She Quickly Recognized God’s Truth
ONE of Jehovah’s witnesses in Tucson, Arizona, reports an experience that illustrates how many honest-hearted persons recognize God’s truth when they come in contact with it. A man living in a sheepherder’s wagon telephoned the Witnesses and asked them ‘to have his wife’s Bible study renewed,’ as he put it. The Witnesses visited the woman, and this is what happened:
“When we arrived at the campsite, a young woman came out of the wagon to greet us. After we introduced ourselves as Jehovah’s witnesses, she exclaimed, ‘Where have you been? I have been waiting and watching every car that passed by, hoping that it would turn in!’ We told her that if she had time we could start her study. She went to the wagon and returned with copies of The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life and the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. We noticed that they were used and well marked. I asked her how far she had progressed in her study. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I never had a Bible study, but I know that this is God’s truth. I want to be one of Jehovah’s witnesses. When can I get baptized?’ This amazed us. We asked her how she had reached such a conclusion.
“She then proceeded to tell us that she once studied the ‘black arts’ for two years. This allowed the demons to influence her mind to the point that she contemplated suicide. Finally, in a state of great mental depression, she cried out in desperation for God to help her and show her his truth. Moments later a Witness couple called on her. She took all the Bible literature they had and hid it before her husband drove them away.
“Her husband and she had been having marital problems. After reading the Truth book, she tried being a better wife by applying the Bible counsel on marriage. Her husband noticed the change and asked her what caused it. She replied, ‘The books that I got from Jehovah’s witnesses, whom you chased away!’
“‘They cannot be bad then,’ reasoned her husband. So he cooperated with her in trying to locate the Witnesses again. With this background we began studying with this sincere woman. And it was remarkable to see her perception of spiritual matters. For example, after considering Daniel 2:44 in the first chapter of the Truth book, she observed, ‘I have concluded from what I’ve read that Daniel and Revelation go together. One really cannot understand the one without the other.’ Then she wanted to know if she was correct in thinking that the ‘king of the north’ mentioned in Daniel chapter 11 represented the Communist powers and the ‘king of the south’ represented the Democratic powers. We were taken aback at the accuracy of her conclusions.
“Further, from her reading of the Truth book, she and her children decided to quit celebrating Christmas. She also realized the danger of keeping articles associated with demonism. But this posed a problem, for many things she owned were in some way involved. Yet she systematically began disposing of them completely. Since she has been studying the Bible regularly, she has been relatively free from demon harassment.
“She began attending our meetings at the Kingdom Hall and accompanied us in the door-to-door ministry. The first time she offered the Watchtower and Awake! magazines at a door, they were refused. She was disappointed. The next morning on our way to the meeting, she said: ‘I have thought about it all night. The reason why I did not place the magazines at that first house is because I was not discerning. The woman had a cross around her neck and I should have shown her a different article.’ In addition, this woman has zealously written about the Bible truths she is learning to almost everyone she knows. Anyone who visits her hears about God’s promises. This has moved a young girl to come out to the camp for Bible studies.
“Later she again mentioned her desire to be baptized. She said that she knew that she had to answer some questions to demonstrate her understanding the basic teachings of the Bible. When I commented that there were other things involved in this vital matter, she answered, ‘Oh, Nellie, I made my dedication to Jehovah God a long time ago. I know what I have to do!’ And she went about doing it, for she was baptized at our circuit assembly here in Tucson. What a refreshing experience this has been for me! I was privileged to help an honest-hearted person who quickly recognized God’s truth.”