My first week of EFY was absolutely incredible! I was sure that no week would ever compare to my first week. The girls in my group and in my co-couselor's group were phenominal. The boys in our company were hysterical, knew how to have fun and also had very strong testimonies. I was really sad to see them leave at the end of the week.
One of the neatest things from that week that I will never forget was a class we went to on Wednesday. The teacher was Guy Johnson. He had heard me sing on Tuesday morning and wanted me to sing for his class Wednesday afternoon. He asked me Wednesday at lunch, so I was scrambling to find a counselor who could play the hymn he wanted me to sing. It worked out beautifully and I felt blessed to be able to share my testimony through song. I love to sing! (Suprise, suprise!)
The song set the tone for the remaineder of the meeting which was all about the Savior and the Atonement. I wish each of you could have been there because the Spirit was so strong and bore witness to the truthfulness of what he was teaching. He taught about the different aspects of our lives that the atonement applies to. Too often we think the atonement is only for our sins. He gave great examples of how the atonement heals us of all the things we experience in this life that are not joyful.
Never before had I thought of the atonement as something that could heal me of my fears, doubts, worries, sicknesses, feelings of loneliness, all of it! Christ suffered for all of it so that I could be happy. The atonement truly became alive to me after that class. I was able to attend it twice because I was singing for it. My entire company went to the class as well and we were talking about it for the rest of the week. That class was life changing for me as well as many of the youth who attended it. I was able to attend many great classes this summer, but none had as great of an affect on me as that one.
One of the boys in our company, Brandon, really took it to heart. The next day while we were having our gospel study, he shared a little of what he had been thinking about after Brother Johnson's class. It was clear that Brandon now had a new understanding of the atonement and he wanted to live his life differently because of what he had learned. Brandon is already an amazing young man, so the fact that he wanted to become even better was great. I was lucky enough to see Brandon a month later. He was back at the U for football camp and I ran into him. It was so rewarding to be able to talk to him and find out how he was doing and see how he was doing in his gospel study since EFY. That was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father.
Another thing that was incredible from that week was something the boys in our company did. They each memorized a paragraph from the Living Christ and recited the entire thing. There was such great power in hearing these young men recite the Living Christ. Greg, one of my co-counselors recorded it and it is on YouTube. You can look it up: Light of the World EFy 2008 The Living Christ.
By the end of the week I was spiritually, physically and emotionally exhausted, but I wouldn't have traded it for the world.
One of the neatest things from that week that I will never forget was a class we went to on Wednesday. The teacher was Guy Johnson. He had heard me sing on Tuesday morning and wanted me to sing for his class Wednesday afternoon. He asked me Wednesday at lunch, so I was scrambling to find a counselor who could play the hymn he wanted me to sing. It worked out beautifully and I felt blessed to be able to share my testimony through song. I love to sing! (Suprise, suprise!)
The song set the tone for the remaineder of the meeting which was all about the Savior and the Atonement. I wish each of you could have been there because the Spirit was so strong and bore witness to the truthfulness of what he was teaching. He taught about the different aspects of our lives that the atonement applies to. Too often we think the atonement is only for our sins. He gave great examples of how the atonement heals us of all the things we experience in this life that are not joyful.
Never before had I thought of the atonement as something that could heal me of my fears, doubts, worries, sicknesses, feelings of loneliness, all of it! Christ suffered for all of it so that I could be happy. The atonement truly became alive to me after that class. I was able to attend it twice because I was singing for it. My entire company went to the class as well and we were talking about it for the rest of the week. That class was life changing for me as well as many of the youth who attended it. I was able to attend many great classes this summer, but none had as great of an affect on me as that one.
One of the boys in our company, Brandon, really took it to heart. The next day while we were having our gospel study, he shared a little of what he had been thinking about after Brother Johnson's class. It was clear that Brandon now had a new understanding of the atonement and he wanted to live his life differently because of what he had learned. Brandon is already an amazing young man, so the fact that he wanted to become even better was great. I was lucky enough to see Brandon a month later. He was back at the U for football camp and I ran into him. It was so rewarding to be able to talk to him and find out how he was doing and see how he was doing in his gospel study since EFY. That was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father.
Another thing that was incredible from that week was something the boys in our company did. They each memorized a paragraph from the Living Christ and recited the entire thing. There was such great power in hearing these young men recite the Living Christ. Greg, one of my co-counselors recorded it and it is on YouTube. You can look it up: Light of the World EFy 2008 The Living Christ.
By the end of the week I was spiritually, physically and emotionally exhausted, but I wouldn't have traded it for the world.
That bad refers to my second week. You will not see any pictures on here from that week because I didn't take any! The girls in my group were not interested in being at EFy, in meeting new people or in learning more about the gospel - perfect for EFY! THe boys in our company were the exact same. My co-counselor and I had the hardest time working with them. We were at a lose as to what to do for them. I am just glad it is over. I honestly don't know if they learned anything that week.
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