Rome bethel

   Monday we were invited to lunch at bethel by the brother we met at the Rome Kingdom Hall. This was a real privledge that we weren't about to miss.  To be honest though, I was a little scared to join them with my family. As we walked in to the lunch room I almost had a meltdown.  I drilled the kids ahead of time, don't forget they say a prayer together so don't take any food until it's passed to you, don't talk about knives,video  games, movies farts or anything of the like. if you fight I will positively die of a heart attack on the spot.  It went fine and I relaxed after a little bit.  They were all very sweet and made us feel welcome and miraculously the kids behaved and actually enjoyed themselves. The bethel in Rome serves wine with lunch that is made by a watchtower farm outside of Rome. They also produce their own olive oil,but unfortunately not for to much longer.  Soon they will be selling that land. They only serve one small bottle for a large table so it is not enough to slow anyone down. I tasted it. It was very good. 

  The tour was lovely. We have seen three of them so far. London, croatia and now Rome. We took the tour with a few others, some very sweet people from Delaware and a Giliad couple from Dominican Republic but originally from San Francisco. By the end of the tour we were all pals and exchanged numbers.  I'm always impressed by the willing spirit of the people who work there. Bethel life runs a tight ship and these people work hard. It's not a life for everyone, but they are very happy people. They deserve to be, they have made really good choices for their life for a long time in order to be able to work there and they are blessed for that. The boys really get a chance to see our international brotherhood and all the hard work and self sacrafise that goes on behind the scenes.  One thing that impressed me that our guide, a circuit overseer for many years, told us was that everyone, including him, when they first come has to do every job for atleast one day so that they will appreciate the work. That means that he spent a day in laundry, a day scrubbing toilets and so on. He said he was supervised by a sister who had him get on his hands and knees to scrub the bathroom properly. This is done to ensure that everyone stays humble and no task is greater seen as than the next. 

   Well were on to Sweden now.  We have very dear and wonderful friends there and it's the perfect end to our journey. I don't care about seeing anything  at all. This is all about being with friends. So we will enjoy whatever we do because we will be in good company and I'm not sure we will ever have a chance to do a trip like this again so I am trying to remain greatful and enjoy every moment. 

   Stockholm look out... Here come the grimes.....