Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)

[Salacious Kitty]

2 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I do blogs for the library that I work at and will be doing a review blog for Death in the Downline.  I'm not sure if I can share it on here when I'm done. 

Can you do a summary? 

[oliviabenson]

Jill’s ladies retreat: so many ladies look elderly. and she posted a picture of pregnant Heidi with 2 other pregnant ladies. Food was some kinda taco buffet and desert. Hope her kids got some food.

Jill’s singing and arm flailing was painful to listen to. Poor Renee is on the piano trying to impress Mahmo.

[libgirl2]

46 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Can you do a summary? 

When I write it, I will try to post it. I wasn't sure if i can share the link here. 

Edited Sunday at 08:48 PM by libgirl2

[merylinkid]

You can share it in the small talk thread and then post the link to that comment here.

[Westiepeach]

I’m reading that book now. All I can say is wow… definitely has Plexus vibes.

[laurakaye]

18 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

Jill’s ladies retreat: so many ladies look elderly. and she posted a picture of pregnant Heidi with 2 other pregnant ladies. Food was some kinda taco buffet and desert. Hope her kids got some food.

So it was a nautical theme and Jill served tacos?  A seafood buffet would've been more appropriate.  Jill serving shrimp, clams, etc. - I don't see any possible way that could be a giant disastrous fail, do you?

 

19 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I do blogs for the library that I work at and will be doing a review blog for Death in the Downline.  I'm not sure if I can share it on here when I'm done. 

You have my dream job. :)

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

So it was a nautical theme and Jill served tacos?  A seafood buffet would've been more appropriate.  Jill serving shrimp, clams, etc. - I don't see any possible way that could be a giant disastrous fail, do you?

 

You have my dream job. :)

I wouldn't trust eating seafood that got within 5 feet of her. 

[oliviabenson]

Jill’s retreat looks tiny compared to last year. I wonder why so few attended?

 

[libgirl2]

12 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

Jill’s retreat looks tiny compared to last year. I wonder why so few attended?

 

They are on to her? 

[ginger90]

11 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

Jill’s retreat looks tiny compared to last year. I wonder why so few attended?

 

It did look smaller than previous years. 
 

This is a screenshot from a video of the buffet in a hallway.  

[CalicoKitty]

Tacos cost less than sea food.  

[merylinkid]

18 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

They are on to her? 

Most likely.   She can't keep posting about her fabulous life without people noticing that for someone with no real job who needs money all the time she has a lot of stuff and takes more than one vacation a year.

Or she was so focused on getting the cruise she didn't promote the ladies retreat as much this year.   I can see Jill wanting to brag so badly that she screwed up her own major source of income.  (see also paragraph above along those lines).

[Future Cat Lady]

1 hour ago, oliviabenson said:

Jill’s retreat looks tiny compared to last year. I wonder why so few attended?

 

Wasn't the retreat associated with her (old) church? If she left that church, she's probably doing things on her own and the ladies from that church are not encourage to attend.

[Salacious Kitty]

9 minutes ago, Future Cat Lady said:

Wasn't the retreat associated with her (old) church? If she left that church, she's probably doing things on her own and the ladies from that church are not encourage to attend.

Her new church sponsored this year's retreat. It appears to be larger than Joy Baptist, so why it is smaller this year is perplexing. 

[CalicoKitty]

Maybe the saying "fool me once, shame on you- fool  me twice, shame on me" applies here.

[Future Cat Lady]

12 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Her new church sponsored this year's retreat. It appears to be larger than Joy Baptist, so why it is smaller this year is perplexing. 

Maybe the ladies at that church are not into that kind of event. Or they can't stand Jill.

[Salacious Kitty]

15 minutes ago, Future Cat Lady said:

Maybe the ladies at that church are not into that kind of event. Or they can't stand Jill.

Probably the latter. 😀

[AstridM]

2 hours ago, laurakaye said:

So it was a nautical theme and Jill served tacos?  A seafood buffet would've been more appropriate.  Jill serving shrimp, clams, etc. - I don't see any possible way that could be a giant disastrous fail, do you?

 

You have my dream job. :)

Not even tacos - just a giant mess of buffet items, LOL. I couldn’t even recognize what it was supposed to be without explanation 😂.

[oliviabenson]

2 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I wouldn't trust eating seafood that got within 5 feet of her. 

only good seafood is for Jill and David. no way she'd provide a good seafood buffet for the retreat!

[crazy8s]

Jill also has speakers on the same topics each year. Unless you are pulling in people that have not been before what would the widow, ministry wife or young mom hear this year different from last year?

What they would hear plenty of is Jill talking about Jill and the Rod kids performing. Pair that with prices Jill charges and the crappy food, who would come back?

