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SerenityLives · 12-05-2020, 08:58 AM

Hi NZExCK,

Thank you for sharing your testimony. I can relate to the small voice within my conscience every time when I was younger. For example, when my parents taught me how to pray read and call on the name of the Lord repeatedly whenever I had a bad nightmare. It was strange and so awkward for me as a kid, since children usually are non verbal (at least I was for the first few grades of my elementary years). Then, going to those Bible camps was stressful. My conscience grew used to the eccentrics of the church over time. Eventually into my young adult years (right after teenage years), I just saw too many injustices being done (LC members not acting “Christian” towards my family members, brothers mistreating other brothers, sisters mistreating other sisters, views on mental health (one sister my age stopped eating because of depression, and none of my fellow sisters in my age group wanted to visit her and kept telling me to visit her- We were all equally close to her so I didnt understand). This was in ninth grade. Then during Bible camps, the kids would get rewards for reading the recovery version of the bible cover to cover. I did it three times (two times in english, 1 time in Chinese) and extra points/prizes for those who read and memorized the footnotes. Why did the middle schoolers need to memorize the recovery version footnotes? I found it silly and didnt do it. My younger sister did. She got praised for it. Then having to stand up and share in meetings- that was so stressful, I didnt like being in the spotlight, and my intuition was telling me this was wrong also, like people shouldnt be forced to share in meetings if they dont feel like it. The whole process seemed fake to me and forced. Then finally, trying to hand those tracts on college campuses, I felt silly doing that as well. During Lords Table meetings, my locality would include a section detailing how many attended church that Sunday, and there would be plusses and minuses as if they were more concerned about the growth of the congregation than really taking care of each other. So much of your testimony parallels my experiences, it’s cryptic.

12-05-2020, 08:58 AM	#2
SerenityLives Member Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 524	Re: my UN testimony Hi NZExCK, Thank you for sharing your testimony. I can relate to the small voice within my conscience every time when I was younger. For example, when my parents taught me how to pray read and call on the name of the Lord repeatedly whenever I had a bad nightmare. It was strange and so awkward for me as a kid, since children usually are non verbal (at least I was for the first few grades of my elementary years). Then, going to those Bible camps was stressful. My conscience grew used to the eccentrics of the church over time. Eventually into my young adult years (right after teenage years), I just saw too many injustices being done (LC members not acting “Christian” towards my family members, brothers mistreating other brothers, sisters mistreating other sisters, views on mental health (one sister my age stopped eating because of depression, and none of my fellow sisters in my age group wanted to visit her and kept telling me to visit her- We were all equally close to her so I didnt understand). This was in ninth grade. Then during Bible camps, the kids would get rewards for reading the recovery version of the bible cover to cover. I did it three times (two times in english, 1 time in Chinese) and extra points/prizes for those who read and memorized the footnotes. Why did the middle schoolers need to memorize the recovery version footnotes? I found it silly and didnt do it. My younger sister did. She got praised for it. Then having to stand up and share in meetings- that was so stressful, I didnt like being in the spotlight, and my intuition was telling me this was wrong also, like people shouldnt be forced to share in meetings if they dont feel like it. The whole process seemed fake to me and forced. Then finally, trying to hand those tracts on college campuses, I felt silly doing that as well. During Lords Table meetings, my locality would include a section detailing how many attended church that Sunday, and there would be plusses and minuses as if they were more concerned about the growth of the congregation than really taking care of each other. So much of your testimony parallels my experiences, it’s cryptic.