Finding True Happiness

It started in the early 2000’s…by now I was traveling a lot, givings talks at different congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Mom never heard me speak in public before so she would attend the meetings at the Kingdom Hall. Over time, Mom felt more and more comfortable attending the meetings and making new friends with Jehovah’s Witnesses. She would always tell me, ‘they’re just like regular people!’ Eventually, Mom got close to one of the sisters (Mona Okumoto) and wanted to know how Jehovah’s Witnesses are different from other religions. So Mom started studying the Bible with Mona.  

As she learned God’s promises of the future, she finally understood what made me change when I was a teenager…40 years ago. She started to the Kingdom Hall regularly, making many friends with brothers and sisters there. When Mona had to move, Mom continued learning the Bible with Marilee White.

There was a time Mom stopped studying. So many things were happening in her personal life, but she never stopped praying or attending the meetings at the Kingdom Hall. She knew what she was learning was the truth, and once she made up her mind, she resumed her studies and never looked back…Jesus said at Matthew 5:3: “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.” That’s exactly what happened to Mom. Mom was unhappy without Jehovah and so much happier with Him.  Jehovah was now real to her, and she saw the difference it made with Jehovah in her life.

The change in her was amazing…although Mom was generally a happy person, I never saw her THIS happy.  And now, at 95, she had a new goal in life: she wanted to get baptized and use her life to help others learn about Jehovah. So instead of working at the UH cafeteria during the summer, as she always did, she would take the summer off and began preaching with Jehovah’s Witnesses. And Mom was a natural.  Caring for people and talking to everyone was what she loved to do…Helping others to learn the Bible was her new passion… So, Mom decided that the fall semester of 2023 would be her last at the University…she would retire at 95 after 29 years.  Sure, she would miss all the students, but she found something way better…something that made her truly happy! After she retired, Mom got baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses on February 4th, 2024.  

That was such a happy day for Mom…maybe the happiest…What I didn’t expect was that would be the happiest day of my life too…I still get choked up thinking about it…it was good to see her so happy and to know she now officially belonged to Jehovah. Think about it, how many people you reach the age of 96?  And of those people, how many will tell you that their last year was their happiest? Well thanks to Jehovah, that was Mom’s life…after 95 years she finally found true happiness.