I always found it anticlimatic, and although I wouldn't admit it outloud, I always felt kind of silly.
Here we'd go out for the month before, inviting everyone possible to COME! I'd call or try to contact all of my RV's, pass invitations out to everyone unfortunate enough to make eye contact with me, and carefully pick out my clothes. I'd arrange to give rides to people, and offer rides to anyone remotely interested (meaning, they smiled). I'd spend time hand writing the KH address on every invitation I had (we didn't send them to a printer).
THEN, I would try to take time off from work, put more time into service, and do all of the recommended reading from the bible, and the week before follow Jesus' last week in the Greatest Man book. The day would come, I'd take a full day or half day off from work. Make a zillion calls "are you coming, do you need a ride". Try to have a nice dinner---it's a holiday, observance, afterall. Then I'd make sure to get there very early, because the hall was really going to be full, save seats for those I'm expecting, and watch the door, full of hope.
All of this build up----and I'm handed a plate for 2.2 nanoseconds which I pass left. Then I'm handed a glass, have a mild panic attack that I will be the one to spill the wine, hold it for 4.2 nanoseconds (slower than the bread, cuz of the spill risk), pass right.
That's it. A month of frenzied activity for a 6.5 nanosecond motion. I wouldn't say it out loud, but it really did feel silly. I kind of felt embarrassed afterwards so no, I didn't carry on about how faith building the experience was. It actually felt kind of ridiculous.
NC