by Jordandemm 21 Replies latest jw friends
I pioneered with someone who integrated her daily chores with service. For example during the course of the day she would stop and pick up groceries, then do a call followed by a stop to her house to put the groceries away. Do another call, then do another errand and on and on. She always got her hours in.
This pioneer thing is such a farce. I can't believe I wasted the better part of my life doing it.
Honestly speaking, if a person works full time there's no way he/she can be full time (regular) pioneer. He/she lies on her monthly time report all the time.
With all the extra JW stuff we have to comply with (weekly meetings, meeting preparation, more so when one has a part in it, keeping up with JW Broadcast crap, family worship evening, personal study), and lets not forget time much needed to have fun and relax. If one complies with all that required JW stuff, there's no way a normal/rational person can put in more than like 15 hours monthly into this time-wasting effort of preaching.
Monthly time reporting makes liars of ALL JWs. I'm sure the GB knows this well, as usual, just doesn't care.
DY
I used to Auxillary Pioneer - and like everyone here from around the globe, I observed 'tricks' of the trade.
The telephone call from home to an RV meant the 'day' had officially started to count time, this trick was used regularly by the career pioneers.... An RV close to KH was highly prized and overworked...RVs when it was raining to those who were stuck at home and were likely to invite in.
It was and is awful really.... Counting hours like that - four of us huddled in a car, driving around empty residential streets to visit NHs and RVs - counting time, counting time. Driving way across town to visit an obscure RV that hadn't been at home for the past 2 years despite numerous 'calls' since first 'found' - I saw it all.
In the final months of attending meetings I gave 'service' as many hours as I could fit - I'd go out practically every morning or afternoon, I'd been deeply depressed and really didn't want to stay at home feeling bad. Going out just made it worse.
One morning as I looked at the faces of my group, as we had coffee, I thought how wrong this all was...I felt really sick and following a comment by a brother that he could leave a tract in his favourite house in a hyper wealthy suburb to claim it in the new system ( said in a joke?) - I left the group and never went out again.
''It was and is awful really.... Counting hours like that - four of us huddled in a car, driving around empty residential streets to visit NHs and RVs - counting time, counting time. Driving way across town to visit an obscure RV that hadn't been at home for the past 2 years despite numerous 'calls' since first 'found' - I saw it all.''
I couldn't stand that!!!
Man, it's nuts to read all of these experiences of service and how closely they all resemble what I went through. It's was no different for me either.
I got baptized at 18 and the elder who studied with me was a very close friend and father figure. I did not like service, I mean come on, who really does? I did not want to pioneer, hell I didn't even want to be a JW but I saw the light at a convention and that was it for me. I'm an all in or all out kind of person and so I bit it and got baptized. I really did believe it was the truth 100%
My friend the elder was the PO of our hall and I really looked up to him. He seemed like Jesus himself in many ways. Never ever did anyone wrong and I still believe that about him. He's very sincere and loving. So I followed his lead and when he encouraged me to pioneer after hs I did. I didn't want to but it seemed like what Jehovah wanted from me. I gave up a 4 year MIT scholarship too.
I used to hate pretty much every minute of FS. I all too well remember "Let's hit this RV right here by the hall so we can get our time started...." then we'd drive straight to McDonalds and eat crap. Then drive a million miles away to the edge of the territory for another RV that was always known to be not at home because they worked during the day! Come on. "Maybe they'll be there" was always the justification. I had a good buddy who was my pioneer partner. I should mention, I auxiliary pioneered for about a year prior to going full time (back then 1991 or so it was 60 for AP and 90 for regular). My good buddy, Lawrence hated service too. He never said anything but I could see it in his eyes every day and by his actions. He always drove and it was the slowest driving ever! Always from one edge of the territory to the other for each RV. We rarely did walking territory if he could help it. Rainy days and snowy shitty days (which we very often had here in our lovely little corner of NE Ohio) were ever more dreadful.
I was young, full of energy and life. I worked a part time job three days a week but I put in nearly 40 hours in those three days. I would get up on my off days and go in service ALL day to make my time. It was dreadful and exhausting and I always was depressed and felt like something was wrong with me. I mean, I was doing God's work! I should be full of joy shouldn't I? I should be overflowing with happiness at being so privileged but I wasn't, ever. Once in a while it was nice to have an upbuilding conversation with someone, or to genuinely help someone with a positive thought from the Bible. I tried very much to focus on these types of conversations with people.
God forbid, sorry ladies, if there were sisters in the car group. Nothing but a very backhanded gossip session all day long.
We had so many crazies in our congregation too. Just severely mentally unbalanced. But was it them or the bOrg that made them that way? Personally I think it was lack of sex! I know it nearly made me mad and eventually put me right out of the Truth.
Sorry for the incredibly long and boring post! Fun to reminisce.
I forgot the whole point of my post.....
I never ever felt right about counting and reporting time. I saw what others did and how the fudged their time, doing all the same types of things that have already been mentioned and eventually years later I too was guilty of these things. I can remember leaving my house and with tract in hand I'd find someone walking on the street and pull my car over and simply say "Hey, want something interesting to read?" and that would be the start of my time, BEFORE the FS meeting. I'd count all the way through lunch too, maybe minusing 15 minutes or so but most times I didn't. Stuff like that. It really ate at me, but I did it to keep up appearances, that's not what we were taught God wants in the form of sacrifice. Nothing but a one legged dead dog...... shame. And we all did it. What a joke.
''Don't you feel bad for going to the mall when you see others from your KH out in FS?'' Man I hated that!!!
I have a ton of those counting time stories, especially with pioneers. Someone told me, you have to find creative ways of counting time or else you are not going to make your hours as a pioneer. And thats the problem. They value a number on a field report more than the actualy quality of field service.
So there was a pioneer who i frequently went to service with and the first thing he did after FSM (probably even before) was to drive to a near supermarket parking lot and try to place a tract. Afterwards we would drive to his territory, which was a 30 minute drive or probably longer.
Then another sister told me about the "pioneer shuffle" That is, walking as slow as possible and stop to enjoy the wonders of Jehovahs creation (no joke) and its best if you do it during service hours.
The best thing was, what I experienced with a young pioneer. He wanted to count our break, so he placed a magazine on the table in the restaurant. Funny thing is, he chose the table which was the farthest away possible and also we were the only ones in the restaurant.
But I also experienced pioneers who wanted to make their hours in a honest way, but they didnt last long being pioneers.
Everytime someone tells me that pioneering brings joy and comfort and is the best life style, i ask them why do many pioners stop then not long after the pioneer school (which is after one year of pioneering), if it is the best life style?
