New Orleans Day and Night One...

Okay. Wow! What a Day! We were one of the first groups to check into the hotel and register for the conference. And a good thing too! We took some time to swim, shower, and generally relax. I found that if you hang your swimming trunks out on the balcony rail, they have a tendency to fly away. I now have no swimming trunks. Neither does Esten. Anyway, we had a great time since nothing was planned for this afternoon until 5pm worship services. So a small group of us headed out to the French Quarter to eat some benieges and cafe au latte at Cafe du Monde. We also went to the cathedral at Jackson square and other sites before heading to the Super Dome for the worship service. And wow... what a service it was. It was high energy, heart pounding, up beat time with great speakers and bands. The pictures do not do justice to what it felt like to be in there. Let it just be said that the theme for the week is Service, Service, and Service. Give of yourselves for the greater good of the church, community, nation and world. But you don't want to hear me talk about it, but instead I will let some of the LYO kids give their take on it. Here a couple of students take on the service last night.


Wow we made it after putting the past year into fundraising, fundraising, and more fundraising. We are in New Orleans! For some of us like myself this is my second ELCA Youth Gathering Conference but for others it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This trip will be a part of us and how we were made into the great people you all know and love. You will see that the Lord has changed us for the better when we come back home. One really cool factor about this trip is we are being part of the solution not the problem. We came to New Orleans to make a difference along with thirty-eight thousand other ELCA Youth Gatherers from around the United States. We are here to change New Orleans, here to change Paxton and here to change the world! Corrinne Watson

The first day of the ELCA Youth Gathering was amazing. I was very excited about going to New Orleans. This was the first time EVER that I have been out of the "Corn Belt." The bus drive was very interesting, but fun and enjoyable. We watch movies, played card games, and exchanged stories. Finally about 1 o'clock, the bus was silent. A lot of us slept for a long time. Finally about 9 o'clock we arrived minutes away from New Orleans. We traveled over the huge lakes/rivers near New Orleans. It was so surreal to see the ports and the houses damaged just near the water. Finally, we made it to the Big Easy. All of us settled into our rooms and then took a dip in the pool. After gettin our wrist band we all went site seeing. We all have seen some really neat things so far. I honestly can't wait for tomorrow, so see the new friends we made and just to see what God has planned for us!
Love,
Kirsten Blackford!!