Elder's advice we remember

by Newborn 19 Replies latest jw friends

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  sd-7

  To paraphrase one elder's advice--it was a comment made at a meeting--if you did research in the Watchtower Publications Index, you wouldn't need to keep bothering elders all the time with your problems. <--Wow! Like the shepherd saying to the sheep, find your own d*** resting place! What're you botherin' me for?

  Same elder: If you're experiencing any discomfort over someone having been disfellowshipped, just remember, in Israel, they would've been stoned to death. <--In other words, "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."

  Another elder: Have some alcohol to deal with your problems. <--Well, maybe I'll just not have 2 wives and 8 kids like you did, that'll probably be a smarter solution to the problem.

  Shaving the wool off the sheep and then stuffin' it in their eyes. Gotta love 'em.

  -sd-7
• 

  james_woods

  I was told by an elder to sell my 1969 Porsche 911T Targa and get a four-door Chevy "because that thing is not a pioneer's car".

  I did eventually sell it - traded it in 1972 on a 1972 911T Coupe. I had quit pioneering by then and gone back to college.
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  S EIGHT

  When attending a Judicial as a witness against an elder for telling lies, another elder who wanted to see the chap destroyed made a point of ensuring I knew exactly what to say and how to destroy him.

  Nice.

  Brotherly love and harmony.

  S8
• 

  undercover

  Not an elder, but a pioneering MS, who came from a long line of elders and was on his way to being one himself told me one day in service...

  Paraphrased as best as I can remember: don't rush to get married. don't rush to have kids. don't rush to be a responsible adult with family and mortgage and responsibilities. enjoy your youth. get the cool car you want. get the cool stereo you want. do what interests you while you have the time and freedom. travel, see places, meet people. too many JW youth rush to get married and then the first kid comes along and then they have to work hard just to meet the bills. one shouldn't have to go from high school to being just like your dad...married, having kids, working full time, never owning/doing/seeing the things he wanted when he was young.

  It made an impression on me... and I followed that advice more than all the advice from elders who encouraged pioneering, Bethel, serving where the need was greater, etc etc. I didn't get married young, I didn't have kids right away. I did enjoy material things and the cars I liked and I did get to travel. I think also that not being tied down to the typical JW lifestyle allowed me to see the world from a different viewpoint, which in some small way may have helped when I finally started breaking free from the WTS.

  The sad thing is though that the JW that gave me that advice became an elder, served for many years as an elder, got deleted for a scandal but then worked his way back and is an elder again. I see him around town once in awhile and I see he became exactly what he advised me to avoid.
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  wasblind

  I was told by an Elder that he did'n't see what children got out of being in Football, the band, cheerleading and other extracurricular activites.
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  Lozhasleft

  When I tackled an elder about his favouritism for wealthy bros and sis in our group and ignored a poor sister in need (based on the scriptures in James)...he said...'you shouldnt take so much notice of the James book...'....idiot!

  Loz x
• 

  Magwitch

  Marrying someone very spiritual will make for a solid marriage.

  I think I should have concentrated on someone mentally stable and who had some respect for women. But, No - I had to find the most spiritual man there was.
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  Nobleheart

  He told me my service skills were great and he'd come up with an idea. So he just handed me a regular pioneer application form and told me to think of it. As if I had another choice..
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  wasblind

  "He told me my service skills were great and he'd come up with an idea. So he just handed me a regular pioneer application form and told me to think of it. As if I had another choice.."

  looks as if volunteering became mandatory
• 

  out4good3

  Told by a group of elders, with my wife bobble-heading to their advice, that going to school was a waste of time, that I'd never make more than minimum wage in what I was studying, and that the time would be more productive spent out is service....

  You can imagine all their surprises when after I finished school two years later, I quadrupled my income, got a job with great bennies, moved into a 3800 sq. ft. two story house, got a pilot's certificate, finished a second 2 yr AA degree, will be finishing a BA degree next year,......

  ....and now the wife enjoys the privilege of not having had to have worked for the last 15 years.