A little about us : Both raised as JWs ( husband since 5 / wife Born in ) . In for 35 plus years . Both Served as regular pioneers , as a ministerial servant and as an Elder with Circuit and District responsibilities . Let's just say : We Left around 8 years ago . Both of our entire immediate and extended families are still within the org. and so we have lost all of those connections . Like most , we had absolutely no friendships or connections with anyone outside of the congregation and very little in the way of career . So our leaving was life altering . Needless to say ... the road to making friends and connections has been slow and difficult . We're not looking to Trash our past or talk about " what could have been " ... but we are looking to discuss our past constructively so that we can learn from this , move forward and possibly help others to do the same .