Very recently, my boyfriend's married sister was about to convert, against the wishes of her husband and her entire family. My boyfriend and I immediately jumped on it, did our research, printed threads from this board, personal stories of x-JW's found on other sites, and basically bombarded her with information. I ordered Crisis of Conscience from Amazon and gave it to her.
Initially, she was very resentful. We rained on her parade. She brought the binder full of information we gave her to her cousin (the one who almost converted her) and he had very nice, calm answers to all of it. She bought it all from him. We didn't stop. My boyfriend (her brother) called her every day to say, "Well, how's it going? Whad'ja learn TODAY?" He'd listen, and then he'd sometimes try the humiliation trick.... for example, he asked her, "Say, would you mind coming over to fix my deck? Because since I'm going to be dead at Armaggedon, and YOU are going to survive, live in paradise or whatever, why should I fix my deck just for YOU and your jehovie friends to enjoy it? You know, you guys have to clean up after Armageddon and re-build the world. I guess you have to dispose of our bodies, too.... but only after the worms and bugs eat our eyes out. While we're at it, would you mind mowing my lawn? Because the jehovies in the neighborhood would appreciate it."
My boyfriend also discussed doctrine with her, and some bible stuff, but we found out quickly how crafty the JW's are at "bible hop-scotching" (a phrase I picked up from this board!) It's true. So we concentrated on the ridiculous policies of the Watchtower Society, its history and their false prophesies. Yes, they say "They've made mistakes... does that mean they're all bad?" We said, "No, it means they're not the voice of God, as they profess to be."
A couple of weeks ago, the sister told us she was having doubts, and said that if it were not for the information we provided to her, she would have converted. Of course, we felt triumphant! It's been a little while now, but today we noticed her car at the cousin's house. Hmmmm, maybe we need to give her a call. Bottom line, don't give up! Incidentally, we were raised in basic protestant churches, and we believe in God. Our God is a loving god, not one who condones breaking up families, shunning, judging, etc. We believe the JW's are admirable in their desire to live a "godly life." But we think that means something way different than what the Watchtower Society promotes, and something way different than what ultimately happens to the individual witness. I very rarely say "I'm right" about anything! But I KNOW I'm RIGHT about THIS! Like I said, don't give up.
