Fishbulb

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Posts by Fishbulb

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  20

  How do I find my old friend?

  by Fishbulb in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a long time ago, well, 1992, hurricane andrew hit the homestead area of southern florida.

  among the relief work, the witnesses jumped in to help, mainly their own.

  before i was even baptized i headed down with a group of "brothers" to join in the relief work.

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  Fishbulb

  I got permission to post a few pics of my dear Byron and his Jason.
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  20

  How do I find my old friend?

  by Fishbulb in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a long time ago, well, 1992, hurricane andrew hit the homestead area of southern florida.

  among the relief work, the witnesses jumped in to help, mainly their own.

  before i was even baptized i headed down with a group of "brothers" to join in the relief work.

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  Fishbulb

  Talked to him again tonight. It's really weird because it's as if no time has passed and we picked up right where we left off. His partner is a really cool guy and very understanding, not minding at all that Byron is on the phone with me catching up. I have told my fiance about it all. I was very apprehensive to mention anything as I did not know how he would take it. Well, suffice it to say that We already had a trip planned in October to go to Orlando. My Partner suggested they drive up from Miami and meet us in central Florida. What is happening? This is a little too surreal and I am loving every minute of it! During our conversation I explained to Byron that I didn't want another minute of my life to pass without his friendship in my life and he just plainly said I would never have to worry about that ever again. I apologized over and over again for not being there for him when he needed me and he forgave me repeatedly explaining that he understood where I was at the time mentally. He said he never held it against me. MY GOD I NEVER DREAMED IT WOULD TURN OUT SO WELL I am so damned happy that I shall curl up tonight and fall asleep watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" A happy ending indeed, but it appears that this is just the beginning.
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  20

  How do I find my old friend?

  by Fishbulb in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a long time ago, well, 1992, hurricane andrew hit the homestead area of southern florida.

  among the relief work, the witnesses jumped in to help, mainly their own.

  before i was even baptized i headed down with a group of "brothers" to join in the relief work.

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  Fishbulb

  Guys, I FOUND HIM!!!!!!!!!! He and his partner are fine and still living in Miami. The updates will come soon enough but he sounds and looks the same as the last time I saw him. So wonderful, just so so wonderful. If I get permission from him I will post the pics of him and of his husband. MY GOD that was a bitch to do but I honestly thought it would be a little harder. lolol
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  20

  How do I find my old friend?

  by Fishbulb in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a long time ago, well, 1992, hurricane andrew hit the homestead area of southern florida.

  among the relief work, the witnesses jumped in to help, mainly their own.

  before i was even baptized i headed down with a group of "brothers" to join in the relief work.

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  Fishbulb

  Yes, as I was trying to concoct a plan I realized it would be best if I left religion out of it. That worked with Marlene but since this is his father, who may still be very hurt by his son not being a witness, might not be in the proper frame of mind to give out info if some random "witness" called asking about his disfellowshipped son. If it's all kept secular it simplifies everything.
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  20

  How do I find my old friend?

  by Fishbulb in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a long time ago, well, 1992, hurricane andrew hit the homestead area of southern florida.

  among the relief work, the witnesses jumped in to help, mainly their own.

  before i was even baptized i headed down with a group of "brothers" to join in the relief work.

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• 

  Fishbulb

  Update: Okay. Progress has been made but I haven't found Byron yet. If you recall, the three friends I met during the relief work were Dustin, Marlene and the guy I am trying to find, Byron. I opened up accounts on Facebook and Myspace, placed an ad in the missing connections on Craigslist for southern Florida and finally bit the bullet an paid for a 24 hour pass to do as many people searches. Yesterday, using the people search site I subscribed to, I tracked down Marlene. She and her husband Brady had moved to New Jersey. They had moved there 10 years ago because of his job and Marlene had planned on volunteering as a dental assistant at Bethel. They are both still Witnesses and, for the sake of keeping my search going, I had to pretend I was still in the Borg to get a bit of information out of her. Under the guise of reminiscing I was able to confirm Byron's last name, his parents names, and his last known whereabouts. With that info, I ran a people search. I got a number that didn't work, but along with that I got the number to his parents house using the info Marlene gave me. Well now the next step. I am gonna have to call Byron's dad, as his mother passed away a while back, and tryi to get him to give me his gay-disfellowshipped son's phone number. Piece of cake.
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  20

  How do I find my old friend?

  by Fishbulb in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a long time ago, well, 1992, hurricane andrew hit the homestead area of southern florida.

  among the relief work, the witnesses jumped in to help, mainly their own.

  before i was even baptized i headed down with a group of "brothers" to join in the relief work.

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  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Fishbulb

  A long time ago, well, 1992, Hurricane Andrew hit the Homestead area of southern Florida. Among the relief work, the witnesses jumped in to help, mainly their own. Before I was even baptized I headed down with a group of "brothers" to join in the relief work. It was actually a wonderful experience and the personal reward for helping those in need was something I will never forget. While there I made some fast friends. Dustin, a troubled young brother from Orlando who was not long for he truth, Marlene, a young sister from the Miami area, and Byron a young, adorable brother from Miami.
  
