district convention 2009

well if you haven't been to the convention yet...it is amazing! really the best i have ever been to (i know i say that each year, but this year really was!)
so many great talks. really encouraging us to not pursue anything in this dying world, praying for each other by name, staying watchful of things happening around us, and keeping up with personal and family study.
and the releases! of course i won't ruin it for anyone, but you will be thrilled. for a while i was thinking there would be something released every single session!
there is only one word for the drama...powerful. (ok-maybe a few more...) it was the most realistic, current, emotional drama i've ever seen. chris said it was the best drama he's ever seen and was trying not to cry!
i tried to not to get up during any of the talks, i was afraid i'd miss something good (well that and i was afraid i'd fall down the stairs!) anyhow, a couple of times i just had to get up and sure enough, i missed some good parts!

here are pictures of us each day of the convention.

friday:

saturday:

(don't you just love the pig in the background? :)

sunday:

(this was the first time ever that we have been to the convention center right when the doors opened at 8:00. let me tell you...quite an experience! people started running, one sister with a cane was furiously hobbling along beside me. it took me only 2 minutes to get to the section we wanted. along the way, i heard one attendant say to another, "that didn't go so well." when i got to our section, it was almost completely filled. rows and rows of seats saved. i was amazed! the first available row that had an end seat was row "s". i heard later that some attendants opened their doors early and that some people were just saving every end seat for several rows. you wonder why they have those instructions in the km every year about seat saving, etc. now i know! the funny thing is, the people who rush to get those seats are the same ones that are never in them during the session or are texting throughout the program! a group that sat in the 2 rows below us on sunday were quite entertaining (sad, really) they texted, talked and pretended to shoot each other all through the session. (these were not little kids either--young adults and adults) right before the ending song and prayer, they gave the little girl, who was about 3, a big bowl of watermelon which she slurped on through the whole prayer! sometimes you have to wonder...

we went on this website and found mckinlee three new hairstyles to do each day. i didn't get a picture of the last day (and it was my favorite. a messy bun)

i was the fortunate one who got to walk 3 blocks with aching feet and the heat index near 115 (i'm sure!) to the water gardens with the girls. it was beautiful and i got some great pictures, but it was unbearably hot.

here is chris going over his part before the session started. he had a talk on the symposium on sunday and he did so good! he told me afterward, he was so nervous he didn't even remember what the brother he interviewed said. he was praying that he didn't pass out on stage! you couldn't tell though.

so there's my synopsis of our convention. i'm always sad to see it come to an end, but glad to put into practice all the great things we learned!