Belle

I think they pick the Wyndham because it isn't near anything. You're basically stuck there once you arrive unless you have your own car, but most use the airport shuttles so they are limited to walking distance & you can't go very far at that because the break times are too short. Isolation is my guess as to why they choose the Wyndham. That, and the Wyndham probably bends over backwards to keep the business since Thanksgiving is such a down time of the year.

I feel sorry for the kids. Think of how much fun they missed out on and how hard it must be going to school and hearing all the excitement & buzz about the holidays, family time, presents & SANTA CLAUS coming. Even if they were told the truth they were envious of the kids who didn't and had so much fun believing in Santa. I also feel sorry for the kids who had their belief in Santa ruined by some smart a$$ "I know more than you" TWIt setting them straight on the Santa lie. Christmas is such a magical time and Martinfail took all the fun, emotion and love out of it. He made it clinical, sterile and boring.

Awww, thanks, Eagle! :)-->

JT, you forgot the 2x per day praying with your prayer partner who can't be your spouse. Your updated "witnessing cards" that had to be turned in and X # of phone hook-ups, branch meetings & hfc meetings required each month. We had to do all this and keep our houses spotless, our kids clean, quiet & straight A students participating in extra-curricular activities.

I hope I didn't just start a new legalism!! -->

Could we maybe buy a copy from the station? Who would we contact???

A small, thin book that will fit inside your Bible so people don't know you're not really reading along. A cushion to sit on and a colostomy bag for your 3 hour wait to be able to sit on the front row right in front of the teachers. Your Way-speak translator so you know what the real message is this year. (Hint: it's going to be give more money, witness to more people, sign up to do more in the household)

Mrs. Owens even mentions fondly the times at hq when they did celebrate Christmas like normal people. If you know Mrs. Owens you can tell that she didn't agree with the way they took all the fun out of it.

I remember watching guys drink "yards of ale" at some British pubs when I was much younger. Those might be large enough containers to stay within the 2 limit and be able to sit through the teaching without puking.

Yes, the spay-shul is in Dallas again this year. I remember being thrilled that we weren't qualified to go. We had forgotten everything we learned as advanced class grads, weren't good ensamples to the household or had debt....I can't remember ;)--> Now my ex must be jumping in his boots because he will be able to sit in an airport for 6 hours, fly to Dallas where he gets to spend $300 for 2 days worth of meals and an additional $300 to hear the greatest TWIts in the world read Bible verses and tell him what a schmuck he is and how much more they should be doing in the household since they are the faithful, mature disciples in the only household of God. Then he will get to wait an hour for a shuttle bus to take him back to the airport for another 4 hour wait to get on a plane packed full of tired, grumpy people. This will get him home so late he will probably just stay up instead of trying to get any sleep before heading off to work on Monday with his new blessed soul. Mr. Hammeroni, they still have the 2 drink limit. You wouldn't be able to drink enough beer unless you sneaked it in.

:D--> LOL :D-->

Did I spell that right? On another thread someone was shocked that there was no Santa Claus or Christmas celebration at hq. I thought we could discuss what the Thanksgiving & Christmas seasons were like when we were "in" for those who missed certain eras in TWI. When I left you couldn't say the word for any christian holidays - Christmas (means "merry Christ is dead"), Easter (means ashtaroth(sp?)) There were no tooth fairies, easter bunnies, santa claus visits, etc. That would be lying to your children and you want them to be able to trust you. You can't have angels or santa claus figurines around because they are idols and devilish. You can't sing traditional Christmas songs, you have to use appropriately re-worded ones. There was usually some sort of function going on that was spiritually importantthereby limiting or eliminating any time you might get to spend with your earthly family, but since they reject the word, you don't really want to be around them anyway, do you?

I hope someone sees this and gives us an update. Since Doug posted it (I presume he posted it on his site, ex?) then maybe he'll have a transcript or more information after it airs?

I'm just waiting on the next decree that any sex at all is bad. If no one has any sex at all, then there will be no problems in TWItville and all the lawsuits will just go away.

Wow! I see how obviously duped I was!! I thought TWI was IT and that I was really getting the answers I had been asking for years. When you look at the absurdity and "research technique" selection process used to justify whatever TWI's position on the scriptures was I feel so stupid. Thank God I quit drinking the kool-aid and started living the TRULY MORE ABUNDANT LIFE!!

Hi Mr Linder! :D--> I hope your insider information includes where the coffers of money are hidden. If not, you could end up on the streets like so many of the beloved servants of TWIts. I also hope you know that not everyone on this site posts everything they know about what's going on with TWI. We're just as good at omitting information as TWIts are when the situation calls for it. ;)--> Are you feeling okay? Your health is good, I hope.

I'm just glad they only strongly suggested we get them and didn't make us turn in photocopies of the pages. I couldn't believe the wc had to turn in their days in 15 min. increments - planned & actual versions.

LOVE IT!! ;)--> Thanks, excathedra!!! :D-->

Abigail, there's a new family class taught by the Coulters and they say in this new class that any sex outside the marriage is wrong. They also spend a great deal of time talking about how bestiality is wrong and how important it is to marry within the household. They don't say they are changing doctrine or that they were wrong. They don't even mention the other doctrine - if we dont talk about it, it never happened - they just change it and expect the kool-aid drinkers to continue lapping it up.

WOW! I'm so impressed and you look so nice. The hats are beautiful, too. Thanks for sharing with us!

Thanks so much, y'all! Steve!, Zshot and dmiller, I do want to buy something that's of good quality - especially now hearing your advice, but, I don't want to spend thousands of $$ either (I can't anyway). ex, yeppers! This is my first TWIt-free Christmas! I LOVE saying that word -- CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS!!! :D--> (put that in your pipe and smoke it, waygb!!!) Shellon, I found out a co-worker here used to hang out with Stevie Ray Vaughan and played with him quite a bit (but for fun, not professionally). This is his advice to me and these stores have online sales also. If you want, I'm going with him to the brick & mortars next week or 1st week in December to shop & can tell you what I ended up getting. dmiller, thanks for the detailed advice! I didn't want to spend $500, so hopefully the Carlo Robelli will be good enough quality for starting out. Are you familiar with them?

I'm so excited! This year I get to put up Santa Claus figurines and I may even put an angel on the top of my tree just because I can. I want to buy an acoustic guitar or a steel guitar and "how to" book or CD for someone for Christmas, but I don't know the first thing about musical instruments. Can someone point me in the right direction with some information on what to look for and questions to ask? Are these things you can get a good deal on at eBay or Alibris or Amazon?

Is Claudette back at hq? Is the video old or maybe they brought her back just for the "special occasion"?

Can't remember hearing of that one, Rejoice. Where does that come from? BTW - Welcome to the GSpot!! Does anyone still have a floss chart in their bathroom? "Retemories" strategically placed so you can see them and work on them while you're getting dressed, washing dishes, etc.? Hope, I can't see the top of my fridge and it scares me to think what might be up there! They would probably m&a me just for that if I was still in!

Every church I know has a finance committee who oversees things. The committee is elected and they make the books public. Certain times of the year the books are in the church office for anyone and everyone to look at. They actually encourage it. I asked to see TWI's books and was put through the Spanish Inquisition, given vague b.s. answers and never provided any concrete information. Craig used the scripture where they elected men to oversee the care of the widows so that the apostles didn't have to "wait tables" and he said that they shouldn't have to work. Totally taken out of context. The correct research keys clearly show that the "waiting on tables" was in reference to taking care of the widows. They got stuck in the wrong administration and completely ignored "the 100 clear verses" on the subject exactly the same way they ridicule others for doing. My ex had to teach on tithing and giving once and was in quite the quandry because he couldn't, in his own research, justify the teachings of TWI. He spoke to our hfc and our wc overseers about it and they "provided proper direction" for him to come around to seeing things TWI's way. It was sad, really. I thought it was going to be an eye-opening day for him, but, alas, the TWIts successfully glued those scales to his eyes.