Nottawayfer

Oeno, They were still in twi in the San Diego area when I left in 2002. They lived near Oceanside. They are nice people and have 3 adorable daughters.

Yeah, there was a whole lot of logic in the decision-making process on that. My personal opinion on that was to fill up the damn place. I used to usher for the service, and most of the time there were hardly enough to fill the lower 2/3. They made sure we had all of the front seats filled so that the cameras wouldn't pan on empty seats. It would look bad on the video to see empty seats. They should really see the signs....nobody wants to come to the service when they are getting a friggin tape. Yeah, that's a real quality life-style to drive 4 hours each way each week. -->

Men are from Mars....is a good book. My husband and I read a book called Five Love Languages. It really helped us to understand each other and what showing our love actually means to the other person. We have done really good so far! We just celebrated our first anniversary, and we have never had an arguement yet. Not that arguements mean an unsuccessful relationship, but a lack of them can mean more sweetness. :)-->

She is at Headquarters working at the Switchboard. If you call there, she will answer the phone sometimes.

Besides the nazi-type micromanagement of leadership, I left because I started questioning doctrine I had believed for 20 years. Where was Jesus in all of this? Why was he the head of the church and absent of it also???? Why couldn't I talk to him or have a relationship with him if he's the head of the church? All of these things were burning on my heart and then I went to church. I got to know my Lord in a more personal way, and it wasn't an issue of "Is He God? Is he not?" Those were out of my mind. I just wanted to know him better. Where that takes me in two years, I don't know. But as the Word says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. That's my only concern in life or what will be two years from now. There's much more freedom in that than being in the right ministry who is the only place that teaches the Word righly-divided. My last years in The Way remind me so much of phariseeism. There's no freedom in that.

Of course, especially in the beginning when they wanted to be sure I stood after taking the class or when they wanted me to go WOW. After that most of the time it was no. You can't take small moments and make a whole story out of it. Ask the same question of a woman abused by an alcoholic who is afraid to leave him. My point is that there were a few moments in twi that were fun, warm, or loving. Remember I said few. There are A LOT of moments that made me feel like I wasn't measuring up and had to explain myself. Many years of this turned me in to a person I no longer liked or with whom I felt comfortable. There is way more bad than good in my involvement in twi. The worst time was on Staff. I felt used and cheated. I tried to convince myself I was where God wanted me to be. I lied to myself a lot about what was really happening because I didn't want to blame the ministry. ***************************** MDV, did you ever go WOW?

MDV, By chance, have you read any of the things shared by people who were hurt by many of the leaders of the way? I encourage you to read the following link of someone's life in the way. http://gscafe.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/3...552/m/120100388 Also, I left AFTER lcm was ousted (or whatever they call his leaving) because of micromanaging nazis. There is a problem in the structure of the way. Maybe it's not so apparent in your nick of the woods, but it is in a lot of other woods. I worked at HQ for 5 years (left in 2001), and my time there was not the "best". I felt like a used rag when I left that place.

Oh how fun!!! You have to be sure to go the Sea Life Park. They have a Walphin there. It's a cross between a killer whale and a dolphin (this only happened in captivity, so they keep them apart now). And, of course, snorkeling and Hanauma Bay!! The fish are the most beautiful! Have fun at your luau! Stay away from the poi and lomi lomi salmon.

I work for the County Assessor, and even houses valued over $300,000 don't have taxes this high. How do they figure the taxes there? I'm wondering since I would consider moving there again.

Well Hello MDVaden! Long time no see! I used to live in the Beaverton area and know you. I left that area in 1996 to go on staff. I do think it's bold that you come on here. I hope that you are able to continue to do it without hassels. You'll have to keep us posted. Funny thing: I have wondered about your step son, Gr*g, and how he's doing since his journey as a WD and in the Corps. I wanted to talk to him for quite some time after I first left. Is N still your Branch coordinator? I know your Limb coordinators are considered the more lenient of top way leadership. I heard of many more people not being confronted in that area for having a mortgage. Is that still the case? Take care. You can email me if you want. Thanks for the Oregon pics! They are awesome!! Makes me miss it soooo bad!

Yes, I was because it wasn't real to me. I struggled with this for almost 20 years while in. I didn't want to disregard the doctrine. That was major bondage to me. There are quite a few here who were involved in a thread and said they made up their interpretations. I will see if I can try to find that thread. I no longer believe in the way twi taught to sit with interpretation and prophecy. It is not part of my life today, and I do not miss it. Comfort and exhortation were the goal, but it sure seemed redundant a lot. We were told that if we kept hearing the same things that it meant that God REALLY wanted us to hear it. I think it was a result of poor people HEARING things over and over and over. Rarely would I hear new stuff.

