Posts by Eliveleth

78

That's It, I'm Talking Right Now, seriously, I'm on my cell phone right now

by cognac in

jw
friends

Eliveleth

Cognac, Honey,

We might visit a borne again church together...

I say GO FOR IT! Visit a lot of churches. Watch a lot of Christian TV! Find out what is out there. That is what I did when I first got out. Since I was a witness all my life, I needed to see if all the people who went to church were "wicked hypocrites". Found out that most every place I went, I found good people. (Not all of them, but a few everywhere) When you go seeking, asking Holy Spirit to guide you, you will enjoy finding out the many things Christians believe and you can sort out what you are able to accept at this point in your life. You will learn more and more as you open up your mind to hear.

May Jehovah bless you in your quest.

Love and hugs,

Velta

216

I'm a Pioneer Married To a Wonderful Brother Reaching Out to be an MS...

by cognac in

and petrified... i just recently became a pioneer and always had nagging questions in the back of my mind.

so, i decided that when i have get a study i would research all the questions as i go along so as to prove everything in the truth... i got 4 studies in about 2 months.

all was fine, until i reached i think chapter 6 in the bible teach book about the resurrection.

Eliveleth

Cognac,

In 1983, my husband and I found ourself in the same place as you are, questioning. We saw a lack of love on the part of the elders. We had seen in a magazine article that some who had left the WT were questioning whether the "great crowd" were on earth, rather saying they were in heaven. We had been reading the bible,(The New World Translation) with another family and we came across the scripture in Luke 11:11-13 where it saws "Indeed, which father is there among you who, if his son asks for a fish will perhaps hand him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he also ask for an egg, will hand him a scorpion? Therefore if you, although being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more so will the Father in heaven GIVE HOLY SPIRIT TO THOSE ASKING HIM!" I prayed for Holy Spirit to show me the truth (I was totally expecting it to be the truth of the Watchtower). However, I read the NWT three times to find the answer that the WT gives and could not find it. It was the beginning of our exodus from the WT. Just pray and let Jehovah guide you.

Love and hugs,

Velta

58

How Does a July 4th Lake Tahoe Apostafest Sound in California ?Let me Know

by flipper in

jw
friends

hello friends !

my wife, mrs. flipper and i were talking about getting an apostafest together for july 4th , 2008 weekend this summer.

this year the 4th falls on a friday, so it would at least be a 3 day holiday weekend when some may be able to get away !

Eliveleth

Well at my age that is a long time committment hee hee,

But if my husband and I are still here (he is 81 this year) we will be there. We live in the Sacramento area so it is just a little over an hour to get there. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Love and hugs,

Velta

30

Another One of my Friends Died this morning

by Undecided in

jw
friends

i guess i will have to just expect to handle death day by day.

i just hope i can last a few more good years.

we went to the coast together a few years ago and had a great time, my brother was also good friends with him also and went with us.

Eliveleth

Ken,

So sorry for your loss. It is hard to lose a good friend. I don't know how you feel, but I believe that those of us who die go to be with Jesus. My husband is 81 and I am 76 and as you get older you think more about death and that someday one of us will be alone. It gives me peace to believe that we will not be in any pain and we will be happy. Though we may not have any physical evidence that God exists, I feel that he has guided my life over the years, even as a JW. I believe that God reads our heart and knows who loves him regardless of our religion or lack thereof.

With love and hugs,

Velta

53

What has this religion become? THE WATCHTOWER madhouse

by Terry in

c.t.russell began with a personal "purpose" which was to find a way to believe in/worship god while doing away with the beliefs he found to be personally uncomfortable such as hellfire.

he shopped around and cherry picked 2nd adventist views as a foundation.

to this he added pyramidology.

Eliveleth

Terry,

Great insight. We got into the organization in the late 30s when Rutherford was at his most tyranical (or maynr at the beginning of his tyranny) when "Religion is a Snare and a Racket" and people gave up their homes and lives and became "pioneers" in their cars. I suppose the depression had a lot to do with that. I have seen all the changes you depicted and totally agree that what you are saying is the absolute truth. This is well written, as are all your posts, and to the point. If only the JW mind could see the truth, the real truth. So glad you are back, I hope everything is working out for you. From your post obviously it is.

Love and hugs,

Velta

37

Just wanted to say hi

by brandy lynn in

jw
friends

not sure where i should put this.

anyways i just wanted to say hello.. .

brandy lynn.

Eliveleth

Brandy Lynn,

Welcome! So glad to see you. I am new here too (relatively) I remember how scarey it was to do my first post. it gets easier. Hope you will tell us more about yourself.

Here is our website. www.geocities.com/veliveleth

Love and hugs,

Velta

29

Children at the meetings, how did you cope

by Mrs Smith in

my son was about 5 years old when we stopped going to the meetings.

the other day i asked him what he remembers about them (his now 14 years old).

he remembered the puzzles i bought him to play with during the meetings.. he remembered that i packed a sandwich and some juice for him to eat in case he got hungry.. when he got board i use to take him outside for a walk around the kh garden.

