The PAUSE means all contributions in MMM are divided into two parts: BEFORE and AFTER the pause announcement.
Before the introduction of PAUSES the growth of the money stops - money does not grow (as if the button PAUSE was pressed on the tape recorder, everything just stops). At this time of MMM you can take out only the face value (the amount you deposited minus the amount you have already received (without interest) multiplied by a special coefficient k.
Withdrawal amount = (the sum you deposited – the sum you have taken out for the time of participation) * k