink hard about goin back to Canada. Wen dey wen aks us fo go branch school in Patterson, New York, U.S.A., I neva tink we could make um. But afta prayin real hard, we wen go. Jehovah wen bless dat cuz ova dea Lesli wen get help from da doctas she wen need. Cuz of dat, we could go back to da normal stuff we wuz doin.

ANODDA TING WE NEVA EXPECK —ANODDA PLACE

One nite in 2008 wen we wuz in Estonia, I wen get one phone call from world headqwatahs fo go Congo. Dat wen blow my mind, speshly cuz I had fo let um know da nex day. I neva tell Lesli right away cuz I knew she no would be able fo sleep. But wuz me who no could sleep, cuz I wuz prayin to Jehovah about all da stuff I wuz worried about if we went Africa.

Da nex day wen I had tell Lesli, we wen figga, “Jehovah invitin us fo go Africa. We not goin know if we can do um unless we try um.” So afta 16 yeas in Estonia, we wen fly to Kinshasa, Congo. Da branch office ova dea had one garden dat wuz supa nice, real green, an wen make us feel calm. Inside oua room, one of da firs tings Lesli wen put up wuz one card somebody in Canada wen give her dat wen say, “Be happy wea eva you stay.” Afta meetin da braddas, teachin da Bible to peopo, an bein missionaries we wen feel happy in one new kine way. We wen go make branch visits to 13 countries in Africa. Cuz of dat we wen get fo learn about how beautiful diffren kine peopo can be. All da stuff I wuz sked about wuz pau, an we wen mahalo Jehovah fo sendin us to Africa.

In Congo, dey wen give us all kine diffren foods, like bugs, an we neva like eat um. But da braddas ova dea love fo grind um, so we wen try um an wuz ono.

We wen go eas side of da country fo bring da braddas wat dey wen need cuz ova dea da rebel groups wuz attackin da villages an hurtin da wahines an da keikis. Mos of da braddas neva have too much. Still yet, dey wen love Jehovah plenny, dey wuz tight wit his hui, an dey wen full on believe dat Jehovah could bring back da guys dat wen mahke. Dat wen touch oua heart. How dey wuz wen make us look how come we servin Jehovah an den we wen like make oua trus in him moa strong. Some of da braddas wen lose dea homes an da stuff dey wuz growin. Dat wen show me dat we can lose erytin real fas, an dat bein close wit Jehovah iz da mos importan ting. No matta how hard wuz, da braddas neva grumbo. Dea exampo wen help us fo no be sked fo hando oua pilikia an healt problems.

DEY WEN SEND US ASIA

Sometin else we neva expeck wen happen. Dey wen aks us fo move to da branch in Hong Kong. We neva tink we would end up in Asia. But cuz Jehovah wen take kea us wea eva we had go befo, we wen jus go. Africa wuz beautiful an we wen love livin dea. But in 2013 we wuz sad fo leave oua good frens ova dea, an we neva know wat wuz goin happen.

Livin Hong Kong wuz one big change cuz wuz supa crowded wit peopo from all ova da world. Tryin fo learn Cantonese wuz hard too. Da braddas wen show us plenny aloha an da food wuz ono. Da branch wuz doin moa an moa work, an da price of property wen go thru da roof. So wuz akamai wen Jesus’ Luna Guys wen sell mos of da branch properties. Litto while afta dat, in 2015 we wen move South Korea, an we still servin ova dea. So we had fo learn Korean, one odda hard language. But even tho we no can speak um good, da braddas an sistas tell us we gettin betta.

STUFF WE WEN LEARN

Not always easy fo make frens, but if we make da firs move fo have peopo come ova, we get fo know dem moa fas. We wen see dat we not dat diffren from oua braddas, an dat da way Jehovah wen make us iz fo have plenny aloha fo all diffren kine frens.—2 Cor 6:11.

We wen learn dat we need fo see peopo how Jehovah see dem, an we gotta look fo ways dat Jehovah love us, an how he showin us wat fo do. Wen eva we wuz bum out o neva know if da braddas an sistas wen like us, we would look at da cards an lettas oua frens wen give us befo. We wen know fo shua Jehovah wen ansa oua prayas. He made us feel his love an wen help us keep goin.

Thru da yeas, me an Lesli wen learn dat gotta make time fo each odda no matta how busy we stay. An wen learnin one new language, gotta be able fo laugh wen we make mistake. An ery nite try tink of sometin dat Jehovah wen do fo you an tank him fo dat.

Fo tell you da trut, I neva thought I could live in anodda country an be one missionary. But I wuz happy fo learn dat wit Jehovah’s help, anytin can happen. Dis remind me of wat Jeremiah wen say about Jehovah, “You mo strong den me, az why you win.” (Jer 20:7) Jehovah wen give us plenny stuff we neva expeck, unreal blessins, even fo go travel all ova on one airplane. We wen go fly way moa places den I eva thought I wuz goin in my hanabata days. In all da stuffs we wen do fo Jehovah, I so tankful dat Lesli wuz wit me all da way an wuz ready fo go.

We always try fo rememba dat we do erytin cuz we love Jehovah. All da good tings we get today show us how unreal goin be fo live foeva wen we goin see wat da Bible tell about Jehovah, “Wen you open yoa hands, you give stuff to eryting dat stay alive fo dem no need notting no moa.”—Songs 145:16.