first of all, i never believe that any visit by an elder is truly casual.
this particular elder was one of my closest friends from the time i first met him in the lobby of bethel during a tour, to the time he moved here from uk, to the time i left his congo.
i posted elsewhere that he once came by the house and said "is there anything i can do to help you come back to the kh?
Hey Snakes
I think you handled that well.
Peaches is right it can be distressing when they visit you by surprise. I haven't had that experience. No one has approached us yet (and we've been out a while) But we talk about how we'll handle it if someone steps to us......lol. You should visit the board regularly. Because of your and others' experiences, I realized I wasn't alone in what I was going through since we'd left.
Best wishes
Cult Classic
i know it sounds strange but all the jw's i have contact with are no longer "encouraging" me to attend meetings.
in fact not one of them invited me to the memorial even though we had dinner together at my house three nights before.
i think i have them totally bamboozled with my reasoning why i don't attend.
Wasanelder,
Yeah that seems to be the case with us. We left abruptly and without reservation. We were popular in our area and as word spread that we were no longer going, we just expected a barage of phone calls, visits, letters, etc...........Nothing so far (it's been a few years). We can only speculate that because of how "strong" we were in the truth that the witnesses figure we must really be done with it all.
I guess that's respect.....
Cult Classic
you are who you are so much more due to your own peculiar genetic inheritance, and this is what eventually prevails.. there was a longitudinal study i read a number of years ago that tested the idea that we all have inborn "happiness setpoints".
these people in the study were followed through 20-25 years and periodically examined as regards their self-reported measures of happiness.
the finding was that no matter what happened either positively or negatively in their lives, within 8-12 weeks they were universally back to their baseline.. this means a couple of things:.
You see, this business of empowering the Borg or anyone or anything else that is outside you is self-defeating and ultimately useless.
THAT'S WHY WE LEFT........don't you get it?
Again gubberningbody................
Cult Classic
i told my mom that i'm not going back to the meetings.
i wasn't planning on telling her that but i've been going through some hard times with my husband and just got fed up with her hounding me.
so she asked if i'll still consider going back to the meetings and i just flat out told her no and that it wasn't up for discussion.
Hooray for doublelife!!! Now you'll have to change your screen name to singlelife.......rofl
We're proud of you girl!
Cult Classic
you are who you are so much more due to your own peculiar genetic inheritance, and this is what eventually prevails.. there was a longitudinal study i read a number of years ago that tested the idea that we all have inborn "happiness setpoints".
these people in the study were followed through 20-25 years and periodically examined as regards their self-reported measures of happiness.
the finding was that no matter what happened either positively or negatively in their lives, within 8-12 weeks they were universally back to their baseline.. this means a couple of things:.
Some people were born to have happy and effective well adjusted personalities, and some weren't.
It's that simple.
Are you serious?
Cult Classic
i hated field service and would avoid it as much as possible.i tried to work on my own if i could and would just drive some where and lisern to music or pretend i had return visits and just go home.what did you do to get out of the misery service?.
Peaches I feel your pain girl.......Willyloman you're absolutely right.
In the time leading up to our exit, we weren't in full time service but I was still an elder's wife so we had to get the national average....And we did. Every month.....lol
The years I was in full-time service I busted my ass in the ministry and after coming up short one year this elder told me to put down 90 every month. Because I was out so much there was no way I wasn't making my time. So that's what I did. Put 90 even if I thought I got 81 hrs. It's all so stupid, isn't it?
I wish I had avoided it like the plague. There was no reason for me to be that zealous because my parents weren't really doing anything. But me and my siblings were pioneers.........good grief.
If I could go back I would kick our asses!
Cult Classic
i used to think of leaving early.
at the end i started making excuses to leave (supposedly work related) so that i could just get out of there.
i wanted a drink!.
The meetings were bitter-sweet for me. My mother was inactive and my father was half-assed about it so I thought we were gonna die if we didn't attend and apply everything little nuance that was shoved down our throats so for years I paid attention like a soldier - i had to for my family.
The sweet part is that there were about 7 major families in the congregation so lots of us grew up together. And the congregation was funny as hell. Somebody was always doing something whacky, trippin off the stage, forgetting their lines for a talk or demo. Or just plain cutting up........Those really were some good memories.
In the years before our fade, my husband and I would sit at the meetings finding lies and inconsistencies in the Bible and literature......Good times indeed!
Cult Classic
i heard a somewhat amusing story from a co-worker over lunch.
he said he was at a funeral for a jw relative, and they had a registry for guests to sign.
his wife signed the registry, and included their home address.
Yeah the witness funerals are a trip! I've had 3 elderly and 1 middle aged relative die over the past 3 years. And we have been so angry at how the talk is all about the witness beliefs regarding death and the resurrection hope. It always ends with "if there is anyone in the audience who would like to know more speak with a witness after this service....yadda yadda yadda" they are such idiots.
On the flip side we went to a presbyterian relative's funeral on my husband's side and the sermon was so encouraging and straightforward with scriptures from the Psalms. I'm in a state of major disbelief regarding the bible right now, but I did leave there comforted and relaxed.
Cult Classic
to respond to serenity now's question on another thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/191790/2/ugly-sisters, let me start this thread about ugly brothers in congregations.
women, speak freely if you will.
were there any hot men in your congregations, i mean, men you wouldn't think twice about marrying?
I have to say again that in my congregation the brothers were cuties. They all married later too. A few are now homosexuals and long gone from the borg. But overall I have to say the brothers don't have that much to do to pull it together. Nice shave and haircut with a suit, shirt, tie and shoes and they're good to go. But when they let themselves go, it is really amazing that the sisters who are left are so desperate they don't even care. I would be like "why are all these girls swooning over this mole?" lol
Cult Classic
i was born in 1970 to third generation jehovah's witnesses.
like all those born in, i was brought up without hope or guidance for a life in this world.
instead of being taught to be self sufficient and confident, i was trained to obey my parents without question (ephesians 6:1).
Thank you guys for reading my story and understanding.....It means a lot to me.
Cult Classic
