On the 8th day we went to Closing Worship, and then started the long drive home.  After driving through 5 states, we spent the night at Wildwood Hotel, in Wildwood, Missouri.  It was quite the winding road to get there, and we were all thankful to get there and have comfy beds to sleep in.  The next morning, we had breakfast in the hotel, and then headed to Six Flags-Saint Louis.  After a few hours on the park, where the boys got to go on all the large roller coasters they wanted, we loaded back up and headed for home.  We got home around 8: 30 pm on Day 9.  Tired, thankful, but blessed to have had a good trip home. 

For all of you who helped contribute to this trip, for all of you who were our prayer partners, for all of you who have been reading along on this blog, for all of you who supported us in any way, shape, or form, thank you.  We look forward to going to the gathering again in 2027...this time in Minneapolis!

How is it our last night in New Orleans?  I know we are all tired, but it is hard to believe it is almost time to hit the road.  In case I forget to say it tomorrow or Sunday, thank you, thank you, for the privilege of bringing your kids to the Youth Gathering in New Orleans.  Whether you are a parent, grandparent, caring adult or friend, thank you for your support of these youth.  We look forward to telling you more about it at our Shareholder's dinner...so be sure to watch the newsletter for more information!  Here's today's pictures...ask your kids about them... 

Tonight it is Ethan blogging and I get to tell you about our synod day. Today started out with our second trip to the ruby slipper. After that we made our way to the convention center where we had worship. At worship we saw and got a picture with both Bishop Kevin and our friends from Wylde. After that we walked around the Riverwalk where Ian bought a pink polo. Then we went back to the convention center and we raced on the bounce house slides. We had finally made it to the point where we could board the boat that took us to the battle field where the Battle of New Orleans took place. Once we got back to the dock we went to the car and drove over to get in line at the Smoothie King Stadium. The speakers taught us that we were made to be disruptive disciples. 

Today was our accompaniment day.  We went out to Turtle Cove Environmental Research Center and learned about the work they do before going hands on and doing some water sampling and dip net work, identifying species in the area.  The kids learned a lot and enjoyed doing something different.  Tonight at the Mass Gathering, the kids were lucky enough to sit in the section that got to go down on the floor and be the hype team for the opening musician.  All in all, it was a good day, and I can't believe tomorrow is our last full day before heading north!  Please keep the prayers coming that the kids continue to have a great time, everyone can stay healthy, and that this gathering will change them for the better.  Good night friends.  Sleep well!

Today we started off by getting up early to go learn at turtle cove which is in a marsh. At Turtle cove we got a chance to learn about algae from there lead scientists. For the rest of the time we captured wild life from the marsh. Next we got some authentic sea food and I purchased a gator head. Later in the evening we got to listen to some people tell there stories and we got to dance to the music. The last thing in the night we stopped and hung out at Community Life where we hung with friends, danced, and Ethan got his face painted. Written by Ian and edited by Isak.

Today our kids had a great time at the Interactive Learning center, playing games, making new friends and hanging out with friends from other towns.  Tonight, after some rain, we had a great night in the Smoothie King Arena, hearing from several speakers, including Jaqueline Busse who taught the kids the following:
"A scar us never ugly...because a scar means I survived."
and
"When people make fun of us we don't give a flying flip...and we work our weird anyway."
We talked about being authentic and what that means.  Back at the hotel room we had a great final 15 meeting.  Now we are all off to bed for our accompaniment day tomorrow!

It's Isak blogging today. We started off this morning by sleeping in!!! After a slow start we ate at the best breakfast joint in the city. The food at the Ruby Slipper was really good and they sell more than 2 and a half biscuits a year. After that we headed off to the convention center. Today was our interactive learning day and we spent the mid-day playing games and racing to the top of the bouncy houses. We are all covered in scratches from wrestling to be the first down the slides. We made a quick Walmart run to load up on food for the next couple mornings and came back to the hotel. Our attempt to go swimming was unsuccessful as the rooftop pool was too full. Before long we started off for the mass gathering in the rain. After buying ponchos the rain decided to stop and it was smooth, dry sailing to the arena. We showed up extra early to get good seats today. We got in and bought food then headed to get our seats. Our seats were amazing and we were super close to the stage. Today we wore our pink jerseys and got on the Jumbotron at least five times. We listened to a lot of moving speakers who had very interesting stories. Our mini concert for tonight was Blessing Offor and he was blind. He had a really good voice and was a ton of fun. When everyone was turning there phone flashlights on Ethan dropped his and it landed two rows ahead of us. Overall, we had a long but really fun day and have to wake up very early tomorrow. 

