Posts by stephanie61092

10

Just found out that my Mum is taking my 3 year old nephew to meetings!

by nicolaou in

to be precise, he is my brothers nephew but that makes no difference really.

mum is 71 and a true, hardcore jw.

she's a good mum but has a real blind spot where her faith is concerned.. i know her.

stephanie61092

I knew a family once where one of the (adult) daughters married a non JW and had a couple kids. Her life went down south and she attributed it to being "out of the truth." Not the fact that she had legitimate health problems and married a loser. anyway, she allowed her mother to take the kids to go to meetings. It wasn't long before the daughter started coming home and saying "Daddy, if you dont love Jehovah, you're gonna die!!" You can imagine how well that went over and how much longer the kids were allowed to go to meetings.

51

Hello everyone. New here looking for info and friends

by Harvard Illiterate 411 in

i sometimes was redirected to this page from reddit or another ex-jw site but never bothered to sign up.

i wanted to stay off the radar but since i'm getting dis-fellowshipped anyways and have no plans to come back what the hell.

been 22 years in the truth........... ahhhh i hate to use that expression...... bad habit but you know what i mean.

stephanie61092

Welcome! I've been here a few weeks now and this is a wonderful board to read. I'm envious of you because I'm actually trying to get back in for familial reasons. However, until then, I'm privately enjoying all the vices that have been kept from me all my life. Holidays are fun!

21

Travel recommendations?

by stephanie61092 in

hey guys.

i've decided that during this time of being dfed, maybe trying to get reinstated, i'm going to enjoy my time with myself.

that being said, i would like to do some traveling when the weather warms up across the us.

stephanie61092

Hey guys. I've decided that during this time of being DFed, maybe trying to get reinstated, I'm going to enjoy my time with myself. That being said, I would like to do some traveling when the weather warms up across the US. Does anyone have any travel recommendations on places to see while also remaining safe as a single lady? I enjoy history so I was planning on trying to see some major spots such as the Liberty Bell. Any and all tips would be greatly appreciated! I didn't want to solicit this on my personal FB page as I don't want to advertise that I'd be going anywhere alone

23

Should this Body of elders be considered blood guilty?

by dbq407 in

over the weekend a very nice, caring individual was killed in a car accident after meeting.

she was 32 y/o and has a 3 year old daughter.

her husband was driving home from meeting when his car slid off the road, came back on the road, and was broad sided by a truck.

stephanie61092

I agree with all of the posters here to one extent or another.

The GB really does promote attendance equals salvation. I've heard them in recent talks say that the only 3 reasons you should miss a meeting are the "3 F's" meaning "fracture, fever or fatality." Unfortunately for that sister, she has that last reason to miss all meetings now.

However, I do feel like most should still have some portions of their brains active to use common sense in regards to the immediate, physical safety of their families. If the weather was bad, they shouldn't have gone out. Where I grew up there were frequent thunderstorms. Even if the meeting wasn't cancelled, we would usually stay home because it just wasn't worth the risk of driving in blinding rain on slippery roads. And that logic applied to going anywhere, not just the meetings.

Whatever the families reasoning was for going to the meeting, it's still very sad that this tragedy happened to them.

21

Finding time

by Jordandemm in

jw
friends

is it possible to full time pioneer while working a full time job without making up the hours?

i know of a brother who recently got married too a pioneer the guy was really desperate to get married because his wife despite her many 'spiritual credentials' has very few christ-like qualities unfortunately, anyway that's besides the point.

he is a pioneer now and i'm sure he will be a ms soon the organisation likes that type of stuff the 'pioneer couple' so it shouldn't come as a surprise.

stephanie61092

I have seen it go both ways, it just depends on the nature of the person doing it and why they want that official title of being a "pioneer."

In my old cong, there was a woman who worked full time but she would go in early service before work, do letter writing on lunch, evening service after work twice per week, full day on Saturday and then finally service for about an hour before and after meeting on Sunday. She did this for quite some time before turning in an application. I know she believed it was the best way to live her life and didn't care about having a title and/or obligation.

However, in my current cong, there is a brother who gets the majority of his time on the weekends "encouraging" those who are struggling and doing letter writing in the homes of the elderly who can't go in service; he even admitted to always stopping at the gas station before work to leave a tract with his phone number on it and then counting his commute time to work and then placing another tract in the phone vestibule of his office. He claimed he could count his commute time because if someone at the gas station found his tract and was really interested, they could call him and he would be available for discussion while he drove! He said that it was his way of a "guaranteed 6-7 hours per week without sacrificing or doing much."

56

GB bites off more than they can chew!

by biblexaminer in

the gb bit off more than they can chew.

they promised that the nwt revised would be available in so many languages by now, and they have failed miserably.. english stands alone.

as a result, they are in damage control mode.

stephanie61092

Thank you so much for posting this information!

