I got shocked when I read the article of the Watchtower study of this week. That's because I read this: the highlights are mine.
QUANDO Jesus esteve na Terra, ele disse que nos últimos dias o amor da maioria das pessoas ia esfriar. (Mateus 24:3, 12) Isso começou a acontecer com os judeus nos dias dos apóstolos. Esses judeus falavam que eram servos de Jeová, só que com o tempo o amor deles por ele diminuiu.
literal translation:
When Jesus was on Earth, He said that in the last days the love of the most would grow cold. (MAthews 24 3 12) This began to happen with the jews in the days of the apostles. These jews claimed to be servants of Jehovah, but in time their love for Him grew cold.
When I saw this I thought: What? Am I really still alive to see they start to abandon the teaching of the last days beginning in 1914? Because that's what they say when they teach the love growing cold is a sign of the last days and say that it started in the apostles' days.
It was even more stressed by the question for this paragraph:
1, 2. (a) Quando as palavras de Jesus em Mateus 24:12 começaram a acontecer?
literal translation:
1,2. (a) When did the words of Jesus in Mathews 24 12 begin to happen?
I was really excited to have spotted that. Sadly, that wasn't such a big moment as I initially thought. When I checked the original article in english I realized that this little change wasn't there:
ONE facet of the sign that Jesus gave regarding “the conclusion of the system of things” was that “the love of the greater number [would] grow cold.” (Matt. 24:3, 12) In the first century, the Jews, who claimed to be God’s people, allowed their love for God to grow cold. - W0517 p17
See that there's no "this began to happen" in the english version.
Even the original question for this paragraph emphasizes that there are more than one fullfillment of Jesus' words, by using the adverb 'initially'.
(a) To whom did Jesus’ words at Matthew 24:12 initially apply?
In the simplified version they use the adverb 'firstly'. So, my excitment went away when I saw that never had changed. They still stick to 1914 big time.
However, I find it still curious that this meaning have been lost in the translation for portuguese. There are plenty of words that the translator could have translated initially and firstly (inicialmente, primeiramente, etc). So I wonder if this omission wasn't on purpose. As I said, there's no linguistical reason for not to translate the adverbs,
Would there be someone who has awaken to TTATT in Brazilian branch and this was his/her first silent scream?
Something also sadly remarkable is that everybody will read and don't even notice that the first lines of the article contradicted one of their beliefs.