No, it won't. It will just cause you more frustration because those who are still in vehemently believe it's God's ministry. You will do better telling your story here on GSC. If anyone in twitville has an incline that it stinks in twitville, they will come here first. You will just be labeled as hard-hearted if you go back and try to stand up against the wrongs. It's still the same .... there, just a different day. Nandon, don't be down on yourself. We all had been brainwashed at one time or another. I was thinking back to 1989 when lcm first demanded loyalty. Our limb leader had been fired. I was months away from getting married, but I refused to kick the LC to the curb over the situation. I had been attacked for this by my Corps roommate. She told me I needed to move out. I just questioned why. She couldn't chew my foot because I wasn't being hard-hearted. I explained to her that I wasn't any different, I just didn't want to discontinue to fellowship with someone just because they were fired. I stayed in the house until I got married. It was hard for her because we had my bridal shower at our house. All of the fired LCs relation were there IN OUR HOUSE!!! Ohmigod!! The Corps roommate was really uncomfortable. Her discomfort was caused by HER OWN BRAIN. Nobody was doing anything differently had they still all been invovled. By the way, we invited all of the local believers still in, but they refused to come. *shrug*

Wouldn't that be a riot! Especially since veepee stole those ideas from others. Well, yeah, I got that information from a book, but the author of that book got it from someone else, so it really wasn't his idea anyway. You can't steal something that wasn't their's in the beginning. If veepee were alive today, I'd like to ask him where he got the names Maggy Muggins, Snowball Pete, and Henry Boloko. I'm sure people make money off of ideas they read or heard from somewhere else. They are just a little smarter to mix it up so it doesn't sound so similar.

I spent 6 years in a terrible marriage. My ex-husband was a substance abuser. I didn't find out until 3 years into the marriage. I was shocked and felt completely betrayed when I first found drugs. I confronted him and gave him the choice to get help or get divorced. I would not tolerate substance or alcohol abuse. He went to rehab, but later he found ways to hide his problem (i.e., prescribed pain killers, mua huang aka ephedra). I got tired of it all and wanted so bad to get out. I loved him, but I hated that he wanted other things more than me or our marriage. I no longer trusted him, and it was all beyond repair IMO. I left him and divorced him. I struggled with whether I was sinning or not. He had already left twi, so I used that as my out. Whether it was right or wrong in God's eyes, I don't know. Yes I broke my vows to him, but I also promised God that I would not get married again unless I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the marriage was going to be solid and based on love and respect for each other. It was based purely on sexual attraction the first time. I guess we'll really know about the vows we made when the time comes. I'm not concerned about it though. I know I tried my best to keep it going the first time. My current husband and I are such kindred spirits, I don't know how we couldn't make it. Every day with him is happy and fulfilling.:)-->

OutandAbout, Bless your heart. Reading your story just makes me want to hug you because I feel so bad for the way you were treated. I just can't imagine. I'm laughing at myself though. Big dummy me! I was reading the names of the people you were referring to and thinking "what the hell kind of name is that?" I didn't realize they are disguised names until someone else mentioned the L Nazis. They sure were some big arseholes in my opinion. I was involved in taking pictures for the stupid yearbook for the corps and staff when I was at HQ. Mot and Barq ;-) came over and I went over the spiel with them without standing for their clerginess. I went over the instruction of what they were supposed to do in my quick hurriedness because time was of the essence to get pictures for 450 adults and children. Mot started acting ....y with me because I wasn't recognizing his holiness....I blew him off! They used to come in to the department I worked in acting like they had the biggest priority EVER!!! Their priority was their cowtowing to the big forehead and his deadlines....whatever.....I wonder what they think now. They are the weak ones. They don't even have enough balls to show their faces to anyone after they left. It really shows their true colors: they were in it to kiss the MOGs arse. Power is their greed.

Sudo, I just saw your post today. I will ask my hubby and get back to you.

Lindy, I think you are talking about Steve Michels. He was the territory coordinator for that area back then. He lived in Lubbock until 1987. Then he moved the territory to Midland for just that year. Then they got reassigned to Orlando, Florida. I think they were made LCs of Florida back then, but then got the boot when Puke Martinfail demanded loyalty.

Ala! You are making me laugh so hard! I've never heard that one! My thought was that guy was as spiritually sharp as a marble.

