Posts by Faithful Witness

8

Had a lovely Baptism and First Communion.

by quellycatface in

i honestly feel very light and free.. made to feel very welcome and accepted just for being me.. never knew being a christian would feel this good!!!!.

happy easter.

christ is risen..

Faithful Witness

Great news, Quelly! I was baptized on Easter 2 years ago.

My church gave me a video of the baptism, and also a certificate.

13

My mother is losing her old personality

by Faithful Witness in

i have been trying to engage and talk to my mother and her "natural" personality as much as possible.

she has obvious concerns about the jw's, and we do discuss issues almost every time she visits.

we didn't see her for long stretches (months at at time, and suddenly a year had gone by...) we have now both committed to a minimum of a monthly visit, and we will work toward more.

I have been trying to engage and talk to my mother and her "natural" personality as much as possible. She has obvious concerns about the JW's, and we do discuss issues almost every time she visits. We didn't see her for long stretches (months at at time, and suddenly a year had gone by...) We have now both committed to a minimum of a monthly visit, and we will work toward more. She currently still works part time, lives over an hour away, and I have to drive my husband to and from work each day. These circumstances limit when we can get together.

Email has become one of our main forms of communication. I intend to make more phone calls and get more time actually speaking to her. Email and text have made our relationship much more impersonal and strained.

Here is my recent observation. She used to have this sarcastic wit, that she would use to cope with life and daily situations. This was a big part of her personality, and I definitely got this trait from her. Now she makes strange attempts to be funny, but is joking about more deep and hurtful (in my opinion) topics. She's running out of material, because she is limiting her exposure to the real world so much.

Here is an example, and it probably won't really have the impact on a stranger who doesn't know her... but my mom has always had a quick and smart-aleck type of wit, with comebacks and sort of rude ways of joking around with people.

She visited us 4 weeks ago, and had scheduled another visit on April 11. I texted her early last week, and asked her if she was still coming. She replied by text that "she had to postpone, and would email me later tonight." I never heard from her. I figured she was probably out peddling memorial invitations. At least we knew we didn't have to wait around for her. We had a good weekend, and then I emailed her and told her stories of bike riding with my kids, and asked how she was doing. (no reply)

Several days passed, and I sent her a text to confirm if she was coming this week April 18 or not. (no reply)

Now I'm starting to get irritated and slightly paranoid (following memorial). I sent her another text, asking her: "Hi Mom, Haven't heard from you. Is everything ok? Is something wrong, or are you just avoiding me?" (given the situation of my sister's irrational rejection of me, I figured that would hit her hard enough to get a reply).

When she did not reply all day, I asked my other sister if she had visited my mom. They usually see her on Wednesdays. I was trying to confirm she was still alive. (I know, not funny...) She hadn't visited Mom, but had received a reply to an email that she had sent about the same time I did. Now I'm getting ticked... WTH! She IS avoiding me!! But I am like a dog... I give her the benefit of the doubt, and continue to be patient.

Finally, about 24 hours after I had sent her the text, my mom sends me an email. She is trying to be funny here, but it is very evident to me that she is losing her reasoning and humor capacities. (Does she think she is funny)?

V….No, I am not avoiding you. If I were avoiding you, I would tell you, because otherwise, what would be the point? And it would be hard to avoid you if I was telling you, so…………………………… Just kidding. I have had the hang-on cough for weeks now, and it is just wearing me out. Plus, I have been working some extra hours, so have not had much time. By evening, when I get home, I am so tired I just go to bed early. Sorry I have not been in touch. Also, I am working this Friday for Barb so she can go to Wisconsin for the long weekend. But, the good news is that I am for sure retiring the end of May. Barb and I have discussed it, and when Delaine goes on maternity leave, we will be expected to work full time while she is off, which would be all summer, and we are not going to do that. I really will call you one of these days when I can talk for awhile. Right now, I am just trying to get rid of this cough and hang on to what sanity I have left……. Love ya, and would never avoid you…….I love you and always will ; Mom

