the organization. What mutual upbuilding there has been as we have worked along with the weak ones in the service centers and watched them grow strong! What a pleasure to see those we have helped, start out in vacation pioneer service and then make a career of the regular pioneer ministry! All these things have made me appreciate my assignment as a very precious trust from Jehovah, one that I want to hold onto always.

On June 15, 1949, when I married Samuel García, a Mexican native and the legal representative of the Society here, I got a life partner who shares that desire. Both Sammy and I want to continue serving Jehovah full time, and we now enjoy doing it as members of the Mexican Bethel family, working in the office.

Do I make it sound as if life as a full-time preacher is all joys and nothing else? No, that is not true. There are trying moments and difficult experiences too, but the joys far outweigh the sorrows and it is these joys that stand out when I look back on the way that I have gone in the pursuit of my purpose in life as a servant of Jehovah God. Oh, I recall how hard it was not to be at the 1946 convention in Cleveland, because it was held right after I had arrived in Mexico; I even cried over it at the time. But in a few days we began to receive letters and news clippings from many who remembered us, and our tears were turned to joy. It was also hard on me when my father died and I was not there, and when my sister, who was then in the States, died of cancer. It would have been easier to give up and go back to the States to be with mother, but she is doing well and is very happy that I am staying with my assignment, and it is here that I have found the richest blessings.

How full is the life of one who had made the service of Jehovah his purpose in life! The turning point is dedication, and all the milestones that follow are joys that result from living up to that vow to God. In my life, conventions have been outstanding among those joys, particularly the one in 1958 when so many of us who had graduated from Gilead were able to be together. Added privileges of service, new assignments, newly interested ones I have helped and other faithful Witnesses with whom I have served have all contributed to the happiness I have enjoyed. Oh, the blessings that are the portion of those who make their purpose in life the doing of Jehovah’s will!

Questions From Readers

● Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” states that, because of an error that a monk made, the year 1961 should be 1967. What effect does this have upon 1914 as the end of the appointed times of the nations?—G. B., United States.

In reply to an inquiry, the King Features Syndicate, which publishes “Believe It or Not,” had the following to say:

“Dionysius Exiguus, a scholarly Roman abbot of the 6th century, and an accomplished mathematician, is responsible for the fact that this is only 1961 and not 1967. He is the author of the calendar based on the Christian era. . . . According to the Bible, Christ was born during the reign of King Herod who died 4 B.C. The king ordered the Massacre of the Babes two years earlier, and that is why the Birth of Christ must be assigned to December 25, 7 B.C.”

The foregoing observation has absolutely no effect on the Bible prophecy regarding the end of the appointed times of the nations. How so? In that the number of years from the overthrow of King Zedekiah to the beginning of the fulfillment of the events listed in Jesus’ great prophecy, as recorded at Matthew chapter 24, is 2,520 years, regardless of where the change is made of counting B.C. and A.D. Daniel’s prophecy foretold the seven times, or 2,520 years, and that many years did indeed elapse from the ruin that came upon the kingdom of Judah making the land desolate and the time when the kingdom of God was established in the heavens.

To illustrate, let a long line represent the 2,520 years. ———————————— Now somewhere along that line the dates change from B.C. to A.D. But regardless of where that change would be made the total would still be 2,520 years. So, if as this popular article said, 1961 should be 1967, then 1914 should also have been called 1920. That also means that 607 B.C. would be called 601. And 601 B.C. to A.D. 1920 is a total of 2,520 years.

The year 4 B.C. is given by many as the year of Herod’s death because they count the beginning of his reign from the time the Roman Senate appointed him instead of when he actually began to reign, which was more than three years later, when he conquered Jerusalem. Counting his reign from the latter date allows for his still living 1 B.C. or A.D. 1, at which time the massacre of the infants took place.—Matt. 2:16.

This method of counting harmonizes with the time indicated in the Scriptures for the Messiah to come, as foretold in the prophecy of seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24-27, and with Luke’s account at Luke 3:1-3, 23, regarding the time when John the Baptist began his ministry, namely, the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, which lasted from August A.D. 28 to August A.D. 29. Jesus’ baptism took place six months after John began his ministry, and so reasonably still A.D. 29. Jesus having reached thirty years of age by this time, he must have been born during the year 2 B.C. Other scriptures pinpoint this at about October 1, since he died in the ‘middle of the week’ of years (A.D. 29 to A.D. 36) referred to by Daniel, or April 1, A.D. 33.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

The peaceful, happy and fruitful work of preaching the good news of God’s kingdom increases world-wide day by day. Jehovah’s witnesses will continue to carry on this work in August by offering to people at their homes the book “Your Will Be Done on Earth,” with a booklet, for a 50c contribution.

ANNUAL MEETING OF MEMBERS OF WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the annual meeting of members of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania will be held at ten o’clock in the forenoon of Sunday, October 1, 1961, at the Society’s office located at 4100 Bigelow Boulevard. The regular letters of notice will be sent to all the members, and in order to insure delivery of the letters all members should be certain that the secretary’s office has their present addresses.

The proxies, which will accompany the notices of meeting, should be returned by the members promptly, in order to reach the office of the secretary of the Society not later than September 15. Each member should return his proxy whether he is going to be at the meeting personally or not.

LEADING ALL OTHERS

More copies of this magazine, The Watchtower, are distributed world-wide than any other religious periodical, the number being 3,800,000 copies in 60 languages. What is the reason? It is because this magazine is the one that is announcing Jehovah’s kingdom, the only real hope for peace and security that is certain for our day. Do you receive The Watchtower regularly? You can. You should! A year’s subscription is only $1. Send today.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

September 17: Be Attentive to “the Wonderful Works of God.” Page 489.

September 24: Honoring Jehovah. Page 495.