Convention Post 1

“Keep On The Watch!”
International District Convention of Jehovah’s Witness in Rome, Italy
Olympic Stadium
August 7 -9, 2009

How did I get to go to the International Convention? I was not a delegate, but my congregation here in Rome, Acilia Inglese (Acilia English) was assigned to that convention. Seeing as I didn’t go to mine in the states, I needed to attend here.
To begin let me say this: what adversity befell me over the weekend, it couldn’t destroy the joy I derived from being there. All thanks goes to Jehovah.
Having been raised as one of Jehovah’s Witness I have taken a lot of things for granted. I have never missed a convention or an assembly and when there, I would hear, but I wouldn’t HEAR. I knew I was a part of a Christian brotherhood, but not like this. Here’s the story
Wednesday night, after talking to Freda & surfing Facebook for my long lost friend Samantha, I got in the bed. I noticed that my ankles were VERY swollen. As big as I am, I have tiny ankles, and they were huge. I called Freda & left her a message because she was at the mtg and then I rubbed them down with IcyHot and put on some socks.
When I awoke on Thursday morning they had gone down some, but by arrival at Janelle’s they were back to big. Over the course of the day they stayed the same too big size. That night I prayed to Jehovah that I would be okay by morning for the convention. I repeated the IcyHot application and left it with Jehovah.

August 7, 2009
Friday morning, my ankles were back to normal size and I got dressed and was ready when Danny & Janelle arrived. I got to see scenery on the ride there and little cars full of people with lapel cards on. We found a parking space rather easily, but we had to walk a little ways to the Convention site and that wasn’t good for the ankles. At our seats I tried all kinds of ways to stretch out my legs but only one thing worked - placing them over the empty seat in front.
After getting into a fairly comfortable position I was able to look around and admire my surroundings. English Sign Italian Sign
Some seats stayed empty where the sun attacked & in the afternoon they were full.
I tried to actually focus and pay attention , but the little girl next to me kept smiling and making me want to take pictures of her.
After some time, by ankles had grown and I needed to get up and walk a little. It also was the time that cute little girl needed to eat so we left together.
In the nursing mothers room, I met another cutie named Jemima and her mom Favour. They were from Nigeria. She posed for a picture and then she was off. ( I did see them again a few times over the course of the weekend.)
When she was done we went back to our seat. After a while it was time for Janelle to handle some mommy business.
Soon lunch was upon us and I sat in my seat with my legs stretched while I ate. I talked to the couple on the row behind me. She was from Alaska & he was from Sicily. They invited me to come and visit after October 3rd for a few days. We’ll see how that goes. I also met Renee Simmons from Riverchase Congregation in Birmingham, AL. She knew quite a few of the people that I knew from when we lived there. She gave me some parting gifts and said be sure to email.
After lunch, the spreading had gone into my feet. So we made our way to the bathroom – A LONG LINE. While waiting we met a delegate from Australia, Peruvian Missionaries, and saw the cutest little girl in some kind of native garb. Of course I took pictures.
From there I was made by someone (Janelle) to go to first aid because my ankles looked really bad. Unlike first aid at our conventions in the states there was a doctor there and nurses. They were dressed in their assembly clothes, but they had stethoscopes and stuff. They took my BP and it was 180/100. Yes that’s high. Yes I had taken my medicine & no it wasn’t time to take it again. They made me stay there and elevate my ankles and drink water. They instructed me to take my BP medicine right then and wait. Yes they had elevated beds to lay on.
They had a television in there and speakers so the infirmed could keep up with what was going on.
I was told this was a common ailment for Americans when they come to Italy. Something about the heat & humidity causes an adverse effect on us. That coupled with the fact that my body wasn’t used to walking everyday may have caused me to swell. After an hour they took my BP and it was lower, but still high 150/90. They kept me the rest of the day.
The Brother-Doctor told me to sleep with my feet elevated and keep them that way whenever possible. HE also pulled out his sneakers and told me to wear those type shoes for the rest of the weekend and not try to be cute.
If you know me he aint say nothing, but a WORD!!! Like Noah I did “just so.”
Despite the difficulties it was a good day. However, I didn’t get to see Maurice & Aleece. Maybe tomorrow.

A moment to discuss blessings from Jehovah for Friday August 7th:
1- I got up on time so I didn’t make Danny & Janelle late.
2- I went to the International Convention
3- The swelling wasn’t unbearable.
4- The temperature was 87°. How is this a blessing? Well Janelle said in 2001 at the International Convention the heat made most people miserable. She kept asking me if I was prepared to be hot and I said yes, but I had faith that Jehovah would fix it so that his servants we be able to enjoy the convention despite the heat. In fact my exact words were “Jehovah will provide. No arguments I win.” So when the temp was in the high 80’s, that was a blessing. The friends behind me commented on how “cool” it was . . . BLESSING!

August 8, 2009
I followed the instructions given to me in First Aid and I slept with my feet elevated. I put IcyHot on them, wrapped them with saran wrap, and put on socks. When I got up Saturday morning they were still big but looked a little more normal. Sadly I still had cankles – where the calf merges with the ankle. Janelle said it was only on one foot, but I had it nevertheless.
Once again I was ready when they got to the apartment to pick me up and we were off. We went a different way this time and I got to see much cooler sights. The nerd in me was glad to see the historical things.
Once at the convention Danny dropped off at the front gate so our trek was much shorter, but the ankles couldn’t handle it anyway.
I got to sit my seat for a little while before I had to go and lay in First Aid. I was not alone with my condition today. There were 5 sisters from the US & Canada with the same ailment. Some skinny, some fat, and one average. There was even a BROTHER! Saturday was rough on a lot friends. The temp got up to 89 so it aggravated those already afflicted even more.
Whenever I could go to my seat I would, but they wanted me to stay there because of the fluctuating of my BP.
When I was out I took as many pictures as I could with various delegates.
Look at my ankle. They rubbed some cream on me and wrapped it to reduce swelling.

Attendance: 48,209 (AM)
257 Swedish
466 Japanese
8260 English
39809 Italian

Highlights:
Bethel Speaker: Sam Heard of the Governing Body
Joel Reets of Sharpsburg, GA gave the talk “Young Ones Keep Your Eyes on the Prize”