Michael and Brandon Keilen- Part 2

[faraway]

I guess they have some kind of agreement. Their travel cost might be paid by IBLP but they don't get paid for their speaking arrangements because ministry and whatnot. Since they're probably a popular family among the members it's a good deal for all of them and they get a free vacation. I bet they're so proud they had so many kids who manage themselves. 

[CrazyMumma]

10 hours ago, lumpentheologie said:

Yes, but the difference is that I imagine your family put at least SOME value on education, even if you happen to have been homeschooled. The extent to which we can extrapolate from our own lives to assume things about these people seems very limited to me, especially about how children are raised and really especially about education. (Except of course for posters who grew up fundie as well.)

I can only wish my mum cared about education.  I would think we did grow up as fundies.  I do and did care about education as a teenager and desperately wanted a grade 12 certificate. Nope. One out of the 8  of us has one and he went to school.. Which he paid for.

I ended up going to uni and studying teaching.

[formergothardite]

10 hours ago, faraway said:

Since they're probably a popular family among the members

Gil is on the BoD, and the Bates have become the face of IBLP,  I'm sure the cult is paying for tons of stuff. It is kind of like Gothard, he claimed to get paid almost nothing, but he got the cult to provide also sorts of perks. So he lived a high life traveling the world, while on paper he make like $12,000 a year. 

[faraway]

Exactly @formergothardite Didn't Gothard have (a) private plane(s) despite his modest income? 

[formergothardite]

He had private planes and all sorts of things. He lived a very rich life, all while continually bragging about how he didn't pay himself a big salary. 

[faraway]

There is really not much to say about his followers. 

[nokidsmom]

On 3/12/2017 at 7:00 AM, formergothardite said:

He had private planes and all sorts of things. He lived a very rich life, all while continually bragging about how he didn't pay himself a big salary. 

Also where he lives is not exactly cheap.  Older but big, expensive homes.  We lived not very far from him at one point, the next suburb over but by a distance of a couple of miles.   You can't manage it on an a "not a big" salary so yes, IBLP is definitely paying for his lifestyle.

We were close enough that Mr. No saw of their materials when working in a local print shop.

[bananabread]

Brandon surprised Michaela with a trip to the DC area! Looks like they had a nice time.

[Kangaroo]

DC seems like an interesting place. I'd quite like to go there one day if I visit the US.

[front hugs > duggs]

7 hours ago, Kangaroo said:

DC seems like an interesting place. I'd quite like to go there one day if I visit the US.

Probably the least expensive place you can visit in the US in terms of tourism at least! All monuments/museums/memorials are free! 

[GreyhoundFan]

7 hours ago, Kangaroo said:

DC seems like an interesting place. I'd quite like to go there one day if I visit the US.

I live about two miles from the park where Michael(la) and Brandon got engaged. It is a lovely park. As @front hugs > duggs indicated, many things are free/low cost. The Smithsonian museums don't charge for admission, but the other museums have an entrance fee. There are so many that are worth a visit. My favorite is the Newseum. If you ever get a chance to come to DC, let me know and I'll give you lots of suggestions. I love sharing info about my area to visitors!

[front hugs > duggs]

@GreyhoundFan are you a greyhound fan because of a certain college you may have attended outside of the DC area?

[BeccaGrim]

8 hours ago, Kangaroo said:

DC seems like an interesting place. I'd quite like to go there one day if I visit the US.

It is. Very beautiful city.  

[GreyhoundFan]

7 minutes ago, front hugs > duggs said:

@GreyhoundFan are you a greyhound fan because of a certain college you may have attended outside of the DC area?

No, I have a pet Greyhound. My college mascot was a bulldog.

[Kelsey]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

No, I have a pet Greyhound. My college mascot was a bulldog.

Misread your college mascot and thought it said building. Spent too long figuring out why in the world a school would choose a building as their mascot. Oops.

We had a great time in DC. I would love to go back and see everything that we missed.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

I'm always stupidly excited when I hear about people in DC, because hey, that's where I live! I grew up in Iowa and I'm still not used to the idea that people would take a vacation anywhere close to me. It looks like they had fun, but unfortunately our recent weather hasn't been great for the cherry blossoms.

I hope she took her shop down because she's updating it with increased prices, not because of legal issues. I hate seeing quality handmade items on sale with super-low prices. I've been trying to sell some of my handicrafts online and I look at etsy to gauge a reasonable price. But I often see things listed so cheap that I have to wonder if they're fronts for some kind of alibaba-style wholesaler.

 

[Kangaroo]

Oooh, thank you all!

It's so exciting to hear of free or cheap entry for museums and historical sites. Definitely makes it more tempting to come and visit, but I also think that's a wonderful thing for people in your country because it means nobody is unable to access these important parts of your history.

I'm planning to visit somewhere early next year as a reward for finishing my university studies, so i might just add Washington to my ever growing list!

 

I think here, visiting our Parliaments (both the Australian and state ones) are free, along with sites like the National War Memorial. There's also funding in place so students who live outside a certain distance (ie. more than a day trip) from these can afford to visit, and that funding is available to each student once per calendar year.

 

 

[dawbs]

Side note on museum costs...

There's a push by the assoc of children's museums to have more of their members participate in "museums for all".  At participating US museums, if you show your E.B.T. card, you can get in for a reduced rate--the rate being from free to a max of $3 for a minimum of 4 people.

Our local sci. center is participating (as of last week or so) , and that means instead of $8.50 per head, with the EBT card it's $2 per head for everyone in the household.  which is awesomesauce, IMO.

http://childrensmuseums.org/about/acm-initiatives/museums-for-all
 

[dawbs]

(and I intended to add--also true when traveling.
So, if you're from Nevada, but happen to be in my area...but have an EBT card in Nevada?  come on over to the museum.  Still get in for $2 a head.  
And the museum has a handy dandy book w/ photos of 50 states worth of  EBT cards stashed away at the front counter so there won't be sill phone calls about 'wait, what does a Nevada EBT card look like?' questions.  It's all taken care of.
So, if you're straining but still managed to scrape up enough cash to take the world's cheapest vacation to visit grandma up north--because it's essentially free to visit grandma, other than gas, you can add in a museum trip p'raps.
Remove financial barriers.  Make shit accessible.  3 cheers for that)

[Carm_88]

A book? What book? Is that a unicorn? Tell me more!

[Kangaroo]

21 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

A book? What book? Is that a unicorn? Tell me more!

In the comments Michaela replied "It's a children's book about discovering the truths of life". Whatever that means.

[Carm_88]

3 minutes ago, Kangaroo said:

In the comments Michaela replied "It's a children's book about discovering the truths of life". Whatever that means.

Ugh it's about Jesus. I'd prefer the unicorn.  

[Mela99]

2 hours ago, Kangaroo said:

In the comments Michaela replied "It's a children's book about discovering the truths of life". Whatever that means.

Translation: You're going to hell if you don't agree with our views. With a few illustrated ponies, flowers, and smiley faces.

Bet whatever they come up with puts Sarah Maxwell to shame tho. 

[send*the*ferrets]

3 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

Ugh it's about Jesus. I'd prefer the unicorn.  

Maybe it's about how the unicorn was too gay and why God left them off the ark. 

[Casserole]

Sorry y'all, not a unicorn. Appears to be a guy with a sword.