10

LOOK! Something new and shiny!

by stuckinarut2 in

isn't it amazing just how easily distracted the average witness is?.

with the flood of stuff being produced and uploaded on the website, from embarrassing corny videos and songs, to music for kids, to cartoons etc, the average witness has no time to actually stop and think about the actual doctrines or facts about the organisation.

nor the past, nor the scandals being exposed by real news outlets and media.

stephanie61092

People rarely discuss doctrine anymore. The organization plays on people's emotions in such a way that you don't even care because you're living the "best life ever!" There's even a part in next weeks CLAM meeting about living that very subject!

Everything is designed now to focus around the future, the exciting construction and Armaggedon being around the corner. Everyone gets so wrapped up in their emotions that no body considers if the beliefs are true or wonder why certain doctrines are casually being changed.

Im guilty of having believed/behaved in that manner. It took several months of being DFed to see how convoluted everything is and to wake up.

10

Celebrating for the first time!

by stephanie61092 in

okay i'm so excited, i'm celebrating valentines day today!

i walk into work this morning (normally a sterile office filled with boring engineers like myself) to find everyone clad in decorative hearts with streamers hanging from the ceiling and heart shaped goodies in the kitchen.

had i walked in on this last year, i would've kept my head low and tried to avoid all conversation unless it was strictly about work.

stephanie61092

Okay I'm so excited, I'm celebrating Valentines Day today! I walk into work this morning (normally a sterile office filled with boring engineers like myself) to find everyone clad in decorative hearts with streamers hanging from the ceiling and heart shaped goodies in the kitchen. Had I walked in on this last year, I would've kept my head low and tried to avoid all conversation unless it was strictly about work.

Now I can't help but smile as everyone wishes me a "happy Valentine's Day" and guess what? I'm saying it back! It felt a little awkward at first because I've never said it before but I've got to admit, I got over it pretty quickly!

I used to roll my eyes at these kinds of "little" holidays, but seeing how it's honestly just a nice reason for everyone to loosen up a little bit and wear extra pink or red, even if just one day out of the year, it's really nice. Someone even used the 3-D printer to make valentines hearts for everyone.

I feel stupid for condemning everyone who only showed their love one day out of the year instead of "showing their love for family and friends all the time." To make up for it in some small way, I'm running back home this morning to bake a cake for the office party this afternoon 😄

26

Good idea or bad idea?

by stephanie61092 in

first and foremost, thank you so much to so many of you who have reached out to me over the past few days since my post on sunday.

i'm not totally in the best mental state, however, i do have a very small amount of people that i can lean on for support.

i relayed my feelings to a friend (my only friend, really), who took the initiative to inform my family.

stephanie61092

Thanks for your input, everyone. I think I'll err on the side of caution and not drop any checks into the contribution boxes. IF I ever ask for anything from the literature counter, maybe I'll plan on putting in a few dollars with the hopes an elder will notice and make a mental note that I am "supporting" the organization. However, I don't plan on this happening often...I'm always filled with so much anxiety being in the KH, I can't even bear to look at anyone - let alone request literature.

26

Good idea or bad idea?

by stephanie61092 in

first and foremost, thank you so much to so many of you who have reached out to me over the past few days since my post on sunday.

i'm not totally in the best mental state, however, i do have a very small amount of people that i can lean on for support.

i relayed my feelings to a friend (my only friend, really), who took the initiative to inform my family.

stephanie61092

Hi, everyone. First and foremost, thank you so much to so many of you who have reached out to me over the past few days since my post on Sunday.

I am okay.

I'm not totally in the best mental state, however, I do have a very small amount of people that I can lean on for support. I relayed my feelings to a friend (my only friend, really), who took the initiative to inform my family. Since then, several family members have reached out and reopened the lines of communication - for now. As for attending therapy, I'm still forming my opinion. I've only been twice so far.

So now my question. Despite being "awake," I have resumed going to meetings simply so I can maintain (relatively) normal family ties after reinstatement. Some have sent me some "tips" for getting reinstated. One such tip was to put checks in the contribution box every so often, that way the elders would have to see I was donating. I never did this while I was "in". I only ever did it at conventions or assemblies. I don't want to seem "insincere" (how ironic) and I hate knowing that my money would more than likely go to paying legal fees or payouts related to victims of abuse. However, if it would help, I would be willing to do it every so often. So, good idea or bad idea?

Also, please don't think that I believe that the victims of abuse don't deserve the payouts because I whole heartedly believe they do. I just don't think it's right that the organization doesn't acknowledge this and in turn leads everyone to believe that their donations go towards building projects.