  Years passed and soon things changed. Byron, who set off my pre-self aware gaydar like a bottle rocket called one day to tell me he was gay and being disfellowshipped. I told him that I was fighting gay tendencies too and that I felt bad for him and what he was going through. I told him that I would always be his friend and would always love him and hoped things would work out. He was disfellowshipped.
  
  Later that year I went back to visit Marlene after she got married. It was a nice trip but kind of weird. We all missed Byron. Dustin, up in Orlando was falling on some really tough times and kind of disappeared.
  
  Time:Present day.
  
  I can't get Byron out of my head. I left the organization back in 2005 after coming to terms with my sexuality and the regret of what I may have missed is overwhelming. I wish I had been there for him in a more supportive way, but I was doing what I thought to be right. I regret my moves but want so badly to find Byron even if just to apologize.
  
  If I only have his first and last name, and the region he was in, how do I even begin to find him?
  
  Please help.
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  41

  I feel like I'm being pushed away

  by heybaby in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ok, so here's my story as it stands right now.

  my husband and i have been married for 6 1/2 years.

  about 2 weeks after we were married, he was appointed as a ministerial servant.

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  Fishbulb

  WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME!!!!!!!
  The hours. It was all about the hours. In the 13 years that I was a baptized witness I worked my ass off to keep my hours far above average often times auxiliary pioneering (60hrs). It was my goal to become a servant and I was never once appointed. Why? It changed from visit to visit but finally when I had done everything they asked of me and I still was not appointed, they began to pick on my hours which averaged 9 hrs a month at that point. That's when my brain began to snap and I almost instantly stopped going out in service all together as I had finally realized it was more about the numbers than it was actually teaching people the bible and more about appearance than effort.
  What was interesting, though, is that despite never being appointed I clearly saw the boys club in full swing. Oh the political wrangling that would go on in my old hall. It mostly happened either in the back school during the meetings or in a "brief" elders meeting right after amen.
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  15

  Of the one's DF'd here, how many have been called on by the Elders?

  by Fishbulb in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i left the organization one of the reasons i did so was because of the hypocrisy i saw within the congregation regarding sheepherding the weak.

  people who were struggling to make meetings, ones who were house-ridden due to illness or depression, ones who don't keep a prominent position in the hall, these ones were all ignored.

  i was one who never ever ever missed a meeting and in august i suddenly stopped going.

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  Fishbulb

  Thanks for the clarification PasswordProtected.
  
  That helps me understand the elder's actions to some degree.
  
  But in my case I really don't know how they would be keeping track of my "actions" if they have never attempted to contact me. The way that policy is written leaves a lot to ones discretion. A lazy elder body could simply fall back on the reasoning that they thought I was still doing wrong before checking to see if I had mad any changes.
  
  I am not so much belly aching about not being called on as I am trying to prove that the policies followed are written with just enough wiggle room to let the elders in the congregation off the hook if they are put on the spot for not sheepherding a weak one. It's so funny because they talk and talk about what a weighty responsibility it is to be an elder in the congregation but they are the first to excuse themselves for human imperfection while chastising the ones they are supposed to be helping.
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  15

  Of the one's DF'd here, how many have been called on by the Elders?

  by Fishbulb in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i left the organization one of the reasons i did so was because of the hypocrisy i saw within the congregation regarding sheepherding the weak.

  people who were struggling to make meetings, ones who were house-ridden due to illness or depression, ones who don't keep a prominent position in the hall, these ones were all ignored.

  i was one who never ever ever missed a meeting and in august i suddenly stopped going.

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• 

  Fishbulb

  When I left the organization one of the reasons I did so was because of the hypocrisy I saw within the congregation regarding sheepherding the weak. People who were struggling to make meetings, ones who were house-ridden due to illness or depression, ones who don't keep a prominent position in the hall, these ones were all ignored. I was one who NEVER EVER EVER missed a meeting and in August I suddenly stopped going. The result? No calls, no visits, nothing. It wasn't until they "uncovered" information on me to disfellowship me that they were even interested in seeing me.
  
  I left in 2005 and the policy, as I remembered it, was that 1 year after a person was disfellowshipped the brothers were encouraged to call on these ones to see if there was anything there to cultivate and encourage in order to bring them back to the fold. I purposely left my phone number the same though I moved to another city, so that I could see if they would try to reach me in any way. Just an experiment.
  
  No calls. Surprised? not really. That's how it is in the DUB. But my question is; Has anyone actually received one of those Post disfellowshipped anniversary calls or any call after Df'ing period? I mean, is this a common flaw or one that was particular to the compound I attended?
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  31

  A video I made about the way the wtbts treats its workers

  by Tired of the Hypocrisy in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have a friend who has been at beth-hell since early in 1971. he is arthritic and went one time too many to the infirmary and finds himself with no job, no education, and no benefits after nearly 40 years working his butt off at brooklyn then at patterson.....please help me spread this video around.. thanks kids!.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrh8kpexihk.

  http://youtube.com/watch?v=nrh8kpexihk.

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  Fishbulb

  JUST WOW. Using the scriptures from Leviticus to expose the double standard the WTS exhibits really made a striking point. It IS understood that these workers are VOLUNTEERS and agree to expect nothing in return, fair enough. But they are being treated as lesser than any schmo that wanders up to the facility looking for a hand out and the bible clearly states that even THEY should be looked after. Please keep us posted on the situation. Poor Jacob