A twig of which I was part was involved in a "before the Church" confrontation of a 62 year old woman who had barely just taken PFAL. I had actually met her and witnessed to her with another guy while door-to-door witnessing. When we met up with her I could tell that she was just lonely and wanted to have some company. She had already expressed that she was already saved. I guess she thought we were trying to get people saved that day. Her first meeting was a phone hookup with a production from HQ. That was the tacky one where Puke Martinfail was making fat lady jokes. She was offended by him, but she continued to come back. She must have been really lonely because she kept coming to fellowship as long as I called her up. I kept telling the FCs that I always had to call her to get her to come and I didn't think she was really interested in coming. But of course I was encouraged to keep calling. --> "No" doesn't mean "no" in the way until you actually say it, and then it doesn't always mean "NO" then because the bastages will try to talk you out of your "NO". I left to go take the "new" ACS that Puke Martinfail did for PFAL, and my FCs signed this woman up for the class during that time with a lot of pressure involved I'm sure. I new in my heart of hearts that this woman wasn't ready for the class. Maybe she really wasn't interested, but she seemed to just go along with things. She was too easry. But she also seemed to have "problems". Not normal people every day life problems....my pea brain back then would have called the problems "mental". There was a lot of pressure to get people for this class because it was the LAST PFAL class run in the area. The FC's wife was a stay-at-home mom, so she would invite this woman over during the day. This woman did not work. She was estranged from her husband, who lived several states away, and she had issues with her family that lived near. Let's say this now, the FC's wife was a bitch. She had a physical issue which kept her from doing the things she wanted to do, and she refused to get surgery to help her situation. She was also dropped from the corps a few years earlier because she didnt marry corps. She was still trying to act like she was corps. She was a complete hot head. I lived with the FCs. She bitched me out once for buying the wrong milk. --> After the woman took the class, she started speaking up about things she saw wrong, and she would argue with the bitchy FC wife. One day when this woman was over visiting, the 3 year old daughter of the FCs was playing with herself. She was running around with no undies on, and like many curious children was checking things out. This woman was completely shocked to see this and told the FC's wife that the girl shouldn't be doing that. Well FC's wife told her husband of the things that happened and all of a sudden we were having a fellowship confrontation. It was aweful. The FC told her that his daughter would touch herself wherever and whenever she wanted to. She was told to get her act together or be kicked out of the household. The problem with this is that this woman didn't understand half of what was being said to her because she only had been involved a few months and wasn't familiar with way jargon. She didn't even understand what it was to live up to par as a wayfer. It was terrible, and I've expressed my sorrow to God to even be in the damn room. The woman ending up continuing to go to fellowship. Why? I think she was just lonley, and she seemed to be clingy to me. It was hard for me because I just didn't want to hang out with a 62 year old. I was 31 and newly divorced. I wanted to start living my single life and moving on from my divorce. Later that year, I ended up going on Staff. This woman was still going to twig, and the twig was left to take care of her. I went back to visit on a vacation while on Staff and found out this poor woman was a full-time facility for alzheimer's patients. The "mental" thing then rang clear to me. I felt so terrible that this poor woman needed more than she was getting from the twig, and they did as little as possible. They didn't want to kick her completely to the curb because she had taken the class and continued to come to twig, yet she was probably considered a burden. I really believe getting people to the class was about bringing in money now.

Shelbert, darn girl! You made me teary-eyed! You have many wonderful reasons to brag. You have a beautiful family, and you are an awesome mom! It sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing. I feel proud with you.:)--> I know some of my best days have been spent just hanging with my sis. I love her LOTS! I just wish she and I lived closer.

I didn't go to my prom either. I had a serious boyfriend (3 years older) my junior and senior year. He had broken his leg, so it would be no fun for him to go. And, of course, I wouldn't dare go with anyone else!! Geez....I think back and see what a waste serious relationships are at that age. Oh well....my hubby more than makes up for any missed opportunities at that age. :D-->

Sudo, My husband's hobby is is audio and video recording/editing. He said you could purchase software called Pinnacle. If you want to spend more money, he said Vegas by Sony is a really good one. You can go on line to www.videoguys.com to check it out. If you want to talk to someone live, you can call them at 800-323-2325.

I did this as a maid of honor, only I didn't lose the ring. I just left it downstairs in the BRC. The wedding was upstairs. I realized it when I was walking down the aisle. The first 3 minutes of the wedding I must have had a terrorized look on my face. I wanted to tell N*k M*xs*n to "Stop just a minute! I forgot the ring!!" Yeah right. Like that would have gone over well with him. When it came time to exchange the ring, I whispered "Don't have it" as I faked giving him a ring. The bride didn't catch on, and it was a jumbled moment....I felt horrible. The best man ran downstairs right after the ceremony and before the bride and groom greeted everyone in line and got the ring...whew! I guess I made a priceless moment in that wedding....maybe not.

Surprisingly not. I quit working for twi in 2001. I got a glowing reference when I first left HQ, but I had the same job from that time until recently. I got married and moved to another state. I asked my co-worker about what kind of reference twi gave me. She said it was fine. But she said it wouldn't have mattered because of the exceptional reference my most recent employer gave me.

At my first ROA, I was walking to the big top tent for the nightly teaching. This guy was walking behind me. I could hear him expressing his appreciation to himself with what he was seeing. I was young (19) and extremely naieve. He came up to me and said, "I know you don't know me, but I am your brother in Christ. Can I have a kiss?" I was in disbelief. I started walking faster....