Posts by Moomin

55

how evil are you

by peacefulpete in

jw
friends

.

take the test:.

how evil are you?

DID YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH ELDERS IN YOUR CONGREGATIONS?

by badboy in

jw
friends

any takers?

The girl who conducted my study was the wife of an elder. He was a nightmare, they both were. He was the same age as me so was the youngest elder in the congregation but he was so pig-headed and thought himself superior as him and his wife were the only pioneers.

I went out on fs with him and his wife a few times and all they ever did was return visits and none of them were ever in. They would just stand at the door for ages and ages and then eventually write a note and put it through the letterbox with the mags. The rest of the time while his wife was on a study, he would be sitting in his car eating junk food and listening to the radio.

Once he gave a talk telling everyone that if you never seem to find anyone in then go to the nearest town and do some street witnessing. He would never do that himself though. I felt quite confused by all of this as him and his wife had been invited to talk about themselves at the convention. They said it was an enourmous blessing from Jehovah so they must be really pleasing him?!?!?!?!?

He would ask me who's talks I thought his were better than. He had this really irritating way of pronouncing the word 'nothing' as 'nuffink' and 'something' as 'sumfink'. I remember reading a WT article about making sure you pronounce your words correctly when giving talks. Whenever this elder gave a talk as soon as he mispronounced a word it would completely distract me as I would sit there and wonder why no one has said anything (or should I say anyfink?).

Once while his car was parked in the kh carpark during the Sunday meeting, someone had smashed his car windows and stolen his belongings. It was all very odd being as it was broad daylight and no attendant noticed. His wife told everyone that it was Satan influencing the local youths to try and stop them from pioneering as they were obviously doing such a great job ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? (see above)

I'm glad their child wasn't in the car at the time as one of the worst things I heard them say is that when their son was ill with Chicken Pox they didn't want to let anything prevent them from attending the memorial so they left him in the car!!!

12

Welcome to so many New ones...Question...

by xjwms in

jw
friends

.

i found this place from randy's ..."freeminds".

how did you begin your search?

Moomin

Hi

I found it through google. I keep hearing about Randy but am yet to look at his site. When I asked my elder friend about the Watchtower being a member of the UN, he said "quite frankly I wouldn't believe what you read on something thats called 'randy.tv'" . I said I didn't know what he was talking about as I saw the Watchtower listed on the actual UN website.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=watchtower+site%3Aun.org&btnG=Search&meta=

I don't think he realises that Randy is a popular name in America whereas over here its a word to mean feeling sexy. He probably thought it was some kind of immoral site filled with porn and lies about the Watchtower hehe.

34

Baptized July 05. Left Dec 05.

by Moomin in

i have been lurking on these forums for about 6 months and thought it was time to join in.. i was a child/teen when i first became introduced to jehovah's witnesses through my mum who studied for a while but never fully committed.

i had a study and attended some meetings but it all petered out by the time i hit my late teens and we moved to another town.. for the following 10 years i just lived my life how i pleased.

got married etc.

Moomin

BizzyBee - I know I felt quite betrayed actually. I don't know why I didn't put 2 & 2 together though. She never saw her grandchildren because of it but she hoped that after armageddon she would be given them as her own to bring up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. :(

34

Baptized July 05. Left Dec 05.

by Moomin in

i have been lurking on these forums for about 6 months and thought it was time to join in.. i was a child/teen when i first became introduced to jehovah's witnesses through my mum who studied for a while but never fully committed.

i had a study and attended some meetings but it all petered out by the time i hit my late teens and we moved to another town.. for the following 10 years i just lived my life how i pleased.

got married etc.

Moomin

Thanks LittleToe and yes I have named myself after the animation. I do resemble a small hippo on occassion, especially when seated.

NewYork44M - I can understand how the old man must have felt. I was having serious second thoughts the week beforehand and wanted to postpone it but was too scared to say anything. So I just put my feelings down to Satan's influence and went ahead with it.