I know I analyze things too much, but when my mother only throws me scraps, it is hard not to chew on them over and over and try to get everything I can from them. We used to be very close, as I am her oldest daughter and we talked a lot about her concerns and mine. It is starting to feel like we don't know each other. I think she is scared. She knows things have changed, but her attempts to reclaim her old humor fail miserably. She thinks a joke about avoiding me is funny, because she knows it is a possiblity in my mind. I know she is being instructed to shun me, so why would I find this funny? My dad is avoiding me, but he is not telling me... he is just doing it, and my mom will not even answer my questions about his behavior. Also, about her plans for retirement: I find it interesting that she is conspiring with her job-share partner, to just quit on their boss without notice. I know she has been unhappy with their taking her for granted, but she has worked there for over 10 years. I find that bizarre and a poor example to set, especially as JW. She is going to cast the organization in a poor light (with her employer and coworkers) when she does this. I think I will ask her the question: "If you walk out your job, are you still going to bring magazines to the people who work there?" (maybe the proper protocol, is to send someone else to call on them... not sure how that works??) Her motives for retiring are also in question. I would love to see her more (as she seems to be promising), but she has already expressed her desire to "pioneer." "I know it sounds crazy, but it really is FUN going out in service!!" BLAH. I'm not buying it, but since she has lost all sense of reality, maybe she thinks she will get some social connections out of this. Sadly, my kids have learned they can't really count on Grandma's promises or plans. They don't get any unconditional love from anyone outside our immediate family. Today is my son's 6th birthday. It's actually probably a good thing she isn't coming over, since his 7 year old sister got him a fake SWAT team set. He is having a blast, running through the house and firing his automatic rifle. hahaha... My mom has a very overzealous negative reaction to all guns, even those cheap little plastic squirt guns.

45

Why did Jesus tell the convict on the cross next to his, that he would be joining him in Heaven TODAY??

by Faithful Witness in

maybe a silly question, but i'm curious about this part of the story of christ's crucifixion, when the 1 thief challenges jesus to save himself and "us too" from their deaths, but the 2nd thief rebukes him and pleads with jesus... .

luke 23:42-43: and he said unto jesus, lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

and jesus said unto him, verily i say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.. .

Faithful Witness

Thanks for the replies. I knew there had to be a "logical" explanation that JWs could use to explain away that question.

45

Why did Jesus tell the convict on the cross next to his, that he would be joining him in Heaven TODAY??

by Faithful Witness in

maybe a silly question, but i'm curious about this part of the story of christ's crucifixion, when the 1 thief challenges jesus to save himself and "us too" from their deaths, but the 2nd thief rebukes him and pleads with jesus... .

luke 23:42-43: and he said unto jesus, lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

and jesus said unto him, verily i say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.. .

Faithful Witness

Maybe a silly question, but I'm curious about this part of the story of Christ's crucifixion, when the 1 thief challenges Jesus to save himself and "us too" from their deaths, but the 2nd thief rebukes him and pleads with Jesus...

Luke 23:42-43: And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Since Jesus took this guy with him to heaven immediately, would he be considered "annointed" and qualified to sit as a judge with Christ, even though he was a criminal who "deserved" the death penalty?

Why would this admitted thief be worthy of going to heaven immediately after death, but now everyone else (believer and non-believier alike) who dies just lies dead in the ground until judgment day?

Wouldn't this suggest that there might be either an immortal soul, or that true believers might actually be in heaven with Jesus right now? Forgive me if I'm missing some detail here... correct me where I am misunderstanding this part of the story.

10

Yahoo answers for the question: Why do Jehovah's Witnesses shun former members?

by DuvanMuvan in

why do jehovah's witnesses shun former members?.

loads of jws answered on this one.

kind of old but thought people would still wanna see it..

Faithful Witness

Active JW's are in such denial over this lie. I can barely stand to read those comments. Ugh. Thanks for sharing the link.

Do they honestly believe what they are saying? My sister is shunning me, for the simple reason that I decided not to continue studying with the JW's!

They have been indoctrinated for so long, they don't even realize how unloving and unhappy they really are. Very sad!

2

Wrong Memorial address

by A.proclaimer in

jw
friends

because it was the memorial today (yesterday for some of you around the world), i remembered something that happened last year at my now current congregation.

it was around the time of the campaign where the invites were being released.

now keep in mind that this is a congregation that's in a foreign language and the people who speak this language are scattered all over the city so the territory is very large and takes time to cover.

Faithful Witness

We live right on the edge of the territory of one KH, but when we moved here 6 years ago, we mistakenly went to the one who shared our post office and zip code. The friends all had a good chuckle over this, since they "got" us and our babies (ages 3 and 6 months at the time). We still get "calls" from the JWs who are assigned to our territory.

(That was the long way of saying we always get invited twice).

I wasn't home for the local KH invitation drop-off, so I found it stuck in the door.