We finally made it to New Orleans.  After a long drive, and patient waiters as we registered, we headed on a city-wide and cemetery tour.  A good afternoon and the rain even held off for us.

Tonight at the first Mass Gathering, we heard stories of an immigrant and his bravery from El Salvador, and got an introduction on our theme Bible verses from Psalm 139 from Michael Chan.  We praised God with good music, and then came the big walk home of 17,000 Lutherans!  

A couple of quotes from Mass Gathering tonight that I found meaningful for you to think about this evening: 
"You are not in the grave, you are in the womb."
"You can either have a mask or a real life.  There isn't a third option."
"We will never find healing until we are known by others."

May this week be one where all 17,000 youth and young adults realize that God our creator loves us and created us to be: brave, authentic, free, disruptive, disciples.
Welcome to New Orleans everyone! 

Today was an interesting day with half of it being traveling. We also got to go on a bus ride tour of New Orleans. We had to leave from Memphis at 6:30 so this morning was an early one. Once we got into our hotel, we had to drop our stuff off and get ourselves registered for ELCA youth gathering as soon as we could. Then we went back to our hotel to wait for the bus to arrive so we could go on the bus tour. We got to learn a lot about New Orleans and our first stop was a cemetery where people would spend a lot of money on the gravestones. Our second stop was the Cafe Du Monde where we got to try the famous New Orleans Beignets which ended up being really good. Then we got to see Lakefront which was completely underwater with Hurricane Katrina with the wall levees, then to end it off, we got to see these really big houses where that cost millions of dollars. Once we got back to our hotel, we got to walk to the Smoothie King Center for our group gathering. We got to listen to a lot of good songs with the band "The Afters." They sang some really good songs, then we got to listen to some stories too, overall it was a really fun day.

Written by Elijah and Edited by Ethan

Hey Bethlehem.  I want you to know that you have a LOT of reasons to be proud of your boys today.  This morning, they worked at a couple of Dorothy Day Houses.  Dorothy Day in Memphis provides transition housing for families of any make up that have found themselves homeless.  They are a warm and caring staff, and they have houses where they share living quarters (living room, dining room, bathroom, playroom), as well as personal bedrooms for each family.  
​Our crew went to work, mowing and weedwacking outside, and cleaning the inside of the house from top to bottom. Whether dusting blinds, mopping floors, or organizing the playroom, we all lent a hand to help those who are served by Dorothy Day Houses.  
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In the afternoon, things were a bit more dicey.  We went to help out at a beautiful urban park, Shelby Farms Park.  There had been a bit of miscommunication from some staff transition, but as soon as we had a job, BLC went right to work weeding out a flower bed, doing some trimming with loppers, and raking up what had been trimmed.  It was the raking that did a few of our crew in unfortunately.  Elijah and Ethan both ended up getting stung by some insects whose house had been disrupted by the work being done.  Both were great sports about the whole thing, but definitely have some battle injuries from our work day!

After that, it was on to Bass Pro Shop in the pyramid.  I hung out while the boys shopped, but did get the treat of taking them to the top of the pyramid where we checked out the observation deck and enjoyed the beautiful view of Memphis.  Tonight we had dinner at B.B.King Blues Club where we were treated to free cover by the door man.  What a gift, as we were deciding whether or not we could afford to eat there if we had to pay for a cover for each of us on top of food! 
Tonight after our evening meeting, the boys are playing a few rounds of popdarts in the lobby before turning in early.  Tomorrow early morning we head to New Orleans! Woot! Woot!  Please continue to keep us in your prayers for safe travel and no more injuries!