Hi everyone,
So I've been reading the forums for a few days now and finally decided to register. Must say I love some of the posts on this site. I just read the one from Amazing about Masturbation in the '73 Watchtower. I laughed for quite a while. I could use some advice on my current situation, but first I wanted to mention this. About 10 years ago, my family decided to move to the Spanish language field to help out where the need is greater. I was 13 when we moved, and am now completely fluent in Spanish. Reading, writing, everything. The reason I mention this is I read a post the other day where some were wanting to translate a letter sent to all BoEs but they only had it in Spanish. If you receive any letters and need help with translation, I am here to help. I have worked as a translator before, and currently use my Spanish for work.
Now on to the juicy stuff. I have been of the 'conscious class' for about a year now. It all started with a girl from work. Big surprise. I was not interested in her at first, but as we started talking over the months, I began to like her. One day, I sat down with her, and told her I was not ready to date. I told her I liked her, but was one of JW's and wanted to pursue my spritual career more before I started dating. That of course was not true, I simply wanted to nip it in the bud, because she was Worldly, and that is what I was supposed to do. She said ok, and then asked me a few things about the Org. I answered as best I could, and we went our seperate ways. I should add that I answered all her questions pitifully. I knew my stuff. I have pioneered for 2 1/2 years. Been to pioneer school. Conducted the congregation book study in Spanish, etc. But she asked questions in ways I had never thought of before. Totally threw me off guard. Anways, moving on.
That weekend, I sat down and thought of all the questions she asked. I asked myself why I couldn't answer her questions like I should be able to. I realized that I didn't believe half the stuff I was spouting. That realization didn't come all at once though. It took time. But that following Monday, I talked to her again and said I wasn't sure if I believed everything I had tried to explain. If I remember correctly, we started getting involved, and would go golfing after work. (I'm a golf nut.) As we got more involved, I decided to research everything I had been taught, reexamining everything with new eyes. My motivation was to prove the truth to myself. I was shocked when I found this on Wikipedia.
Jerusalem destroyed in 587 B.C.E........WTF? 587? That's gotta be wrong I thought. I figured I can't trust Wikipedia. So I googled some more, and sure enough, every other source says 587 B.C.E. I asked my mom about it, and she had no idea what I was talking about. So I did some research on the CD Rom to see what I could find. Here is what I found.
{29 However, based primarily on such secular records, some persons figure that Jerusalem was destroyed in 587/6 B.C.E. and that the Jews came under Babylonian domination in Nebuchadnezzar’s accession year, which they calculate as being 605 B.C.E. They thus hold 605 B.C.E. to be the date when Jeremiah 25:11 began to be fulfilled: “All the land shall be a desolation; and they shall serve among the Gentiles seventy years.” (Bagster’s Greek Septuagint) If that were so and the Gentile Times were counted from then, it would put the end of the prophetic “seven times” in the World War year of 1916. Yet, as stated, we believe that there is much stronger reason for accepting the information in God’s inspired Word, which points to the Gentile Times’ beginning in October 607 B.C.E. and ending in October of 1914 C.E.}
That was taken directly from the CD. I don't know what book it is, but it has the initials kc. Regardless, there was a little bit more on the subject, but in my mind, not a lot. An