Regional Convention July 30-August 2-A Special Guest

This year, our convention was at the Belleville Assembly Hall, one of my favorite places to be. It was the weekend after our Special Convention in Bulgaria so we had just enough time to rest up for this convention! It was nice to have the convention in our native language! And the air conditioning was a definite plus as well. One of the highlights of our convention was that Brother Lett of the Governing Body was attending our convention! This was pretty special because it's not like this convention was a Special convention or anything, it was just a regular regional convention. And on top of that, there had been conventions at Belleville every weekend that summer since the last weekend in May! Truly, what were the odds of having one of our Governing Body members, and his wife attend and speak at our convention? It was a remarkable coincidence and quite a blessing. There were only about 1,900-2,000 in attendance for that weekend so I knew my chances of getting the opportunity of meeting him were actually pretty good! I really wanted to meet him without getting carried away and giving him the paparazzi treatment lol ! I also didn't know exactly what I say if I had the chance! What do you say to Brother Lett?! I mean I know he's human like me but he's pretty cool! what I ended up doing was going to Kroger and buying a small card and 2 small boxes of chocolates, I put it in a small gift bag and I knew he would be his seat when the musical arrangement so I very discreetly gave it to him then. He graciously thanked me. I was happy, I don't think I actually said much to him at the time because I was nervous, but I had the chance to write what I wanted to say in the card.I was happy.

Al and I had the privilege of working in the Lost and Found Department at our convention this year, and one of our shifts was during the lunch intermission. A brother walked over to the counter and informed us that Brother Lett wanted to take a picture with the Lost and Found Department and to get our cameras out and ready! Wow!He came over to our Department and shook all of our hands and thanked us all for our hard work and then we took a picture with him,

 We actually got to take a picture with brother Lett? How cool! Again, I ask, what are the odds of him coming to take a picture with the Lost and found Department during my shift? Our shifts were no more than an hour, and that was the only day we'd been scheduled to work during lunch. This was a very memorable convention. This as you know was not the only reason our conventions this year was unique. There was so many wonderful videos that were used during the program. I felt they really enhanced the program and they made some of the Biblical illustrations really come to life.

Special Convention in Sofia Bulgaria-I Knew this was from Jehovah

 

     

     Attending this convention was a blessing in itself! I've always wanted to go to an international convention, so in 2014 when they announced that Michigan had been invited to apply to attend special convention, Al and I just knew we had to apply. We'd originally only applied to go to two locations, one was Medellin, Colombia, and the other location was Brussels, Belgium. The reason we'd chosen those places was because I'd always wanted to travel to South America and the convention in Brussels was going to be conducted in English. Well anyway, Al and I filled out our application and sent it in. Months went by and we heard nothing. We had just assumed that we were not accepted. That was a little disappointing.
      In February of this year though, Al got a phone call from the International Convention Committee in New York. He was calling to tell us that they saw our application to attend a special convention, and that although we hadn't been selected to attend the conventions we applied for, they were extending an invitation for us to attend the convention in Sofia, Bulgaria. Wow! I had never even heard of Bulgaria and I had to go look it up on a map. What's in Bulgaria?! But nonetheless it was exciting to know that if we accepted this invitation that we would go to an international convention in just a few months and a dream of mine would be realized! However there was another hiccup in the story that I should mention. Al had been laid off the month before, an we had a trip planned to Florida in March! The Convention was only 4 months away in July. Logistically, how were we going to be able to make this convention dream a reality? We would have to rely on Jehovah.
   Cautiously, we decided to accepted the invitation to attend the convention in Bulgaria. We decided at that time, not to talk to too many people about our endeavor because we didn't know if in the end we would be able to afford to go. When I initially looked up flight tickets online from Detroit to Bulgaria, they were around $1,200 per ticket. That's a lot of money,especially if you're laid off. One day, about a week or two after we accepted the invitation, I spoke to a sister about being invited to go to Bulgaria. To my surprise, she was also going to Bulgaria! I asked her about where she bought her air line tickets, and she told me that her and her brother were flying out of Toronto. Toronto?! Why Toronto?! The thought had never occurred to me to check another airport because I live 10 minutes form the Detroit Metro Airport. She told me that the tickets were around $840 to fly to Bulgaria from Toronto! Wow that so much cheaper! this would make all the difference for Al and I.Wow.We would save over $700  flying out of Toronto. I suppose the difference has to do with the exchange rate. At the time, for Every $US, it equaled a Canadian $.70. I honestly don't know that much about exchange rates and such, but I knew that with the little savings we had, we could purchase the tickets!What are the odds that the sister I talked to had also been accepted to Bulgaria and that she found tickets for so much cheaper? I know  this was from Jehovah.
     Things didn't necessarily turn around for us right away financially after that, Al still hadn't found work, March came and went and then April, May and June yet still nothing. Our Convention was in July! Now I was very concerned, we had tickets to go but I didn't know how we'd be able to afford it once we got there. We were just thankful to keep the bills paid at home. How could we afford a week's vacation in Europe?! Well in June, things started to turn around! Al started work again and was working over time, He worked overtime for the next month and a half! Amazingly, we had come up with the money for the hotel and other incidental expenses! Amazing! We also experienced generosity from a couple in our hall, who gave us $200 towards our trip! My mom also sent us a card with $200 write before we left! we were all set to go! I know this was from Jehovah.

