Belle

Hey, Mr. Linder, Harve, Donna? Can you arrange that invite for Oldiesman? Surely he's proven his loyalty to TWI on here. Seriously, OM would not share a private topic invite on the public board. No one at TWI would have to admit to inviting him. He really does want to go back.

I agree, Hope. There ARE degrees of sin. That's why there are different punishments in the OT. That's why there are different punishments in courts today. DUH! How did I fall for THAT one? I do believe in forgiveness, but that doesn't mean that there aren't consequences and it certainly doesn't mean one sin is the same as any other.

Hope, I do know a couple of people who had letters printed in the rag, but most of those letters were written by corpse, wanna bees or staff members from what I could tell. To me that says that they weren't really written from the heart but obligation letters like those we had to write in the classes and the greetings the limbs had to send in. Someone can only read so many personal accounts on the web before they have to face the fact that that many people can't be lying. AND, if someone wants to know bad enough if it's true, they can prive topic someone and get validation.

Yeah, I sponsored a couple who had to go back through the corps because one of them wasn't corps but the other was. They had been running a branch, I think, for years. Had a big group of people and ran many classes. They had really good jobs and quit them to go back through the training per martinfail's mandates. They got drop kicked within months of being back in the training program and I got a letter from someone at hq telling me how weak and stubborn they were. The letter was pretty rude and I was shocked since I hadn't been involved with TWIts for that long and I really liked and admired the people. I thought, "Gee, if THEY are considered weak I can't imagine what they would think of me!" They couldn't go back to their hometown but had to go somewhere else and had a really hard time getting back up on their feet. They're still there and still in from the last I had heard. :(-->

I love it, MStar! I can just imagine some kids getting the giggles out of finding those images in your work. How very cool!

I recently discovered the Noetic Cafe! I haven't explored it as much as I would like, but do plan to spend some time there. Enjoy your hair-brained, life-morphing adventure. I look forward to hearing about it when you get back. Just watch out for hair balls! :D-->

What places has Zach's class gotten post cards from? Have Jim's post cards/pics made it there yet? I wonder where Flat Stanley will be for Spring Break - someplace fun I hope!

Good to see you, Roy. They did a story on GMA about him, but I didn't get to see it. Maybe I'm too jaded but I take all that stuff with a grain of salt these days. I'm very skeptical about it.

I thought they were singing, "I'm not talking bout the linen and I don't want to change your life..." Sir Paul was definitely classy. Much better than previous bowls. I don't know why they try so hard to appeal to the Gen Xers when the typical demographics for the Super Bowl are older than that. The song I never could figure out was "Bacon, Carrot, Biscuits" Every Day and what it has to do with working overtime. My best friend and I used to sing at the top of our lungs with the radio when we were riding around. Shortly after Amadeus came out we were singing along and I realized she was singing "Hot Potatoes, Hot Potatoes...Hot Potatoes" :D-->

Thanks, Vickles! That's a great website. I got stuck on it for about an hour laughing my head off. Now I must clean my computer screen. :D-->

Hope, unless I mis-read it, I don't think Sky was saying they skulked out. He was just giving the chronology of who left when and how it corresponds to the lawsuits and WayDale. The Lall*s were the only ones to really leave under cover of night, weren't they? I thought I heard the P*narellos were trying to start their own cult using what they learned in TWI.

O&A but if you had said you were NOT going to go and THEN changed your mind it would have been okay. ;)-->

TheHighWay That’s the worst, imo. Realizing that I couldn’t REALLY share my heart with my husband or he’d turn me in and that he would choose a group of people over me was earthshattering. It broke my heart every time he would agree with me and then refuse to stand up to them. I still ache for him, knowing that he is all alone and the only people in his life will fake loving him only as long as he keeps jumping through their hoops. It’s all about control, isn’t it? They want to control our lives, our time, our money and even our thoughts. They don’t know how to handle not being in control and that’s why they kick people out when they start taking control of their lives back from them.

WordWolf Priceless! :D-->

Oakspear I relate ALL TOO WELL to that one! And the problems we already had were because of TWI to begin with. --> That 20/20 hindsight’s a kicker.

UncleHairy Isn’t it all the more infuriating to realize we were just being played by some bullies who were really probably most miserable and taking it out on us?

Tzaia, but they DID keep track of whether you were there or not! I had to fill out a form at each fellowship telling how many people were there, who was missing, why they were missing, if they called to say they wouldn't be there and how many new people were there, who brought them and what the order of the service was: songs, prayers (who prayed), the teaching topic (who taught) and other stuff I can't remember.

We were very close to going WD right after we were married. I was surprised they would even consider allowing us to go since we hadn't even been married a month. If we had gone, that probably would have been it for our marriage or for my sanity. I can't even begin to imagine the grueling time wc had in training.

I don't have any stories, Lindy, but thanks for sharing yours. I always wondered about those things. Sometimes the assignments were way to coincidental and the more popular someone was, the higher up on the ladder they got. I know one bc who has been campaigning for years to be moved up to lc and desperately wants to be put on full time so he can quit travelling and working such hard hours. If he continues to kiss enough a$$ he just MIGHT, but I doubt it because he has kids that will be going to college soon.

Tzaia, Don't know if we've met. Welcome! I've learned that women's intuition should be listened to. It's usually right. Good for you speaking up, too. Looks like the gals weren't the only ones using sex to get people involved.

They separated the men from the women???? Husbands and wives?? Why??? What happened to family coming before the ministry? That makes no sense at all. coolchef, I'm so sorry. Maybe he was just seeing how much he could get away with or just copping a feel, but didn't go any further with her. That had to be a rough 2 weeks.

Wayfer Not! And we thought that was normal or were too scared to say or do anything about it. *shakes head* I don’t know why we allowed people to treat us like that. Every little fight back was empowering like you with the guy & his magazine. I think it’s those little steps that helped us get to the point where we just weren’t going to take it anymore and to realize that WE were right after all.

JustThinking I did that too and tried to get my ex to do it. He’d talk about “running something by” so and so. I’d ask why. Hadn’t we already made a decision about that? “Yeah, but I just want to run it by him.” I found that the less they knew about us the less they had to attack. Eventually, I quit sharing things with my ex because I knew it would get me in trouble with him for not “renewing my mind” or it would get passed on to someone else.

tonto These are people the really vicious leaders would pick on. They seemed to get pleasure out of really beating up people with very tender hearts. Grrrrr It really gripes my a$$. I’m glad you started standing up for yourself.

Hope R. I think the quicker people get to that stage of handling reproof, the stronger they are to cope with the recovery and the quicker they are to get out. Your stages of handling reproof are sooo familiar. It’s a very good definition you’ve explained. From taking it personally to combating it mentally to just plain ignoring it. Very insightful. Thank you!