Hi everyone!
This morning I was in our front yard sitting down pulling weeds when I saw 3 people slowly walking on the sidewalk in my direction. 2 of them were young, handsome, clean shaven, wearing nice crisp white shirts and perfectly tailored black slacks. They could have been Mormons Except.... There was a 60ish portly woman wearing a frumpy dress and ugly sandals. They were carrying a fistful of tracts and no visible devices. I didn't recognize any of them
As they got near to where I was, the sister separated and walked up to me while the brothers kept walking down the block. As I looked carefully at her face I saw kindness and sincerity so I decided to have a conversation with her instead of being dismissive or rude.
I let her greet me and comment about how nice i was making my yard look and that i was setting a good example for the neighbors. I made a little joke that actually, my neighbors are probably relieved I'm finally doing it. Then i asked, "Are you Jehovah's Witnesses" At this point my goals were to control the conversation and make her think. Before she could say more than "Yes we are" I smiled and said "Oh, I was one myself for 60 years. I told her about my Grandmother who took Russel's books and became an IBSA Just a few miles from here. Then, my parents coming in during Rutherford's time, The name change in 1931. That I had pioneered, etc etc.
After the long introduction I told her that what caused me to honestly examine my own religion after so many years of asking others to, was a simple question from my husband's JW friend. "Hey, what's the deal with the Menlo Park congregation?" So I googled it. I really encourage you to do that too. It's a real eye-opener! Her eyes got big.
Then she said she had left JWs for awhile herself. I didn't want to ask why because I had more to say before she left or shut down. So I told her that when i was recovering from surgery I had more time to research. I told her the story of Malawi and Mexico and asked her "Do you think God, Jehovah loves the Mexican brothers more than the African brothers? NO! she exclaimed. I told her how hard I had cried for those brothers and sisters and the many letters I wrote.
That my hubby's uncle was the branch overseer in Mexico at the time and they allowed the brothers there to be technically in the army whereas the ones in Malawi couldn't carry a card basically saying they were a citizen. I asked her who set the vastly different policies with such drastically different outcomes. Was it Jehovah? NO! she said with a troubled expression. "Of course not" I said, This was the administration from the "Society".
I knew this was time to wrap things up so I concluded by saying "If you are happy where you are Then you are probably where you should be. But I really encourage you to check out for yourself what I have said. I wish you well. Then I went into the house for water.