[AstridM]

57 minutes ago, crazy8s said:

Jill also has speakers on the same topics each year. Unless you are pulling in people that have not been before what would the widow, ministry wife or young mom hear this year different from last year?

What they would hear plenty of is Jill talking about Jill and the Rod kids performing. Pair that with prices Jill charges and the crappy food, who would come back?

Plus they must see that THEY had to pay far too high prices for unbelievably crappy food, while Jill’s passel of kids ate for free? (Meaning they paid for Jill’s kids to eat). I wouldn’t be too happy about that. 

[mythoughtis]

The attendees are paying a lot of money for what is basically a 24 hour ‘retreat’.   And paying even more to add an extra non-retreat day if they choose.  I imagine a couple of years of that is enough for some.   You can’t go by the luncheon photo though because some of the attendees were in line out in the hallway.  Did anyone compare the number of tables to last year. 
 

 

[Salacious Kitty]

3 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

The attendees are paying a lot of money for what is basically a 24 hour ‘retreat’.   And paying even more to add an extra non-retreat day if they choose.  I imagine a couple of years of that is enough for some.   You can’t go by the luncheon photo though because some of the attendees were in line out in the hallway.  Did anyone compare the number of tables to last year. 
 

 

Someone on FJ counted 62 people. I believe this included the Rods. 

They didn't get the main ballroom because the hotel had just held a convention of sewers, and they overlapped by a day. 

[crazy8s]

19 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Someone on FJ counted 62 people. I believe this included the Rods.

yes the 62 included 9 rod females counting Heidi

[oliviabenson]

last year I think she had 300? it was packed last year. my guess people from last church didn't follow her to the next retreat. many attendees were like 80 aka maybe lucky to be deaf to Jill's singing! 

 

even if she had 100 attendees this year it's not as much profit as she counted on. 

Jill probably unloaded her stash of leftovers of plexus and CDs and magazines she got piled on.

 

[Minivanessa]

10 hours ago, Future Cat Lady said:

Maybe the ladies at that church are not into that kind of event. Or they can't stand Jill.

 

9 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Probably the latter. 😀

I agree. The new church seems to be larger than their previous church. So the Rods couldn't just sweep in and be large and in charge like they may have done in a church with a smaller congregation and perhaps a pastor who was willing to go with their flow. For awhile, anyway. (They've been scrubbed completely from the website of the church they recently left. No videos, no photos, no audio of any of the Rods.)

IMO Jill may have had good intentions when she took over the retreat from the woman who used to run it. But I wonder if, over time, it's fallen victim to her nature. I think that for all her nonstop Jesus talk and showing us her annotated Bible, she's not a deep thinker. She's also self-centered and although I'm no psychologist I think she's probably a narcissist, based on her behavior over the years. I can't see Jill thinking long or deeply about the content of the retreat, and we've seen that she uses it as a showcase for herself and her kids and even David ("Men's night" for husbands, with David and as much free pizza as the guys can grab before David dips it all up). I think she also can't resist using it as a cash cow for herself. Directing attendees to pay her directly for their rooms instead of the hotel is IMO a big tell on that issue. 

So she picks a tagline for a theme for each retreat and comes up with one or two non-family speakers and pads it all out with herself and her family. I don't claim to understand how IFB people think. But I suspect that having attended last year's retreat, someone who got this year's retreat flyer might well think, they've been there and done that.

tl:dr: Jill's let the retreat become a stale overpriced showcase for herself and her supporting cast (her kids and husband), she's left the church that used to support it, and although her new church signed off on it, the event may not have been attractive to many women in the new church. I suspect Jill's not the big hit there that she expected and wanted to be. She must be frustrated as all get-out because she's not getting her narcissistic supply there, the pastor doesn't let her wave her phone around during services, and so far she hasn't been able to maneuver David into moving the family to yet another church. Or she hasn't found a better target, I mean church, to move to. Yet.

[merylinkid]

I partly blame Jill's parents as to why she is not  a deep thinker.   She was never taught to think.   She was raised in the fundy life, which means rote knowledge of the bible and following rigid made up rules with no wriggle room.   Plus she was not well educated.   I mean I don't think self-centered Jill would be given to deep thinking anyway, but they didn't even give her the tools to try.

Jill must be very frustrated right now.   Plexus didn't give her the wealth and fame she thinks she deserves as her right.   Nor does the new church think she is the greatest, most dogliest woman ever.   I think with both she expected to move up from big fish in a small pond to big fish in a bigger pond, then found out she is really a small fish with delusions of big fishness.  For a narcissist that is just devastating.

I don't think they can move on from this church either.   Unless they flat out move from the area.   They have pretty much gone through all the local churches.   Everyone is sick of them.   Which again, has to wear on her.

