Mixed Emotions on our last day

LAST DAY OF TRIP:

Although we all want to stay here, deep down, we want to go home. Today, we had our "surprise trip." We went to an alligator farm, and rode in an air boat around the swamps and looked for alligators. We also learned a lot about them. Everyone had a fun time! Plus, we spent another day at the beach, and avoided the jellyfish stings. The water was hot, like bath water, and very salty. We even enjoyed a great lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Now back in New Orleans to fly out tomorrow, we all agreed that we are excited about the bittersweet ending to our trip. Overall, we had great fun, and will be coming home with fun stories to share. We are praying for all of you that you stay dry and out of the rain, and that you all stay safe. God Bless!



Emily Sander





Here's a picture of Taylor dancing that was on the Gathering's website! This was during our Worship Service on Tuesday night.

We had another early morning on the last day of National Youth Gathering. The closing mass event was incredible, with teens from all across the world screaming and clapping and praising God. Because it was the last day, everyone got into the music and joined in the singing. Listening to the crowd was a totally different experience from our own church services. Everyone is loud and banging noisemakers against their hands, however they could express their joy. The presence of God was extremely evident in the crowd today. We also got to hear the whole story of Jesus in a couple minutes. The guest speaker put it in our langauge, giving us a different view from the sometimes difficult diction of the Bible.

After the mass event, we traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. That was fun, except most of us were stung by jellyfish. Some of us relaxed and slept on the white sand, while others crashed around in the waves. It was wonderful to enjoy a break from the hectic schedule of the NYG, giving us a chance to recooperate before tomorrow's events. Jaime has promised us a surprise (if you have any information, please call 414-640-3502). We ate dinner at Sonic around nine tonight. It was interesting because most of us had never been there before and we couldn't understand how the waitress sped around on roller skates and figured out change in her head.

We're looking forward to another day of the sunny weather and hot temperatures, and we can't wait to see you all again soon!
Kaitlin and Taylor

Worship and our last full day of Gathering

What an amazing night! We hope that you were able to livestream our event tonight and worship with us, but if you weren't, just know that there is nothing short of heaven that can compare to worshipping with 25,000 other people! It was inspiring to hear the shouts and echos of "He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!" throughout the Superdome. It was humbling to join in with the priesthood of all believers and take the Lord's Supper with them. (And the craziest part was that communion for 25,000 people took just about as long as it does on a normal Sunday morning at Blessed Savior! How do they do that?!?!) The pastor talked about how we all know that God forgives us, but sometimes it's hard to forgive ourselves. But that through Christ's resurrection, we are assured of that forgiveness.



We had another full day prior to our worship service tonight. We got to go to a Bible Study, listen to speakers, participate in games, service projects and events. We can't wait to share all our stories with you on August 15!



While we'd love to share more now, we must get back to our packing. Everything needs to be out of our rooms before 7:45 tomorrow morning when we head back over to the Superdome for our closing event. Thank you again for all your prayers! They have been heard!



More prayers would be appreciated as we head over to Biloxi in the afternoon to enjoy some downtime reflecting on our week here together!

Monday Night

The Gathering has officially started, and it's been a whirlwind of activity ever since! We started out with our first Mass Event on Saturday night, and it opened up with bang! Literally! Fireworks, music, praise and Bible Study started our focus on God right away!

Sunday morning started out bright and early for our 5K runners: Drake, Bryce, Kaitlin, Emily and Kelly. We left the hotel and headed to the Superdome at 5:15am, and watched them run around the Superdome 6 times to complete the run. Sunday night we got to see the "Jesus Painter" and heard from a mom who's daughter died in a car accident last summer, just after her 18 birthday. She reminded us that no matter what, we are always in God's hands and He has our plans laid out for us. Monday morning we left for our Servant Event. We boarded buses with 120 other kids and went to the future home of a Youth Center. The current contractor is renovating the buildinng in a green way and is attempting to get it done to provide a place for young people within the neighborhood. We worked on bundling the planks so they could be used by others, tearing out plaster, and cleaning up some of the rooms. We returned to the hotel to shower before heading back to the Convention Center for our afternoon sessions and concerts. Monday night we heard from Rev. Matt Popovits who reminded us that our story isn't about us, but about Jesus.

We're amazed that tomorrow is the last full day of National Youth Gathering already! But, we're really looking forward to more sessions, activities and concerts! And we're really looking forward to worshipping with 25,000 other people tomorrow night. Don't forget that you can livestream our evening Mass Events at lcms.org. If you're watching Tuesday night, don't forget to look for Taylor who is going to be dancing!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers during our trip! We definitly know that God is watching over us while we're here!

Day 2-First day of Gathering!

After breakfast at IHOP,we rode the trolley down to the Garden District to visit the Lafayette Cemetery. Because of theculture and geography of New Orleans, people were buried in mausoleums rather than under the ground. The cemetery is one of the oldest in the city, with tombs dating back to the 1830's.

We tried to escape the heat by staying in the shade of the live oaks and magnolia trees. Mardi Gras beads were tangled in the branches! Along the sidewalks of the nearby neighborhood were wrought iron fences cast in ornate patterns. The homes were from antebellum times, and one of them is owned by Sandra Bullock.

When the tour ended, we escaped into the air-conditioning. I've never been more grateful for Wisconsin's weather! Once we had cooled down enough to brave New Orlean's temperatures, we returned to the hotel for a relaxed afternoon of swimming before the hectic events of National Youth Gathering start up. Opening ceremony starts at 7pm in the Superdome!

Day 1: 11:30pm

We enjoyed dinner at Remoulade on Bourbon Street! We walked though Jackson Square and too many group pictures. Also, we walked along the Mississippi River and watched the boats and barges come in, while we watched for Anderson Cooper, who never actually showed up. We did get to see Randi Kay though! We had a "bathroom adventure" in a hotel that has a mini mall and 5 floors, and a total of 2 bathrooms, both of which were closed. After our adventure downtown, we took a quick dip in the pool, which was full of lots of crazy people. Everyone avoided the craziness and came up to shower. We ended our day wiht sharing our highs and lows. Most of our highs included just being here in New Orleans and our lows included the humid weather and the early start to our day. Our first day of the gathering is tomorrow and we are so excited! Good night everyone!

Emily Knoerr and Laura Diedrich

Day 1: 4:45 pm

Our day started bright and early, meeting at church at 4:30am. We rode to the airport and quickly made it onto our first flight. With a quick layover in Kansas City, we safely arrived in New Orleans around noon. We took shuttles to the hotel and everyone got settled in their rooms. Since everyone was starving, we walked right next door to Arby's to eat a good lunch. Then Ashley and Jaime walked to the Convention Center to get our backpacks and Bibles. The rest of us went to the outdoor pool located on the 5th floor. After about 3 hours in the pool, we went back to change and had a small group meeting discussing the backpacks and bracelts, which must be our "best friends" for the week. We are getting ready to head out for dinner and do some sight seeing before it gets dark! Hope everyone is doing well at home!

Emily Knoerr