We had some good news just now - Julie, a friend of ours who started fading
around the beginning of this year was finally tracked down by the elders
a few weeks ago.
She has been dating a very close friend of mine, never a jw himself, for
about 7 months, and they recently started living together. Linda and I
were so pleased for both of them as we introduced them to each other
originally.
When the elders discovered her domestic situation, they invited her to
meet with three of them at their kh. She didn't attend, but told them to do
what they would, she really didn't care, and not to bother her again. Well,
the meeting was scheduled for Monday, and they paid her a brief visit last
night to inform her that she has been disfellowshipped, but can appeal if
she wishes. She doesn't wish to appeal, and is quite ecstatic now that
she is no longer a jw. She phoned just now to give us the good news.
She is the 4th person I have had the great pleasure of helping to leave the
org, and as I never actually brought anyone in while a jw, it's a resounding
victory for me over them, and I hope to get the opportunity to increase the
margin of victory in the future.
Julie and her bf will be calling here sometime this week, and I'm pretty sure
we'll be cracking a bottle or two to celebrate. The only downside for her is that,
apart from one younger sister who was df'd in her teens and never went back,
most of her family are in the org, so I guess they will shun her now, although
some of them, and many of her jw friends, have been doing that since she
started fading. It's the price of freedom I suppose, and Julie seems quite
happy to pay it.