Hey there New Vision family! It’s Angelina here.

 Today we completed out first day of SPLAT. It was our “seek” day to be more specific.

I’m going to focus on the worship portion of the day. The worship was like none other that I’ve been to before. It was phenomenal! An impressive amount of people showed up at the coliseum. There were cheering sections, crazy lights shining everywhere, and an extreme atmosphere of excitement. We had a few speakers to just welcome us and to reassure us that this conference will be more than worth it. The speakers were very lively and easy to listen to because they were able to connect to younger generation.

My favorite part of worship was the concert! There were two bands, Fusebox and The Katinas that had performed. Their energy and free spirit seemed to be contagious in the room because EVERYONE was dancing, singing and praising. Christian music was definitely taken up a notch.

The primary focus, which I mentioned earlier, was seek. Every single person at this conference is here to seek something. In life we are all seeking something! I am here to strengthen my faith and ultimately be closer to God on a whole new other level. Once I accomplish that I know that everything else in my busy, hectic, bumpy yet happy lifestyle will all come to place.  

I had a wonderful day. I just wanted to thank you all again for making this trip happen! I know that all the fun and fellowship we had will pretty sum of the rest of our week! God Bless

 

 

 

 

Hola familias! English translation, that means “Hello families!” It’s Pele! Right now, my room mates and I are watching “Sweet 16.” Well today was pretty fun! Breakfast was pretty good. There are a bunch of other youth staying here at the Best Western too but we haven’t yet gotten to know one another.

We had about 3 hours of free time between breakfast and the Expo so we kept ourselves occupied. The boys went to the gym and the pool and the girls either explored the hotel or played cards in the lobby. So we ate lunch at around 12 p.m. Oh, the chicken here is SO greasy! Grosss!

The Expo had a lot of different booths and crafts and the worship service was so much fun! The music was amazing and it’s great to see almost every youth participate in the songs and worship. There was a Samoan rock band there too! Our youth group all got to meet them and two of the band members gave me hugs! I seriously thought the worship service wouldn’t be that fun but it sure was! We were on our feet and dancing to every song. Almost everyone I met at SPLAT today had heavy Southern accents and they all think that since we’re from California, we must be cool. I must say, they are correct!

After, we had Devotional time at the hotel to reflect on the day and Maryah called it a day. I have to hit the sack now! Thankx for everything parents! I love you all and God Bless.

Tags: where do you seek god?
Current Location: In the hotel!
Current Mood: excited

Tuesday evening, by 9:30pm we finally made it to our hotel in Greensboro North Carolina. 

Our travel had had some interesting turns.  Seems like Delta personnel don't quite know what to do with our Pacific Islander last names.  Despite individual, named ticket confirmations, and picture ID's all around, Nikko was checked in as Artavia.  This was caught by the ever vigilant TSA folks in security.  So he (and Latu) headed back for a quick fix.  While waiting for boarding, Nathan realized his boarding pass said he was Jane. The ever helpful folks in security missed this one completely.  However, the boarding area Delta folks fixed it up with only a "little" warning that Nathan's seat might have been assigned to two people!

Our 4hr 41 minute scheduled flight from San Francisco to Atlanta was helped along by tailwinds, and would have been just ahead of schedule.  South East weather being what it is, we burned those extra minutes avoiding thunderstorms.  Landing was great, and the Atlanta airport a breeze to get around in.

The before mentioned weather affected our next flight - the equipment had been detoured to another airport, so instead of arriving in time for our 4:00 departure, it arrived in time for a 5:00 departure.  Everything looked good until the plane left the jetway, and we saw the runway access "roads" jammed packed with literally 100's of other airplanes, all waiting for takeoff clearance.  After an hour or so, we were told to turn off and put away our electronics, and finally we were Greensboro bound. 

The conference has thought of everything, and we were met by local United Methodists who were helpful, cordial, and a welcome site.  Soon, with rental vans as transportation, we headed for our hotel, the Best Western.