For those of you who don't go to meetings anymore...

by exwitless 62 Replies latest jw experiences

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  exwitless

  Wow, thanks, guys. I really enjoyed reading your stories. It makes me sick, though, some of the horrible hateful things said. The submarine comment would've struck a raw nerve with me for sure.

  It was surprizing how creepy the Memorial was (in 2006, my last meeting). It was the first and only meeting I attended after I was already convinced I was done with dubdom. It was just weird, depressing, boring, demoralizing, and sickening. When we exited the KH, I literally had those 'creeped out' chills run down my back. It was like waking up from a bad dream that kinda makes you feel uneasy for awhile.
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  bem

  The last time I attended a meeting I had been missing a lot of meeting prior to that, since every lie and hurtful thing our family had gone through were starting to weigh very heavily on me, we were at the memorial, happily I cannot remember the date/ year, the talk was terrible, the speaker was one of vain'est hateful'est elders I had ever met and my youngest son was miserable, I remember looking at him sitting beside me knowing we were both "sick" from the meetings sick at heart,soul and mind, I knew when we walked out that night it would be the last meeting for him, and soon enough I found it to be the last meeting for me as well.
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  Abandoned

  When you attended your last meeting ever as a dub, did you KNOW it was your last?

  No, I didn't. I don't remember the last meeting I attended but I do remember the way I felt - guilty as sin for smoking. The funny thing is that now, without the guilt, I gave up smoking easily.
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  38 Years

  I can't remember my last meeting. It could have been a Memorial, since I was fading and only went for that to make my mom happy.

  I do remember when I told my family and co-workers that I quit and was not going back - October 2004 !
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  sacrebleu

  I don't have the date. I wish I did. But I do remember the last meeting.

  My baby son and I had been really sick. I had not been out in service for quite a while but had been sick for a long time. I went to a special talk by some visiting "dignitary" and afterward told him it was interesting. He leaned into my face and said, "You are xxxxx, aren't you?"

  I said yes. Then he hatefully said, "You have not been out in service for six months." I thought for a minute and then replied that was probably true. He did not ask after my health, my finances, my children, my marriage, my transportation needs. NOTHING.

  He looked at me with hatred and pronounced the judgement, "YOU ARE NO JEHOVAH'S WITNESS!!"

  I was crushed at first, but then stumbled to the car and just sat there in the summer heat and thought about what he'd said. My loving heavenly Father gradually, slowly brought Scriptures to my mind about wolves in sheep's clothing and others like that. I finally decided that if I had to be that HATEFUL AND HAUGHTY, maybe I wasn't a JW. I never went back.

  I truly do wish I knew the date. I wrote my letter later after reading C of C and getting tired of their un-announced visits. I never answered the door.

  sacrebleu
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  Lapuce

  I didn't know when it was my last meeting, but I knew that I will never go back as they told me in a phone call not too long ago, to say with my wife even if she didn't want to sleep with me anymore and be in a different room. I am now seperated, met a great woman and soon will be divorced and have a new life, and DF'ed as a bonus.... free at last.
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  sammielee24

  No - didn't know it would be the last. I do recall exactly what that moment was though. After being shunned to the extreme and forced to embrace the 'world', we started to see that the 'world' was full of good people and full of promise and beauty. When your family spout love and brotherhood to you but show none of that when you need them most, it opens your eyes pretty fast and changes every relationship you have at that moment forever. When the Elder starting harping on 'bad association' and 'worldly people' and 'they are in Satans world and his grasp'..and on and on ad nauseum, it was way too much for us. Looking around at the nodding heads and knowing that not one of them could care less if anyone outside their little group lived or died - it was just way too hypocritical. We stood up and walked out during the meeting and have never gone back - never will. sammieswife.
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  Mincan

  I knew the last regular meeting I went to would be the "last" in that regular sense of the word.

  I have nothing against going to meetings, assemblies, conventions, etc, so long as it furthers my purpose.

  Since my last meeting as a regular attender, I've been to a special assembly, and a district convention. Might go to another convention next year hopefully

  Actually, I think this coming week I'm going to get baked and go to a meeting :D that would be so funny!
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  jambon1

  This entails quite a momentous & happy time for me.

  I had been trying to pluck up the courage to make the break for months. It was going to be so hard to do. I put it off for over a year.

  A couple of things happened in the lead up to me deciding to bolt. All within a few weeks.

  The 1st was when I went to a brothers house for a 'lads day' watching the football on TV. The m/s that was in our company basically victimised me that day. He was one of these self-righteous prats & he didn't like my 'laid back' approach to being a witness. I was a fellow m/s in the same cong.

  The guy basically tried to bully me that day, in front of other people. I think it may have had to do with a bit of jealousy & a number of other matters. He and his wife had lots of problems with people. You know the type.

  At that time, I had been socialising a lot with worldy people & having a really good time. Most of the worldy people were my family (all non JW's) & their friends.

  I began to think; why is it that when I am going out with the witnesses, I am coming home sad, angry & upset at their self-righteous, petty attitutudes? Yet, when I am with the bad people, I am feeling refreshed & happy?

  That was in Dec 2005.

  The last straw was a few weeks later in Jan 2006. I had basically decided to leave. It was just a matter of outing myself. That Saturday, I went to a football game & felt great. A massive burden lifted. No more having to put up with the crushing weight of being a JW. That night however, I had a JW wedding reception to attend with my wife.

  We went. It was murder!

  I watched all these people in their cliques, treating others with disdain because they were weak JW's. One pioneer sister treated us appalingly. A number of years before this, I had painted her house (for free). She used to suck up to us because we were usefull to her. We felt sorry for her & helped her out a lot.

  Now though, she had her older husband who was very wealthy. It was like looking at a completely different person. The chronic fatigue had gone, the shoddy old clothes had gone as well. She obviously thought that she was a cut above us now. Honestly. We had always been nothing but nice to her. Now, she shunned us like we were trash. Turned her nose up to us whenever we came close to her. I couldn;t understand it. I still don't.

  I looked around at all this and knew it was the final end.

  The next morning I went to the meeting & never looked up from my seat, never followed along in my WT, never read a scripture. I was too busy trying to work out how I was going to handle the next few months/years!!

  I walked out of that building as a respected ministerial servant. The next day (Monday), I broke the news to my wife. I have never been near a KH since that day.
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  Frequent_Fader_Miles

  My last meeting was the Memorial of 2002. At that point I was hardly attending meetings anyway, but decided to attend the Memorial (out of my area) just for the heck of it. After seeing all those false smiles, and pretend happiness I simply decided not to attend ever again. Haven't been to a KH since ... as a matter of fact, I don't even pass outside a KH if I don't have to.