so with all the study articles discussing new light some have speculated that something is in the works.
blondie pointed out that in 1995 there were also "new light" articles leading up to the generation and the "sheep and the goats" changes.
there was some debate on whether the new light on the generation was first released at the convention or in the autumn watchtower.
What if it's an information gathering strategy?
That's what I've been thinking reading this thread. I have two pictures in my head -
1) Some bethel spy sitting at the computer reading here and laughing at how far off the mark we are
or
2) Damm - these apostates are always one step ahead of us!! How do they know these things??????!!!!!
BB
i went to my mailbox, took out my mail, and what did i find?
a large envelope from my mother.
and guess what was inside?
Hi Josie,
I get things like this from my mom too. Back in January we went over to my moms for supper. As I was leaving she handed me a gift bag. I thought "oh how nice" - I wasn't expecting anything. When I got home and opened it up I had The Daily Text, a 2006 Calendar and the Jan WT and Awake. It wasn't exactly the gift I expected - even though I hadn't expected anything in the first place!! lol
BB
one of the best of the family-oriented shows of the 1970's
it had some very touching moments.. who remembers laura ingalls and nelly oleson ?.
blessedstar
OMG!!! That was my mothers favourite show - she never missed an episode - even if it was a meeting night we'd all get to stay home (loved it when the shows were on a Tuesday or Thursday night). We could hardly get through a show without crying.
BB
well, april 15 is fast approaching and i can procrastinate no longer.
so in preparing the figures for the tax man, i started looking at where our money is going.
something hit me as i was half way through.
My husbands suits have that same little film of dust on the shoulders. I haven't had to buy dressy clothes for a while now. I have a few casual skirts etc that I wear to work, but it's mostly slacks I wear to the office anyways. I now hate to wear pantyhose!! (Not that I ever really liked to but before I didn't have a choice.) My mom - a faithful JW has recently stopped buying a new outfit for all the normal JW occasions - Memorial, DA,CA, SAD etc. She says why bother anymore? Good for her! She has more clothes than I could ever wear in two years.
BB
We've never really had to say anything - it's been obvious to my side of the family (we lived in the same city at the time we started to fade). My mother has mentioned about going back - laid on the guilt about not seein loved ones again etc. My inlaws have heard from people they know in our city that they never see us at the hall (even though they are in a different cong).
We've been under most of the familes radar, but my bro-in-law is trying to become a MS and I think he's making it his personal mission to get us back, we'll have to see how much longer the peace will last.
BB
here is an email i sent to the nearest "convention center" that jw's are using this summer....
dear sirs,.
i hope you are able to assist me in my research.
I have never heard of concession stands being open for a convention.
BB
were you ever affected by seeing a man or even a teenager being made a ministerial servant or a young man being appointed an elder-----knowing that the person is not really qualified?
you could be thinking, "i can't believe he gets to be an elder when my husband (or brother or father or friend) is doing everything but headstands for the elders!
" when such appointments were made did you see to it that you would not go to that person for direction or counsel?
I knew several young brothers (elders kids) that were appointed MS by the age of 17/18. I knew what they did on the weekends (partying, drinking, fooling around with "sisters"), and so did several others, and it was even brought to the attention of some of the other elders in the hall, but because of who their fathers were, the appointments stuck.
I also knew another young "brother" that was appointed MS by 17. He was assigned to do a shepherding visit with my inlaws. My mother in law said she would not accept counsel from someone she used to change diapers for, send a more mature brother.
BB
i think you are all going to get a kick out of this, .
for those of you that don't know me, i have been out of the organization for almost 4.5 years but i have never been disfellowshipped nor have i disassociated myself.. last night after going out to a nice italian resturaunt with my girlfriend, father, and step-mom,( who never were part of the organization in the first place) my girlfriend and i said goodbye to them and we began the trip back to her place, which is 2.5 hours away.
before we got on the turnpike she said, "that she had to use the restroom and could i please stop off somewhere.
I've learned not to go to the grocery store after meetings, the place is just crawling with JW's.
BB
did it seem to you that a lot of congregations had more than the usual sick people in them when compared with their worldly neighbors?.
could it be a common problem among jw's?.
do you think it may be mold?.
I've never known a more sick group of people! I remember long ago - before it had a name - two sisters in my hall that suffered from envrionmental sensitivites - couldn't take the dust in the carpet, peoples perfume etc, and had to have the meetings taped for them (way before the phone hookups). It's funny they could go out to other places and not have any problems, just not to the hall or service. I've known many people with CFS, lupus, and other unexplained mystery illnesses that the dr's could never figure out what it was.
Then there were always the ones that would come to the hall no matter how sick they were, and they always seemed to sit behind me and cough and sneeze. Man I hated that. I got sick after every DA. I dreaded the DA because of how sick I'd get afterwards.
BB
rural service was always the most fun for me and my family.
we loved it.
i almost always drove out there and i mean out there from 14 to 25 miles from the hall we drove and then spent at least 1/2 of the day or all day out there in the "door to door" service.
I'd say 99.9% of my service hours were comprised of rural territory. We lived in a small town, surrounded by rural areas - and had alot of it to cover. I hated working in town, I didn't want anybody from my school to see me going door to door. My friends and I would try and get territory in a certain area - close to a rural resturant that had great french fries! We'd stop there and have a nice long break. The rural territory wasn't all fun and games though - those farm dogs could be nasty, and there was the odd time we had a rifle pointed at us and escorted off the property. Aaahhh what wonderful memories!! lol
BB