Eliveleth

What kind of Witnesses were you people? We used to take ours out and beat the crap out of them if they didn't sit like zombies for 2 hours.

We were raised in the "old" WT mindset. Children were to sit quietly, no toys, no books (besides the WT) no food, no nothing. We were raised that way, we raised our kids that way. We were expected to.

I feel so sorry now that I was so hard on my kids. It is inhuman to expect children to sit still for 2 hours or for 8 to 10 at the assemblies we went to. I remember the NW Yankee Stadium assembly of 1958. We would get there at 8 and not leave til 9 pm. It was hard on everyone, esp. children who were expected to sit and bear it without a whimper. God made children to be active. I now believe it is cruel to expect children to do nothing for that length of time. Since my husband was an elder from the time he was 17, more was expected of his children. We lived through the time when people were expected not to marry and if they did not to have children. It was a hard time for everyone. I suppose that people who did were seen as rebellious.

I pray that everyone who takes their children to the KH will realize that it is not possible for them to sit without something to do and to spank them for just doing what kids do is unconscienable.

I thank God that my grandchildren did not have to endure this. My children have forgiven me.

Love and hugs,

Velta

12

Remember "Frosty versus da Dubs" ?

by Nathan Natas in

jw
friends

i think it was last year, though it might have been the year before that, or the year before that.... one of our great crowd had a holiday display in front of their home.

the display featured a representation of frosty the snowman, a well-known icon of babylonish religion (he was known as zedikiah the snowman back then).

the display was vandalized by some dubs who lived next door to "casa frosty," and the vandalism was witnessed by neighbors.. at the time there was some discussion about how the incident should be handled.. as i recall, the dubs admitted their wrongdoing to the cops.

Eliveleth

Lady Liberty,

Justice is its own proper revenge. If you let people walk over your rights, you open up a whole "Pandora's box" of vandalism. You did the right thing. I know it was time-consuming and bothersome, but doing what is right is a reward in itself. We sued the WT when we were dfd in 1984. Didn't come to anything, but it sent a message.

Have a wonderful Christmas, full of love and lights.

Love and hugs,

Velta

31

feelings of guilt

by confused and lost in

as some of you are aware i am in the early stages of doubting the wts as the only channel of truth.however i am assailed by feelings of guilt.am i being seduced by the words of disgruntled witnesses or ex-witnesses or am i truly doubting !

!maybe some of you felt this way in the early stages of your "defection" from the wts.sometimes i feel as though i am rejecting god and his organization but other times i feel so strongly that the wts has misled me and is acting to control my "loyalty" by vieled threats of destruction at armageddon.you see prior to becoming a jw i had no religious affiliations.i knew nothing about the bible or god.so for 20 yrs i have only known watchtower teachings and un-learning 20yrs of this is making me so indesicive.am i doing the right thing or not ?

my only solace is prayer.i have prayed to god to show me in some way what the truth really is.i must admit that these prayers have been the most heartfelt i have ever said.have others felt this way and if so how did they deal with it ?i would truly appreciate some feedback.

Eliveleth

Steve,

There has been so much good advice given here, that there is not much to add.

We found the truth by asking Holy Spirit to guide us. You will be amazed how different the truth is when it is rightly interpreted. There is no organization out there, religious or otherwise that is the "Truth". The Bible says the truth is Jesus (John 14:6) I know so many exJWs who wasted years of their lives looking for "The Truth" in different religions. Churches are merely fellowships. Prayer and reading the Bible are the way to Truth. Do not be afraid of churches, they are not the abode of demons that they are portrayed by the WT. You will find good people who are searching for God the same as you.

When we were JWs I used to wonder why they would not permit us to read "outside" or critical things about the WT. I felt that if we had the truth, that we would benefit from hearing what others thought, that knowing what others thought would make our faith stronger. I guess they knew that they had weak arguments for what they teach. Each one of us can benefit by hearing what others believe and then letting Holy Spirit show us what is true. God gave us thinking minds. We need to use them.

I will be praying for God's direction in your life.

Love and hugs,

Velta

26

New to this Site

by prodigal_son in

jw
friends

i have been a disfellowshiped joho (what i call jehovah's witnesses now) for 7 years and i still find it hard every single day!

i have just recently reunited with 2 of my 4 sisters who have taken a stand just like myself!

i encourage anyone who is struggling with the decisoin to leave or not to leave, but beleive me and the countless others, it was the best decision of my life!!!

Eliveleth

Welcome Prodigal Son,

So glad you are here. I would love to hear your story. We all need each other. We lost our son and his family in the Watchtower. If you need surrogate grandparents, we are here. We need to talk about our experiences and this is a good place to do it.

Here is our website: www.geocities.com/veliveleth

Love and hugs,

"Gramma" Velta