I was discussing the topic of the "faithful and discreet slave" with my elderette, when she casually slipped the invitation out of her current Awake/Watchtower combo. She seems to be in the habit of sticking one magazine inside the other (probably so you won't notice how flimsy they are). She was going through her prepared presentation of evidence to me, and asked if she had already given me the magazines. When I said that she had, she simply said, "Here. Let me give you this."

She handed me the Memorial invitation, but said nothing about it. It didn't seem important to her at all, more like something to check off her list. If I hadn't already decided that I was NOT going to allow her to change the subject, I would have made more of it... but I also thought she would be back before the Memorial. Our schedules did not connect, so she didn't even end up mentioning it.

My mother visited a few weeks ago, and when we were putting her next visit on the calendar, we did confirm the date of the Memorial. She was supposed to come on the Friday before, and I repeated back to her a few times that the Memorial was the following Monday, in case that was going to cause a conflict. She didn't seem phased. She also did not ask me to attend, and did not give me an invitation. Yes, she lives 70 miles away, but...

Nobody seemed that interested in inviting us to this most important "celebration." (SO disappointed!!)

21

I'm postponing my JW elderette and her BS session again

by Faithful Witness in

i really do have more important things to do this week, so i am postponing my elderette again.

she has not yet contacted me for her "topic of discussion" for the week.

i know she wants time to prepare her speech and presentation.

Faithful Witness

cultBgone: I WILL use that technique next time they come (scheduled now for April 25). Thank you thank you thank you! Give me a chance to take a breath and maybe ask a follow-up question also. Briliiant technique, and I think I can use it.

rebel8: She also approached me the first time with the comment (and an inquisitive look on her face), "I don't know what happened. Why did you stop coming to the meetings? Are you still studying with Mr. Talktoomuch?" It really came across as nosey, but she followed up with, "Is there some question I can answer, and help you?"

I had another encounter with a character in this web of JW's yesterday. I suspect that Miss K might be visiting apostate websites, but she may just be getting exposed to a lot of outside information. She has made side comments about "this other woman I study with told me..." and then she had a totally different story from "another lady..." She is struggling inside, and it does seem like her natural personality is getting in the way of her cult obedience.

Enlightenment: Welcome! I love the avatar you got. Your comments are very close to my thoughts. I will come back and connect with you when I have more time to catch up on JWN. I was never a JW, but I am literally surrounded by them. I encounter them at least once a week, and my parents and sister were baptized as JWs within the last 4 years. If you click on my name, you can read more of my experiences. I might be rocking the boat and helping my mother to wake from her trance, but now she seems to be avoiding me again. I confronted my JW family through a "reply all" email about 18 months ago, and caused a huge mess. I am still in damage-control mode from that episode, and have lost my sister and am now watching my father drift away. I am bracing myself to become a statistic, as it is obvious that the Watchtower Society DOES have something specific planned. They are being groomed to obey.

On my mother's last visit, I asked her if she really believed that the governing body spoke for Jehovah directly. She responded with "Yes." She didn't even take a breath first. I was stunned, and I wonder if she was. We were having dinner at a noisy pub at the time, so the conversation didn't get very deep... but that was a shocker and a thought-stopper!

7

Gorby's visit to the memorial 2014

by Gorbatchov in

since a week ago, gorby was a little nervous.

last years memorial was the last meeting he visited at the local hall.

since then, they all were faders.

Faithful Witness

Gorby said, " I know, they are not my people anymore. So, I know since today, we are not their people anymore, also."

That is quite a statement! You are NOT "theirs!" You have claimed and rescued your family! Thank you for sharing this story.

Another interesting observation you made: " It felt we came from another planet."

You DID come from another planet... the real world. Congratulations and happy trails to you!

18

News story about JW elderly care facility being built - Rent as low as $2,900 per month!

by Faithful Witness in

jw
friends

where is salisbury township?

who will own this residential village for elderly jw's?

spending $6.5 million to build it, housing up to 38 individuals.

Faithful Witness

Where is Salisbury Township? Who will own this residential village for elderly JW's? Spending $6.5 million to build it, housing up to 38 individuals. Rent for a single room will start at $2,900/month. Is this company legitimate? Jah-Jireh Homes of America.

Elderly care facility for Jehovah's Witnesses under construction

The Salisbury Township retirement complex will feature three 'households' to cater to residents.

By Sam Kennedy, Of The Morning Call

9:32 p.m. EDT , April 3, 2014

Bulldozers and backhoes are busy at work in Salisbury Township, clearing trees and brush to make way for a retirement complex for aging Jehovah's Witnesses.