A lower turnout at the retreat might be the last straw for Jill in her attention seeking.    Goodness knows how she will react.   

[Minivanessa]

13 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

Jill must be very frustrated right now.   Plexus didn't give her the wealth and fame she thinks she deserves as her right.   Nor does the new church think she is the greatest, most dogliest woman ever.   I think with both she expected to move up from big fish in a small pond to big fish in a bigger pond, then found out she is really a small fish with delusions of big fishness.  For a narcissist that is just devastating.

I ❤️ that ^^. What a great turn of phrase!! 

[BradandJanet]

On the same note, I wonder if Melaleuca will pay off like Jill thinks it will. She apparently got enough cash the first round to brag about, but the products are new to the people she sells to, so she got buyers out of politeness. I have a feeling selling expensive household cleaners and toothpaste isn't going to get her the "big fishness" (thanks @merylinkid) she believes she should have and will turn out to be another dud in the life of Queen Jill the Great. 

 

[merylinkid]

Thank you everyone for liking the phrase "delusions of big fishness."   

As for Jill, @BradandJanet Meleuca will turn out like everything else.   Like her idea of shooting to stardom ala 19Kids, surely if THEY got a show, she is deserving of one, then tying one of her kids to Anna Keller Duggar's brother (boy howdee did that crash and burn badly), the cd, the magazine, Plexus, the Ivory Creamy Boutique, the Etsy store, and on and on and on.   All Jill chasing $$$ and fame.   Which she will never get because 1) she's not that wonderful, uneducated, small minded, screechy, etc. and 2) she is not pleasant to work with so that someone would be willing to work with her to turn her into the star she believes she deserves to be.   

Even the low level grift tour of churches is slowing down.   I notice no one jumped at the chance to give them an RV.   Her usual begging just isn't hitting because she's begged too much (while also posting incessantly from all her vacations).   

 

[Absolom]

I've been getting a ready to move vibe from Jill for six months or more now.  I wonder what it will take to get Dave out of that chair in front of the map now though.  I think he's found his place.

[libgirl2]

20 minutes ago, Absolom said:

I've been getting a ready to move vibe from Jill for six months or more now.  I wonder what it will take to get Dave out of that chair in front of the map now though.  I think he's found his place.

We all know how much she loves Florida. I wonder if they do move, will Kaylee and Jonathan follow? 

[AstridM]

14 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

We all know how much she loves Florida. I wonder if they do move, will Kaylee and Jonathan follow? 

I don’t think they can afford Florida. 

[merylinkid]

she's not moving to Florida.   if she did there would be no excuse to travel there for a month every winter.   It has to be somewhere she is 1) not known and 2) gives her the perfect excuse to travel elsewhere all the time.  Oh and 3 - somewhere someone is willing to hand over a house to them -- with enough room for the "print shop."

[libgirl2]

3 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

she's not moving to Florida.   if she did there would be no excuse to travel there for a month every winter.   It has to be somewhere she is 1) not known and 2) gives her the perfect excuse to travel elsewhere all the time.  Oh and 3 - somewhere someone is willing to hand over a house to them -- with enough room for the "print shop."

And a few new churches to grift from. 

[Salacious Kitty]

4 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

And a few new churches to grift from. 

The number of churches seems to be dwindling. Seems like they may have caught on. 

[CalicoKitty]

31 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

The number of churches seems to be dwindling. Seems like they may have caught on. 

I am very surprised that the clearinghouse has not caught on by now.  Maybe they have, and the R's "salary" has gone down.  Maybe that is one reason why Jill is trying so hard to make money.  I think Jill's posts and the bragging about all the trips is starting to backfire on her.

[crazy8s]

2 minutes ago, CalicoKitty said:

I am very surprised that the clearinghouse has not caught on by now.  Maybe they have, and the R's "salary" has gone down.  Maybe that is one reason why Jill is trying so hard to make money.  I think Jill's posts and the bragging about all the trips is starting to backfire on her.

I don't know how the Clearing House thing works. Do churches donate to that specifically designated to the Rods and then the clearing house sends a check that equals donations per month?

[CalicoKitty]

Just now, crazy8s said:

I don't know how the Clearing House thing works. Do churches donate to that specifically designated to the Rods and then the clearing house sends a check that equals donations per month?

I don't know either.  I sort of thought that churches donate to the Clearing House, and then the money is allotted to the missionaries.  But I really don't know.  I think any church can make extra donations outside of the Clearing House.  At least that is the impression I get.  It is all kind of confusing in my mind.  Didn't someone post here that the Clearing House has something to do with taxes on the "salary" also?  I know my uncle was paid by the mission board of the Lutheran church, but his home congregation sent him a little extra money, as did a few individuals from the church. (usually $10 to $20 dollars).  He always made sure to thank them by name. 

