Director and Assistant director.. relaxin in a hot tub on the lake!
Ahh... bus life..
During our bus engine cool down stop in the Rockies.. "Rocky" needed a rest from the hills..
A really fast get ready time.. they weren't exactly thrilled that we took a pic this day.. :) cuz they only had 10 minutes to get ready.. we told them that's continental life.. !! :)
On our long day in Olathe(Delta, CO) where we got to spend the day at the pastor's house who let the teens ride on his go karts.. of course his slow go karts.. :)Well I was extremely good with this until I hit about a week of no internet access! Well there was internet access a few times at a hotel but of course I had to pay money to use it.. and I'm sorry folks but I'm poor! :) So now I finally get to update and Lord help me if I can even remember the past two days...
Okay so we got our bus that day and headed to osbourne KS and we went through kansas and through colorado and to wyoming for a night(Home church of our leader Mira) and back through colorado to (Olathe)Delta, Co (home church of our young con Mariah) where we had a bit of bus trouble but luckily we had gotten to our concert location the day before and didn't have anywhere to drive.. they got the bus fixed while I spoke with the hosts for some help getting the teens to the actual church for the concert and for a couple of trucks to help us get our equipment there too. (THANKS DONATHANS and PASTOR MIKE AND FAMILY!!) :) It all worked out and our bus was all ready to go the next day! And we headed somewhere.. I think .. oh yea! To Kanab UT where we performed in a old theater which was awesome and they housed the guys at the pastor's house and the girls in a motel there that a friend owned.. and of course to stay with funny memories.. the leaders were walkin down the street getting some exercise during our leader meeting and as we're walking down this small town's road.. ALL the power goes out in town and here we are pulling out our cellphones to use as flashlights to get back to the motel where we can just imagine the girls all screaming! And the stars looked so bright for those few moments it was really awesome! Right when we get to the motel all the lights go back on and the girls come screaming towards us with them all giving us their side of the story.. which we find hilarious! Well since they were all hungry and they'd been good we took them to mcdonalds since it was the only thing open that night..
Well after Utah we headed for Sparks(neighbor of Reno) Nevada (Home church of our Young Con Eric) where we stayed for two nights with hosts. Mira and I were housed in Sands hotel in Reno NV which had an awesome view and a very cute diner.. with MY NAME! But I've been told it's a popular california diner.. Mel's Diner.. Mira and I had a milkshake there just so we could say we ate at my diner.. :) Then it was onto sacramento area.. I honestly don't remember the town where we performed at a low income apartment complex outside. Where are Mrs. Baker lost her voice so we just had her lip the words and do all the movements while my Assistant Mira was in the back with a headset speaking all the words.. I meant to get it on video and didn't get too!!! It was soo funny!! It was great!! Really interesting day because it was hot.. enough said. :) Then it was onto Tehachapi, CA (home church of our young con Rachel) and today we headed out to Redlands, CA (home church of our young con Kristine) where we had an awesome concert. It's so much fun during home churches because they seem so into it and go all out! The audiences and the teens! And tomorrow we are heading to Hemet, CA which is the home church of our young con Jillian.. yes it is the week of home churches!!
Well the tour has been doing really well but like every tour when it comes to the end the teens tend to start getting really tired and exhausted.. we had a really early call time earlier this week which didn't help but we had to really gear the teens up not to lose their momentum and as we do every week remind them why theyre here and remind them who their doing it for. We've been giving them scripture reading everyday that will encourage them not only to keep it up for the last week but also when they go home and it's not the same.. we've been having really awesome group times and everyone is opening up and it's such an awesome thing in my position to see where these guys were a couple of weeks ago and then see the change and how different they are.. more confident.. more sure of themselves.. and a little something extra. We only have one more concert until the 40th celebration.. and then only two full concerts after that.. I can't believe our final night is in 4 days.. that's insane..
Prayer requests:
For our bus that it continues without any problems!!
For our teens, that they stay strong and focused even though there's only a few days left to keep it up so that every concert is their best! And that they keep striving to be their best! And that their health keeps up.. they've been tired and we all know what comes with that and being on the road.. lost voices.. coughs.. runny noses.. all the good stuff!! Pray for health.. so we don't have any more replacements!! :)
For our leaders!! That God will give us the wisdom and strength to keep the teens going in these final days that are definitely going to get emotional!!
For our message, that it stays as strong as it was the first few times so that the audience will see God in every movement just as much in our last concert as it was in the first!
And a special thank you to all of those who have been praying for us and keeping strong this far! Thanks for all your support and dedication! :) We love it and we feel it!!
Well until next time.. hopefully it's before the last night.. I'll try my best!! Keep us in your prayers!!
Over and Out!
Mel (who should be sleeping right now...)
Mira(who is sleeping right now..)
Josh (who is probably sleeping right now... :) )