The $6.5 million Legacy Place Cottages — to be at 2051 Bevin Drive, near the southern entrance to South Mall — will consist of two single-story buildings totaling 30,000 square feet. Serfass Construction of North Whitehall Township is overseeing the project on behalf of the nonprofit group Jah-Jireh Homes of America.

"This is an independent nonprofit that has been developing this to cater to the special needs of the community," Jah-Jireh Homes founder and Chairman Darbin T. Skeans said.

Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian group that was formed in this country in the late 1800s and is governed today by a ruling body based in Brooklyn, N.Y. They are familiar to many people through their door-to-door missionary work, responsible for distributing countless copies of "The Watchtower" and "Awake!" to homes throughout the world.

Although Christian, Jehovah's Witnesses subscribe to tenets that distinguish them from Catholics and mainstream Protestants. They reject the concept of the Trinity (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and they do not celebrate Christmas or Easter.

Skeans, of Allentown, said his mother lives in a local facility for the elderly where, for much of the year, the social calendar revolves around religious holidays. Legacy Place Cottages will be different, he said.

"The whole thing will be geared toward the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses," which means no holiday celebrations, he said. "It's really geared toward the spiritual."

Serfass Vice President Matthias Fenstermacher told The Morning Call in February that Legacy Place Cottages is a good fit for Serfass Construction — a third-generation, family-owned enterprise established in 1948 — because the company has developed a specialty in health-care-related projects. About 20 to 30 percent of its work is tied to health care, he said.

More than 20 local trades will work on the project, and as many as 50 workers will be on site on any given day during nine months of construction, according to Serfass.

The land on which Legacy Place Cottages will be built is in a residential area between the busy Auto Mile on Lehigh Street and the Little Lehigh Creek.

"The lot has been eyesore," said Chris Kinsella, who lives in a house down the street from the project.

Kinsella and his neighbors have reviewed the architectural renderings of the facility and like what they see, he said. "Our concern is that what we saw actually gets built there."

According to Skeans, Legacy Place Cottages will be comprised of three "households," one of which will specialize in "memory care" for residents with Alzheimer's or dementia.

The memory care household will be in a stand-alone building with 12 bedrooms and a maximum capacity of 14 individuals. The other two households, each with 10 rooms and a capacity of 13 individuals, will be attached through a shared kitchen.

Also distinguishing Legacy Place Cottages from other personal care facilities will be its approach to day-to-day care.

Rather than employing separate staff for different kinds of work, such as cooking, cleaning and doing laundry, it will have "universal workers" trained to do all those tasks while also attending to and interacting with residents.

"It's kind of an integrated approach. The advantage is it's a resident-centric model," Skeans said. "The caregiver sits down and eats with the residents, rather than just serving the residents."

He said single-room rent will start around $2,900 a month , which is competitive with other personal-care facilities in the area. But prices could come down in the future, he said, as Jah-Jireh Homes seeks donations to subsidize costs.

Initially, Kinsella said, he and his neighbors were worried the project would create excess storm-water runoff, but their concerns have since been addressed.

The project will include a number of provisions to protect the Little Lehigh Creek watershed, according to Fenstermacher. For example, he said, captured runoff from a sprinkler system will be used to irrigate landscaped areas.

Although, Legacy Place Cottages will be geared toward Jehovah's Witnesses, Jah-Jireh Homes is not officially affiliated with the church, which declined repeated requests for comment on the project.

Jah-Jireh's board consists of members from throughout the state and from as far as Honolulu, Hawaii.

34

How did you find the truth about the truth (TTATT)

by Maat13 in

i am sure there has been a post about this subject, however being a recent addition to the network i don't know how to do a search.

and i'm sure new folks have joined since then.

i am really curious of how others came to know ttatt.. for me is was a real bad experience with one elder after another.

Faithful Witness

Accidental exposure to apostates on the John Ankerberg Show on YouTube. We had no idea what we were hearing... my husband and I were Bible students. We showed the video to our BS conductor. He almost had a seizure, telling us they were APOSTATES!! Fornicators!!

We had been hoping for a simple answer to our question, but he threw a little fit instead. After we asked him some history questions, and he denied 1975 predictions (a 77-year old born-in), we did a little more research and found out they were liars from top to bottom. We quit attending meetings after that.

About 4 months later, my sister forwarded me a copy of a study article that warned JW's about the dangers of reading any outside information. We became completely convinced that it was a cult after that, but it was already too late for my parents and sister.