WasenelderOnce - During my 10 years away from it, I wasn't aware of the generation change and I was still confidently telling my friends how those that witnessed 1914 will still be alive when the end comes. I had lots of heated discussions with a boyfriend about why I will never need a pension.

truthsetsonefree - I remember the lady who I got lifts with to the meetings told me that she doesn't speak to her daughter anymore but said she'll tell me why another time. I thought that she meant when she gets to know me better as a friend or when its less painful to talk about but no, she waited until I was baptized and then explained that it was because her daughter was df and she had to shun her.

9

Article about HIV

by Moomin in

jw
friends

during one of my book studies, the subject of hiv came up.

i was told that if a brother or sister was infected with the virus then they should humbly accept the fact that some people may not want them in their homes.

so anyone with the virus will be able to attend meetings at the kh but not the book study or any social gatherings.

Moomin

Hi

During one of my book studies, the subject of hiv came up. I was told that if a brother or sister was infected with the virus then they should humbly accept the fact that some people may not want them in their homes. So anyone with the virus will be able to attend meetings at the KH but not the book study or any social gatherings.

They explained how an African sister had caught the virus from a patient because she had given him mouth to mouth. I found this really difficult to believe as I'm sure the chances of catching it that way are exceptionally unlikely if possible at all? I expressed this to them and they said "well it was an article in the WT".

I really struggled with it as I thought that if the Watchtower said it then it must be true. I thought that what if the nurse and the patient both had ulcer/sores on their lips then maybe the virus could pass through that way?

Either way I was really quite surprised at their view on an infected person. Also my study conductor went on to develop a stinking cold that she quite happily spread around the KH and others homes and she really was contagious. Has anyone else heard of anything like this or maybe know of the Watchtower or Awake article?

29

Experiences the WTS does not want you to hear at the Assembly!!!

by thepackage in

jw
friends

you know how on the last day of a district assembly the chairman always give these great experiences about how the dubs that attended the assembly had great spiritual experiences while at dinner or at the hotel.

well, hears one you will not hear.

for about five straight years, a friend of mine (whose father was a jerk elder who thought anybody who drank should be df) would leave the assembly at lunchtime each day, go to a bar near the convention, and get drunk out of his mind!!!

Moomin

Oh sorry, I didn't read the title properly.

29

Experiences the WTS does not want you to hear at the Assembly!!!

by thepackage in

jw
friends

you know how on the last day of a district assembly the chairman always give these great experiences about how the dubs that attended the assembly had great spiritual experiences while at dinner or at the hotel.

well, hears one you will not hear.

for about five straight years, a friend of mine (whose father was a jerk elder who thought anybody who drank should be df) would leave the assembly at lunchtime each day, go to a bar near the convention, and get drunk out of his mind!!!

Moomin

Last year on the last day of the DC, the speaker started talking about the London bombings. He said how there were three people on the bus, the one in the middle was a JW and was reading his days text. When the explosion happened a young girl next to him had her leg(s) blown off and the person on the other side was killed, the JW however was barely scratched. My study conductor later expained how you will always be protected if you have your days text or any other bible literature with you.

The speaker then told of a girl who was on her way to work in London on the morning of 07/07. As she rushed to catch her train she remembered that she hadn't read her days text that morning so she turned round and went straight back home again. This resulted in her missing the train which turned out to be the one with the bomb.

As the speaker was telling these experiences, he sounded so cocky and smarmy it made my skin crawl. I already had to fight with the really loud bs sirens going off in my head. I kept thinking, if I hadn't read the days text I would have just thought "oh well I'll read it tonight". Was there some kind of rule that you had to read them in the morning? I felt so gutted that I found it so unbelievable as I had only been baptised the day before. I later told my unbelieving husband what was said and I just felt so embarrassed.