[BradandJanet]

22 minutes ago, CalicoKitty said:

I don't know either.  I sort of thought that churches donate to the Clearing House, and then the money is allotted to the missionaries.  But I really don't know.  I think any church can make extra donations outside of the Clearing House.  At least that is the impression I get.  It is all kind of confusing in my mind.  Didn't someone post here that the Clearing House has something to do with taxes on the "salary" also?  I know my uncle was paid by the mission board of the Lutheran church, but his home congregation sent him a little extra money, as did a few individuals from the church. (usually $10 to $20 dollars).  He always made sure to thank them by name. 

I read that the clearing house will do tax preparation for the missionaries. However, Jill and David apparently prefer TurboTax. I wonder why. 

[Salacious Kitty]

2 minutes ago, BradandJanet said:

I read that the clearing house will do tax preparation for the missionaries. However, Jill and David apparently prefer TurboTax. I wonder why. 

Oh, I am totally suss where their taxes are concerned. 

[Absolom]

The donations through the clearinghouse are earmarked.  It's done so that Jill and David can show they are charitable donations.  Supposedly it saves work for the donating churches.  Jill and David would get one 1099 from the clearinghouse instead of one from how ever many little churches are supporting them. Individuals can send money the same way. Then the individual would get their tax letter from the clearinghouse. If anyone is slipping them money on the side I'm fairly certain Jill is not giving them any documentation it's charitable giving nor is she claiming it on their taxes. 

[BradandJanet]

Sigh. It hard to imagine David, snoring in the recliner during the day while his dozen kids tip toe around him, a worthy model of a charity. 

[merylinkid]

Since David has the "printing ministry" rather than a preaching ministry, I guess the smiley tracts get ordered through the clearinghouse?   Then the clearinghouse sends them the money and the 1099, or if taxes are withheld, another tax form each year?  Rather than each church having to send a form?   

The grift tour is separate from what they get from the clearinghouse.  Those are "love offerings" and people are giving knowing they won't get a tax letter.   But seeing how many pews are occupied while David is talking then the whole gang is screeching, I am thinking that barely covers gas for these trips.   Good thing the churches feed them otherwise the kids wouldn't eat at all on these trips.  

[Salacious Kitty]

22 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

Since David has the "printing ministry" rather than a preaching ministry, I guess the smiley tracts get ordered through the clearinghouse?   Then the clearinghouse sends them the money and the 1099, or if taxes are withheld, another tax form each year?  Rather than each church having to send a form?   

The grift tour is separate from what they get from the clearinghouse.  Those are "love offerings" and people are giving knowing they won't get a tax letter.   But seeing how many pews are occupied while David is talking then the whole gang is screeching, I am thinking that barely covers gas for these trips.   Good thing the churches feed them otherwise the kids wouldn't eat at all on these trips.  

Jill has a link on their website to order tracts, complete with pricing, so I think they bypass the clearinghouse. But I could be wrong. Jill may have to report orders to them, which would make sense. 

[Salacious Kitty]

Jill posted a photo dump from Saturday. Heidi and others draped themselves in TP and walked down the middle aisle after what I assume was some skit. 

Also of note,Jill made her first Plexus post in well over a month, but then followed it with several slides from Melaleuca. She claims they're "conservative" and all that entails in her little mind. 

eta Saw the wiki page for the founder/former CEO. He's a thrice married Mormon and, as one would expect knowing Jill, a major bigot. I can't link here since lots of political content is included.  His name is Frank VanderSloot for anyone who is curious.

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Salacious Kitty

[oliviabenson]

How much $ is Jill wasting on MLM??? 
Where is this $ coming from?

 

So Jill is in 2 MLMs. Wow. She is dumb.

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Jill posted a photo dump from Saturday. Heidi and others draped themselves in TP and walked down the middle aisle after what I assume was some skit. 

Also of note,Jill made her first Plexus post in well over a month, but then followed it with several slides from Melaleuca. She claims they're "conservative" and all that entails in her little mind. 

eta Saw the wiki page for the founder/former CEO. He's a thrice married Mormon and, as one would expect knowing Jill, a major bigot. I can't link here since lots of political content is included. 

 

Thrice married is “conservative” to Jill? 😆

[Salacious Kitty]

17 minutes ago, AstridM said:

Thrice married is “conservative” to Jill? 😆

She probably doesn't know of his previous marriages (he isn't polygamist). Ignorance is bliss. And Jill is as ignorant as they come. 🤪

Edited 20 hours ago by Salacious Kitty

[ginger90]

She introduced her new crap, which she says is not MLM,  in the same video she was plugging Plexus. “As much as I love my Plexus products, I needed more.” She addressed this,  “to any of you crunchy people out there”.

Edited 14 hours ago by ginger90