Hi all,
I am new here and briefly want to introduce myself.
My name is Michel and I am from the Netherlands. Became baptized when I was 14, started pioneering when I got 18 and I've been MS for a number of years. I married another pioneer and after a while we joined a foreign language congregation. I always loved the 'responsabilities', and especially giving talks.
But over the years my faith faded. My wife was asexual and I started to satisfy my sexual desires by visiting pornographic websites. I hated it, but I couldn't resist it either. When it came out, I lost all my priviliges. The elders wanted to help us. I prayed a lot. But nothing happened. It was very quiet up there in heaven. In the end (after years of praying) I drew the conclusion that Jehovah would not help me, despite all the millions of promises in the Bible.
And oh yes, I've studied the Bible. I didn't 'study' the magazines like most of JW: I really loved studying the Bible. I had about 50 different translations, and I used them. Bookshelfs with excellent dictionaries and commentaries. And some other friends who were a lot of deeper into studying as the average JW. I learned that the NW has a lot of flaws. That not all answers in the literature are based upon the Bible.
Finally I met a beautiful woman. I got divorced and DF. And recently I married my new love.
And now I am happier as ever.
Nice meeting you all.
Michel