Visit to Brooklyn Bethel 12/1/2015

       Al and I recently took a trip to NYC! We had a fantastic time, While we were there, we made sure to visit Brooklyn Bethel, which is currently the world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses. We know that right now, our brothers are working very hard on the new world headquarters for Jehovah's Witnesses and that it's going to be located in Warwick, New York. Very soon, that project is scheduled to be finished and the estimated move in date is September 2016! It is very exciting indeed.
    We may not make it back to New York before then so we wanted to see Brooklyn Bethel for the  last time. We really wanted to see the new exhibit " The Bible and The Divine Name" A lot of hard work went into putting that beautiful display together. I loved how it pointed out that Jehovah's name has been recorded in countless written documents of centuries of time. I loved looking at the variety of the Bibles and gained insight on the different approaches that Bible translators took when deciding to translate the Bible. It was very interesting and encouraging. I really appreciated that they had a brochure that was based on this tour and the other tour entitled "A people for Jehovah's Name"  This exhibit was quite extensive and I could have easily spent hours and hours absorbing all of the information that was there. I  appreciated how the exhibit started the year of Jesus death 33CE and went all the way to present day, and all of the different things that Jehovah's people have experienced throughout history. I'm happy we were able to visit Brooklyn Bethel one last time.

Before we went to Bethel, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge ad we spotted the JW.ORG sign! I wonder how many people received the kingdom message as a result of this sign.

A Picture of me standing in front of Brooklyn Bethel, the 25 Columbia Heights Building

I love the nice, modern entry sign to the new exhibit, Al and I just had to take a picture in front of it.

There was such a large variety of Bibles on display in this exhibit. I appreciate how in each Bible on display, they found a portion of Jehovah's name in it and highlighted as evidence.

The final display in the Bible showcase reflects the victory of Jehovah's name being  restored in His inspired Word by his people.

The Reason I Write

     I decided to start this blog today as a way to keep my mind focused on spiritual things. In this world with all it's wickedness, there are days where I feel disheartened and discouraged, and there have been times where I have shrunk back in my service to Jehovah because of some personal trial that I am experiencing. I am using this blog as a way to personally reflect on all the good things that have come from serving Jehovah and the privileges of service that have been available to me. All of these things have brought me so much happiness and thankfulness.
     Writing these things down for myself I believe will serve as a reminder that I am happiest when serving Jehovah and that I have so much to give him. I am going to use this blog to post some of my fondest memories of serving Jehovah so far and I will continue to post things to come.These posts are not necessarily in chronological order but that's okay :) They are all my experiences and they have all encouraged me in some way. I must do what I can to stay spiritually strong and fortified.