We're back! Thank you for your support, parents! We had a wonderful trip and look forward to sharing many stories about our trip with you and the congregation (we're presenting a PowerPoint and Youth Praise Service August 26). Youth: I'm trying to find a time for a henna/movie night at either my place or the church. Please let me know when you WOULD NOT be able to do it. Somewhere between those times and my times off work we'll have a fiesta! Don't forget to burn a CD of your pics and give to Tanya. -Miriam

Happy Fourth of July! We just returned from our very first warm 4th of July fireworks show...no parkas required! We had a community barbeque this afternoon in which we were able to interact with members of this part of town. We met about three families at the BBQ but several other families were happy to share a few words with us as well. Today was our "fun day", as our mission sites were closed, but most squads kicked off the day with a neighborhood cleanup.
The crews showed off everything from their athletic abilities to their cleaning supply expertise at The Youthworks Olympics this afternoon. We battled it out for a chance at first dibs on grub in relay races and other games.
At this point we are looking forward to our showers tomorrow afternoon, because our gym was closed today...nedless to say we are kind of stinky! We are looking forward to seeing everybody again and sharing the stories that just couldn't fit on here! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers- CLCYG

Greetings from San Diego! Today we really connected with our mission sites. The Senior Center/Preschool group met "Mamma Dean", who offered to make us sweet potato pie for the 4th of July, as most of us have never had any. The St. Vincent's soup kitchen group had a homeless man witness to them today, reminding them all that each of us is a child of God, whether we have or have not. Tonight we did a Prayer Walk around downtown. The goal of the walk was to interact with the homeless as we offered them food and hygiene products. Our group was not able to meet any homeless, but we heard from other groups how amazing their experiences were. We drove by St Vinny's later to show it off to those who haven't seen it yet, and being after dark, we saw many people that were making their beds on the sidewalks next to buildings and going through trash cans behind restaurants. We are reminded that it is noly by God's grace that we have the things that we have. We'd like to wish a happy fourth of July to our families and friends; we will be spending it cleaning up the Golden Hills area (where we are staying)then experiencing fourth of July fireworks for the first time (in the dark...). Again, check out more pictures below, and we'd love to hear from you! With love- (Mir and the rest of the squad)

Hola padres! In Espanol, that means, hi parents! Greetings from San Diego, California, the eigth biggest city in the nation! We've been busy, as you can tell by no previous comments, but we finally got a moment! Today was our first mission work day. We split into crews; half went to St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen and food bank, and the other half split their time between the senior nutrition center and a local head start program. We met very interesting people with many stories and from many different backgrounds; all were very surprised to meet Alaskans!! We spent time on the beach tonight and some of us were lucky enough to see dolphins!! Thank you for your prayers; check out our pics at the bottom of the page and write back! Just press the comments link that appears below this post. Gracias! -Miriam and others

Hey, parents and youth,

I forwarded a piece of paperwork that needs a signature to all the email accounts I had. PLEASE email me if you need a copy. twimer@chugachschools.com

ALSO, after speaking with our host, I would like to remind people of a couple of things that are on your list of items to bring.
You will need a sweatshirt/jacket for mornings and evenings, as it can get chilly (50’s).
He said that the church can get chilly at night, so be sure your blanket/sleeping bag is good to 50 degrees.
Be sure you have some long pants and closed toe shoes. We will need them for our work.
He said that our evening activities do NOT cost extra, so it is unnecessary to bring a lot of extra cash.
I originally suggested $100 but he said that is too much. We will have one donation day where we will purchase materials for homeless, so $5-10 would be a nice amount for that. And then they will have t-shirts and stuff to purchase. So use your judgment. We will only have one day (the first day) at the beach on our own, so have money for breakfast/lunch that day. (I guess no shopping, girls!)
We will have LIMITED internet access to blog, so let family/friends know to check out the blogsite daily to see what we are up to (Laura, bulletin? Main clc webpage?) goto: http://clcfairbanksyouth.blogspot.com/

Please give me a call if you have any questions.

See you Saturday at 7pm!

Tanya

HEY EVERYBODY!!
Just wanted to get an update on here, especially before San Diego! Some news for those losers who didn't show up (jk, you know I heart you!). We are meeting at the airport Saturday at 7pm for our 9 or so flight. Bring a change of clothes in your carryon- we'll be on planes all night! Please wear your fantastic new YG shirt so we look like a team! And hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch with the congregation over this site while down there- we need to thank them for their EXTREMELY generous support- both monetary and in prayer. XO- Mir

This was fun! Can you think of some other activities that we should try??

Row! Row! Row!