This morning I was lying in bed, contemplating getting up, when the phone rang. I briefly considered not answering it, but my grandfather has been ill and I thought I'd better answer. What happened next has left me feeling like I'm in the twilight zone.
An older woman greeted me (not by name) and said, "this is ______ (first name only)". She then rambled on about needing a ride to the hall because so many weren't going and asked me if we had room in our car. I was totally confused, assumed she was one of my mother's friends needing a ride to a function that her group is involved with (they tend to phone my sister and I) and so I told her that my mother was gone for the weekend. This flustered the lady on the other end of the phone and she said, "well, I guess I'll have to look elsewhere for a ride. It's surprising more aren't going since ....... is giving his talk."
When I got off the phone I realized that it had been a JW who phoned. One that we only know by name, never met her before in our lives. We haven't been inside a Kingdom Hall for about 15 years! And we've NEVER been inside this particular hall. I'm still scratching my head over it.
The good news is that obviously a good number of the congregation are choosing a weekend with their family.
Cellist
very weird Sunday morning phone call
by Cellist 8 Replies latest jw friends
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Cellist
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WTWizard
The good part of this is the number of people that are missing the meetings. Hopefully, a couple of weeks of missing them will be enough for some to see that they aren't really all that grand. It also shows what is happening to the congregations when people have a hard time getting rides to the meetings.
I hope you didn't go. I also hope this lady didn't get to the
brainwashing sessionmeeting. If people miss enough of those silly affairs, they will soon have their own crisis of conscience and wonder just how true the "truth" really is.NOT!!!
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Cellist
WTWizard, Believe me, I didn't go. I walked out of my last meeting over 15 years ago. I left half way through the meeting and I haven't stepped foot in a KH since.
Cellist -
Cellist
I guess for everyone to realize just how weird this call was I should tell a bit about our situation.
When we moved here we had been inactive for a year already. Although my husband was associated with the local JWs when he was growing up, we haven't been as a couple. The congregations we attended were a thousand miles and more away from here. The older sister who phoned this morning was an associate of a JW relative (deceased a few years back)
Up until this morning, I wasn't even aware that she knew of our existence. For her to phone us for a ride is almost like blindly picking a name out of the phonebook!
Cellist -
garybuss
Maybe they should invest in a bus to ride around and pick people up for the meeting. A few churches do that here.
Sometimes increasing business is done in interesting ways, unconventional ways. For example a local fast food restaurant here doubled it's business by buying the business next door, tearing down the neighboring building, and doubling it's parking lot.
Witnesses (and other groups) pay their supporters (and workers) in promises. The Mormon group promises lots of sex in the reward presentation. The Witnesses could promise paradise and lion petting and fruit picking as they now do and they could add sex, free ice cream, and Corvettes. What the heck, why not? They're not going to deliver on anything anyway. Why not put the promises WAY up there?
They could advertise free Corvettes, free ice cream, unlimited sex, immortality, lion petting, and free food after fruit picking time. Just work all your life for the Watch Tower and die loyal and you'll be re-created in a perfect replica body and hop in your Corvette and go! -
Sunspot
Wow, Cellist---what a weird turn of events! I, too am more than tickled to learn that so many loyal and obedient JWs are not being loyal and obedient about the mandatory meeting attendance!
hugs,
Annie
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MinisterAmos
LOL Gary!
Why not? works for radical Muslims!
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jaguarbass
Maybe theres a time warp in Bhutan.
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greendawn
This lady is probably out of touch with what's happening in her local congregation, the JWs as I also knew them weren't very helpful to other JWs that were in need, the focus was selfish seeing the end and surviving armageddon.