It finally arrived!
The extremely busy yet exciting week of the
International Convention 2014!
Andy and I were invited July 1st to the Evening Programs in Seattle which was such a privilege. It was there where they held one of the main shows for the delegates.
Our delegates came from the following places: (the ones I can remember)
Korea
Suriname
Ghana
Netherlands
Hong Kong
Iceland
and the state of California
Orchestra played by our brothers in the hotel lobby
Musical of "I'm Preaching In The Rain" - a Seattle joke
There were other skits of singing and dancing. Every talented friends.
I made these bookmarks for the delegates when we exchanged gifts. It had a picture on the other side of Andy and I, our email and the scripture of Psalms 133:1.
Now it's Friday July 4th 7:00 AM and the majority of our small congregation all get on a bus (driven by one of our brothers) and get on our way to the Husky Stadium. (About a 30 min drive without traffic)
The first day it took almost 1.5 hours by the time we parked and finally made it to our seats.
So the next day we met even earlier to beat the car and pedestrian traffic.
Did I mention it was an open stadium?! On Friday and Saturday it was in the 70's but on Sunday it was in the whopping 80's which for Texans that doesn't seem so bad but sitting under the sun all day makes a difference. They had to make an announcement for friends to drink water and stay hydrated . They even passed out water bottles for all because there were some that fainted due to the heat.
And yes we even got a little rained on too but it was all worth the experience.
Below are some delegates we met at the convention.
Below is the pretty view we had from our seats at the stadium
On Sunday after the session, all the missionaries that visited Seattle went on the field to say goodbye to the crowd.
But that wasn't the end...
Monday July 7th, the 2 congregations from our hall hosted 50 delegates.
They arrived at our hall by 8:30 AM.
We greeted them with welcome signs and song (134 See Yourself When All Is New) - A very tearful happiness.
The sign we made had all the names of the delegates on there which they were very surprised and excited to look for their name.
Then at 9:30 AM we were assigned each car group 2 delegates to go out in the ministry for an hour then take them to see the Snoqualmie Falls.
Below was who were were assigned. They were from Sacramento California.
Lunch Time with the delegates!
A band was playing in the background, friends from our hall with a lot of talent.
During lunch time we had a small game of baseball with the kids in the back of our hall.
These Suriname brothers below were very encouraging.
We also met this couple from Bethel.
After lunch there was entertainment for the delegates. (Andy was assigned to be head of this task)
We had the children from our 2 congregations sing 2 songs:
Listen Obey and Be Blessed
12 Apostles (sung with the tune of Oh My Darling)
Of course every cute!
After that a young brother played a musical piece on an electric piano.
Then Andy interviewed 2 elderly people, one sister and one brother for their moving experiences.
Then it was all coming to an end. By 2:00 PM we handed the delegates their gifts and said our goodbyes.
We waved them goodbye as their bus left our hall.
Andy and I will always remember this time and will love to share with our little boy.
To see more pictures/videos about our Convention in Seattle, there was a website made for the delegates:
