Posts by Effervescent

I am happy to be corrected;if I am wrong, but I understand that Mormon Missionaries are engaged as such for two years only. Before that and after that, there is no requirement to hand in a "Monthly Report" - or else receive the pineapple ;if you don't, as is the case with the JWs.

I have to tilt my agreement in this direction. It's one thing to never be able to "Do enough" your entire life, it's another to know that you'll be able to have this experience and then get on with "real life" when your time's over.

2

When you were pregnant did you call your mother?

by MsMcDucket in

jw
friends

when i was pregnant with my last daughter, even though i was still jw struck, i would still call my mother for help.

i'd call her if i was suffering.

only mom could understand.

Effervescent

Ok- 10 lbs- Can you say "OWWW!"??? I think every single time I found out I was pregnant, my Mom was the first person I called. Twice I think she knew before my husband did.

The one thing I could say they never took away from me was the great friendships I had developed at school. I never saw them outside of school, but in the time I was able to spend with them I learned alot about how the "world" really was (not so bad really!). They could never take away that pleasure I found in my "wordly" acquaintances, who accepted me warts and all.

30

Do you feel as if your relationship with God was ruined by the JW's?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

before being a jw' i felt as if i was at peace with god, and now through the jw brainwash, i feel as if i'm at odds with god.... does anybody else feel this way?

Effervescent

I was raised in "The Truth". When I left, I never felt like I was leaving God, although I did have some doubts (ok ALOT) as to if I was doing the right thing or not. Now, looking back, I see the day I left (I ran away from home- a clean split from everything) as the beginning of my relationship with God. What my worship was as a JW and what it is now has no comparison. It's something I take so much joy in and feel very fulfilled by. It was a journey, but for me personally, it was a great one.

10

What do the JW's expect next?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

ok, they all are waiting for the new system, that we all know, but in the order of events that should happen soon, what's next?.

Effervescent

What do they REALLY have to look forward to?

Just another book release.

But that should keep the non-thinking one's happy.

9

The GREAT tribulation

by PoppyR in

does anyone else remember horror stories about the great tribulation and what they would do to the witnesses etc.. i remember this being the big topic of conversation for years, then like lots of jw doctrine, they quietly swept it out of the arena, and now it's never mentioned.

i remember pioneering with a girl who couldn't sleep at night and kept praying she'd be strong enough to endure it!

i actually have a talk on tape from a member of the gb where he spoke about ministers swinging from lamposts.. gruesome or what!!

Effervescent

"Don't you know, your kitty is just an animal and wouldn't hesitate to eat your flesh during the tribulation if she was hungry?"

What the.....????

*Looks around at my four cats*

Ya- I remember the nightmares from the visual images they just loved to give when talking about the GT. I can remember at a very young age just knowing that I wouldn't be able to stand the torture and probably betray Jehovah. That didn't make it any better. Guilt piled on top of horror.

26

I am lazy, and addicted to JWD, I need your help

by horrible life in

jw
friends

msmcdukets thread what do you do when this board isn't enough?.

msmcduket, i seem to have forgotten that there is a life outside of jwd.

i lost my job last christmas, so i lost my housekeeper.

Effervescent

Oh my gosh- I watch that show all the time- even my husband watches it with me!

They are such flirts though- gotta love it!

They totally make you feel better about having a little clutter or even a little mess. The way some people lived... oh my! Wasn't there one where this woman had trash piled knee high and they found like $5,000 in small bills all through the mess?

26

I am lazy, and addicted to JWD, I need your help

by horrible life in

jw
friends

msmcdukets thread what do you do when this board isn't enough?.

msmcduket, i seem to have forgotten that there is a life outside of jwd.

i lost my job last christmas, so i lost my housekeeper.

Effervescent

HL- I'll be rooting for you! I know how it is. I have to watch my computer time too, hours could fly by. Theres some days that I won't even let myself turn on the computer until I know the things that have to get done are done. It's a real will power thing. I'm an addict too!

One thing though... you need to kick that teenager in the butt to help you today. If you guys both dug in, maybe it wouldn't be so overwhelming for you. At least in the main living area... no one needs to see bedrooms. And they have so much more energy anyways....

Good luck with that garage sale! It'll make you feel so much better to get that stuff cleared out!

28

While You Were A JW, What Things Struck You To Raise Your Eyebrows?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i'll never forget the time the circuit and district overseers told the elders that from now on the elders would be solely responsible for all judicial matters and that if anyone was going to get sued, it was not going to be the society.

at that point, the 2 overseers laughed outloud.

i knew we were going to get screwed for sure because the watchtower society was already setting us up.

Effervescent

The things that I remember specifically striking me had to do with the Society pointing fingers at other churches as being materialistic, when I found evidence of it in their own buildings.

I can remember being about 13? and walking into an Assembly Hall in Oregon for the first time and staring at the huge chandelier and plush carpets. It made me very uncomfortable every time I went in that place.

Then, before that I think, I remember seeing the conceptual drawings for one of the society's big new complexes. I think there was going to be living quarters there and such? I don't remember what it was... later 80's I think, maybe someone can narrow that down. I remember looking at the pictures of the landscaping and fountains and wondering how much preaching work oversees could be financed by all the foo-foo stuff they put into this building. It really bothered me, while everyone else ooohed and aaaahed.

44

Elder-speak....How do they manipulate us?

by jgnat in

jw
friends

can you help me build a glossary of elder-speak?

you know, those phrases and arguments designed to appease, coerce, or guilt congregation members in to a desired course.

by exposing elder-speak, i hope to reduce the power of the words.

Effervescent

I managed to fly under the Elder's radar my whole life until the one silly incident that changed it all for me. So I don't have a lot of personal experience of the rhetoric other than what my father always told me, which I'm guessing he probably still got out of the Elder's Secret One-Liner Manual. (I'm convinced there is such a thing! LOL) The one time I got in serious trouble though, my Dad had found out that I had knowledge of a sin (my best friend had a boyfriend at school, the only time she saw him, and she wasn't baptised). He gave a talk a few nights later and went totally off subject to stare straight at me and say "Even if you just KNOW about a sin, and you don't notify the Elder's of that person's sin, it's as if you committed the sin yourself." Followed by "Sometimes you think you can get away with things, but Jehovah sees everything, and it will be much worse for you to be judged by HIM." I was completely humiliated and scared, so of course I went straight back and spilled everything.

Then ran away from home for good two months later.