I just had a visit from my sister friend from my former cong, one of the few who still speaks to me. The elders have been counselling her against having any contact with me, but she has chosen to ignore them. After the school and service meeting last week, they took her on one side and really laid the law down regarding contact with me, even threatening a reproof if she continued our friendship. She was pretty upset by this, to say the least, when she phoned me later that night, and I told her there would be no hard feelings from me if she chose to obey the elders. However, she has chosen to ignore the elders, and has decided to take a short "rest" from meetings. She didn't go to last Thursday's book study, or yesterday, and she told me she isn't going tomorrow either, and probably not for a couple of weeks. It kind of reminds me of when I decided to take a rest from meetings, I never went back! I got the impression from talking to her just now that she is beginning to have some serious doubts about the wt, not enough to quit altogether maybe, but her faith in the borg has been shaken, that's for sure. I would love to encourage her to continue taking what could be the first few steps on the road to freedom, but decided to keep quiet and let her talk on this occasion. She also told me that I'd been the subject of nasty gossip in the past, just after I left, and this upset her, and the elders had really painted a bad picture of me when they spoke to her last week, especially when she remarked that I seemed happier now than I ever was in the borg. I got the impression she sort of envies my carefree lifestyle nowadays, compared to the bs she has had to put up with of late.
I am not sure really how to play this at the moment, if she is thinking of leaving the borg then I will help and encourage her in any way I can, but I don't want to push too hard for fear of pushing her back in. I would be thrilled to be the instigator of another one breaking free though, far more than I ever was getting someone to study with me when I was a dub. I told her I will be there for her whenever she needs me, and encouraged her to look on this board when she can. She does not have the internet at home but gets limited access at work. I told her she is welcome to come here and take a look when I am in, and she may do that. If and when that happens, I will let you all know she's here.
Just keep your fingers crossed for me, and her, and I'll keep you all updated on how things progress.