Inspiring story!
FirstLastName
JoinedPosts by FirstLastName
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27
Black sheep of the family-my life as an ExJW
by bsand20 ini was a 3rd generation jw, half the congregation i attended was made up of my entire mom's side of the family, 2 of the 3 elders were my grandpa and uncle.
my first memory of the organization was when they announced my mom's name in the meeting saying she had been reinstated....it was 1988 and i was 6 years old....i didn't understand it then, but when i asked my mom why was she crying and why did they say her name in the meeting, she said "it's because i've been good!".
so she went back and after a period of time assisting constantly, she was reinstated.
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29
WT wants members to auxiliary pioneer in place of vacations now!!!
by EndofMysteries inthe may 2014 km, posted in another thread is a link to download it.
page 2, for week starting may 19th under the service meeting:.
discussion.
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FirstLastName
I remember one summer, going to a remote congregation for a week with a caravan of people from our hall and we helped that congregation complete a huge chunk of their entire territory that week. We were out in service every day, all day. I think the last day or two of the week, we took half days to "enjoy the vacation".
I think I was 15 or so at the time and I had all my friends with me so I did not mind it. I dont think we were very serious about recruiting people, more enjoying spending all our days together and making the most of it.
There are definatley other things I would have rather been doing, but at the time, when you dont know any different, its not that weird to you.
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11
Witness came to my door on Saturday
by FirstLastName ini live in a new house and it was a matter of time before the witnesses came through our neighborhood.
saturday around 1:30 p.m. my door rang.
i opened the door and my two dogs peeked around my legs at the new arrivals.
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FirstLastName
I live in a new house and it was a matter of time before the Witnesses came through our neighborhood. Saturday around 1:30 p.m. my door rang. I opened the door and my two dogs peeked around my legs at the new arrivals. It was two ladies, well dressed and they presented the Watchtower magazines to me. I could tell the woman was nervous. Maybe no one had let her go so far in her presentation? They did not identify themselves as Jehovahs Witnesses, only people sharing a positive message to their neighbors.
It took me back to when I had to prepare presentations and walk up to complete strangers and talk to them about religion, which ofcouse is very uncomfortable. And instead is being angry about it, I felt really sorry for them. It was a gorgeous Saturday and instead of these two women enjoying their families, they were out recruiting.
I let the woman finish her presentation and smiling, I told them I was familiar with Jehovahs Witnesses but I was not interested. I told them to have a nice day and enjoy the weather. She made a polite comment about my dogs and they left.
It left me kinda sad. Cause I had been in their shoes.
Not a big revelation, I just wanted to share.
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22
Born-In Girls--Did You Have a Doll at KH
by Band on the Run inwhen i was preschool, i had several dolls.
meetings were so hard at that age.
in fact, they were agony my entire life.
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FirstLastName
I dont know how my mom did it. My brother and I are two years apart and my dad was an elder. I cannot imagine how stressful it was to keep and infant and toddler quiet for 2 hours. I do however; remember quite a few smacks on the hands and walks back to the bathrooms for a private beating. I think as a kid, you learn to let your mind wander and daydream, instead of earning moms wrath.
I vaguely remember some coloring books, but they must have been nixed pretty young, cause I mostly remember flipping through the Book of Bible Stories trying to find something interesting to look at.
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27
How's the weather in your area?
by Decided inhere in nc it's snowing, about 6" so far.
haven't had so much snow and ice in a long time as we have so far this winter.. ken p..
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FirstLastName
Sunny and mid 60's - California sunshine...and drought.
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41
Do you think not having the book study in private homes has had much effect?
by truthseeker init's been a few years since the organization ended the book study arrangement in private homes.. gone was the last opportunity to have tea and biscuits and a natter with the friends afterwards.. do you think people regret losing the book study?
for some, it may have been the only time they were able to get some "associaton".
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FirstLastName
We had the bookstudy at our house growing up. I hated/loved it. I hated having to clean my room and the rest of the house (I was a brat), but it seemed less formal, and easy going. I loved it when we had dessert night. All my friends came to our book study and we used to play in my room afterwards.
I just re read my statement above and realised it was NOT about the study or the bible (which is unmentioned), but the friends and association. I left years ago when Bookstudy night was still in effect. I dreaded the meetings, but I dreaded this one less.
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35
How Can You Spot A Jehovah's Witness?
by minimus inanything that you notice that would make you say, " yup, that's a jw"?
?.
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FirstLastName
I was out walking my dogs last week and past by two ladies in long skirts and magazines in their hands. They complimented me on my dogs, but did not try to "save" me.
Deep down I sympanthized. When I was in their postion, I wanted to talk about it as little as possible too. When you you get to a door, you have to talk about it. If you pass someone on the street, just smile.
A group of women and kids (and unhappy teenagers) on the sidewalk with book bags, walking extremely slow is a dead give away to me. Throw in a random man in a suit.
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23
Are You Comfortable With Who You Now Are?
by minimus inmany jws are misfits and many that were raised as jws find it difficult to be "normal".
are you comfortable with yourself at this point in time?.
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FirstLastName
The elders sure made me feel as if I was a misfit when I was in. When I got out I discovered that I was completely normal. Its normal to question, research and doubt, just not for a JW.
I am so more happier and genuine now that I am out. I was trying to to hard to be someone I was not as a JW.
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10
Drunk or Drugged or Crazy Elders
by minimus inwe had an elder that regularly drank wine and other cocktails.
he would come to night meetings, including elder meetings, shall we say, "feeling good".. we had an elder that was losing it and failing because of old age/dementia.
i knew a lot of elder's wives that were on meds in order to function but i wasn't aware of elders under the influence of drugs.
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FirstLastName
I did not know an elders who were drinkers, but I was pretty young and perhaps naive.
I do remember some older ladies who were pretty crazy and when they answered during the Watchtower would say something like that they "have SEEN their gaurdian angels protecting them". The conductor was always having to intrupt them to change the subject and get the mic out of their hands. Maybe they had been drinking !
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19
Gum Chewing....Allowed in your hall or not?
by LostGeneration inso when i attended, this was never an issue - its been five years since i was booted.
a bit before i woke up, a couple visiting us (middle america) from the deep south basically told me this never, ever was allowed in their hall.
no 'priveleges' for a guy who chewed gum.
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FirstLastName
My parents found a way around this when we were kids, since they knew how hard it was for young kids to sit for 8 hours. My parents would buy us each a pack of LifeSavers for each assembly that we were allowed to eat to our hearts content.
But I do recall that gum was a no no.