NYG Update 1

Greetings one and all!

Any posts done in the next week will be updates on our trip to New Orleans for the 2010 National LCMS Yoth Gathering.

Yesterday we drove all day, leaving Zion's parking lot at 5:30 a.m. MT.  A lot of sleeping occurred early in the ride before we got lunch at Burger King.  We drove even more to get to Wichita Falls, TX where we were welcomed by Our Redeemer Lutheran Church.  We stayed on their floors in classrooms, and they provided sleeping bags and pillows, even some cots and air mattresses.

We started driving by 7 a.m. CT today and ate lunch at McDonald's.  We drove all afternoon into the evening again and arrived at our hotel around 7 p.m.  The drive was very entertaining as the youth saw more and more grass, then more and more water.  They got really excited about seeing alligators in the bayou, and one youth commented, "Why is there so much water?  That seems like a waste..."  Another said, "Is that the ocean? ... Why are the rivers so big?"

We got settled into the hotel and walked to Subway for dinner.  Then we brought the youth back so that they could enjoy a little pool time, and the boys went to the health center to "work out" too.  Youth are now showering up and heading to sleep (hopefully!).

Tomorrow we will get to sleep in a little before eating breakfast in the rooms (no continental breakfast in our hotel).  We will time our walk to the convention center and do our registration there in the morning, and then we'll get to spend the late morning and afternoon walking around New Orleans to see the sites.  The first NYG mass worship event happens tomorrow night at the Superdome.

Find more details at http://www.lcmsgathering.org/, or watch the mass events at www.lcms.org/nyg.

Blessings in Christ!  We appreciate your prayers for our group!