34

Baptized July 05. Left Dec 05.

by Moomin in

i have been lurking on these forums for about 6 months and thought it was time to join in.. i was a child/teen when i first became introduced to jehovah's witnesses through my mum who studied for a while but never fully committed.

i had a study and attended some meetings but it all petered out by the time i hit my late teens and we moved to another town.. for the following 10 years i just lived my life how i pleased.

got married etc.

Moomin

Thank you all for being so welcoming.

My husband is really pleased that I have left. He has already been posting on here under the name skeptic2. He came with me to the convention on the morning I got baptised. He said he had never felt so insulted in all his life and he felt sorry for the children.

That afternoon when he had gone, the speaker told everyone to be careful of their belongings as not everyone there were Jehovah's Witnesses! I was glad he didn't have to hear that.

Towards the end of the year I got given a form to sign to state that I wouldn't accept blood. They handed it out at the meeting . The PO spoke about the section where you can accept the different fractions as a matter of conscience. He then said that just because its a matter of conscience it doesn't mean its ok?!?!?!?! I was really fuming by that comment, it was like emotional blackmail. I felt like God had given us free will but the WT took it away. I knew in my heart of hearts I wasn't going to sign it as with other WT interpretations of scripture, this one seemed kind of flakey and I wasn't prepared to end my life and ruin the lives of my loved ones. At times I felt ashamed of myself for feeling this way as others spoke about it with such ease even regarding their own children. I wondered if they were all doing the right thing and putting God first but I just couldn't false myself to feel differently.

I took the form home and put it through the shredder. I told my study conductor's husband in an email how I felt and he basically told me that I need to keep attended the meetings to prove that my seed had not fallen on rocky ground. I asked him who I was proving that to as God knew what was in my heart and to just be present at the KH seemed quite worthless when I was swamped with so many doubts. I recognised from his comment and from his past behaviour that it is all about what the other people see rather than God.

Theres so many things that I'd like to talk about, I still feel in a state of shock by it all and how it was so condensed within a few months. Iw ill try and keep my posts shorter in future.

Thanks again for all your replies.

34

Baptized July 05. Left Dec 05.

by Moomin in

i have been lurking on these forums for about 6 months and thought it was time to join in.. i was a child/teen when i first became introduced to jehovah's witnesses through my mum who studied for a while but never fully committed.

i had a study and attended some meetings but it all petered out by the time i hit my late teens and we moved to another town.. for the following 10 years i just lived my life how i pleased.

got married etc.

Moomin

Hi,

I have been lurking on these forums for about 6 months and thought it was time to join in.

I was a child/teen when I first became introduced to Jehovah's Witnesses through my mum who studied for a while but never fully committed. I had a study and attended some meetings but it all petered out by the time I hit my late teens and we moved to another town.

For the following 10 years I just lived my life how I pleased. Got married etc. But I never stopped believing that the witnesses had the truth. I was always determined that someday soon I would go back and really work hard at learning about God and the Bible.

To cut a long story short, I attended the memorial in March 05, was out on field service a couple of months later and then I got baptised in July of that year at the convention in Norwich. I was really up for it all at first and couldn't wait to learn new things. I am still reeling from the shock of how quickly I became so miserable and no matter how much studying I did I never felt like I was learning anything about the Bible. It seemed to be either overly simplistic and quite patronizing or so fanatical that I felt embarrassed to read it.

I was also so surprised by the amount of back stabbing and competitive spirit in my congregation and I found the nosiness quite sickening. They were obsessed with getting my husband interested from day one and so I found myself every week talking about the reasons why he wasn't interested but they continued to tell me to show him magazines and videos. I wasn't assertive enough to tell them that I thought it very unfair that I felt so pressured to make my husband see that its the truth when I was so new to it still. I was determined to just keep my head down and get on with things but found that it just wasn't possible.

There were lots of things that I experienced that made me start to dread the meetings and the field service and often when I came home afterwards I would just sit there with a knot in my chest. The last meeting I attended was the Thursday before christmas and I knew as I sat there it would be my last. A few weeks later I read Crisis of Conscience and shortly after sent my DA letter.

I look forward to joining in from now on.