Sorry this is so late, but I had to share my amazing experiences from EFY. So here it goes.
Monday: After everyone got checked in (I switched groups so I could be with my awesome cousin), we met with our groups first then with our companies. I'm sure everyone says this, but I had the best company ever, and the best counselors anyone could ask for! Our company name was given to us from the scripture Joshua 1:9 which reads; "
Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thous goest." A Season for Courage was our company name. It made me realize, that more than ever, now is the time to have courage to stand up for what is right and truly take upon ourselves Christ's name.
That night we were introduced to our session directors, Bro. and Sis. Sweat. Yes, they perspire a lot, and we were cool with that.;) jk. Anyway, we had a huge Family Home Evening that night and Bro. Sweat gave the lesson. It was on the EFY theme
"Here Am I" from 1 Samuel 3:4. Here's a few things that really stuck out to me. First "Here Am I" means "what would you have me do?" and second 10 promised blessings we get for answering God with "Here Am I" and doing what He asks of us;
- Holy Spirit
- peace
- freedom
- joy
- confidence
- love
- forgiveness
- light and truth
- strength
- eternal life
After FHE was goal setting. Our company came up with two spiritual goals and two social goals to reach during EFY that week. Our spiritual goals were; to share our testimony in some way once a day and to go to the temple early Wednesday morning. Our social goals were; to have a different escort each time we went somewhere and to write five compliments on sticky notes to five different people everyday. That and the temple goal were my favorites. It was really cool to be able to get to know my company members throughout the week, and see so many different people come together in Christ and lift each other up and become friends.
At the end of everyday we participated in gospel study, it was personal, but then we gathered with our group and shared what we learned in our studies. This was definitely my favorite part of everyday. It strengthened my testimony in ways that I wouldn't have thought possible, I got to know my Savior better, and I was able to share experiences with the other girls in my group and relate to their experiences.
Tuesday: To start out each day we had a morning side by our session director, Bro. Sweat. The topic for that morning was personal revelation. Some things that stuck out to me was that; the spirit always is present with personal revelation and that the Spirit speaks to us in our mind and in our heart (D&C 8:2). This quote was shared regarding our mind; "Never suppress a generous thought." -Camilla Eyring Kimball. I love this quote so much! It reminds us that even if you don't know if it's from the Spirit, but it it good, do it, because all good things come from God. This quote was shared regarding our heart; "If it makes you feel uneasy, don't do it!" -Pres. Boyd K. Packer.
The rest of the day was filled with classes. The first one was on "Recognizing the Spirit" by Dustin Bennion. During his lesson he told us that we need to make listening to the Spirit our first priority. Later on he said something that I love, he said; "When you don't give up, you CAN'T fail." In my next class that was titled "If Bad Guys Blogged..." by Alissa Smith another awesome quote was shared. "The Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ". So, if you want to know the difference between bad and good, read the Book of Mormon! My next class was titled " The Real You" by Dustin Bennion. These are the things I wrote down. " You failed because you are trying to be something you're not." "You are more beautiful than you think." and "If ever a time to have faith, that time would be now." It really reminded me to be myself and trust in God. My last class of the day was taught by Alissa Smith and was titled "Embark Weekly" in that class I learned that to examine means to become better or recognize your sin.
Tuesday was also the first dance, which was way fun!
Gospel Study that night was centered around the Savior and what He does for us. Jesus Christ is my eldest brother, my confidant, my Savior, my best friend, my Redeemer, my hope, my Creator, my Rock, but most of all He is my All! He is the light and the hope of the world. I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His example, His life, and His love. There is no one else I can trust more than Christ.
Wednesday: At 4:30 in the morning I was up and headed to the Twin Falls Idaho Temple, to do baptisms for the dead with my company, it was way fun and a great was to start the day right. The morning side for Wednesday was on the strengthening power of Christ, again by Bro. Sweat. I learned that there are three types of divine strength from Christ.
- strength to faithfully endure trials and challenges
- strength to overcome sin and temptation
- strength to preform work beyond our normal capacities
And here's an awesome quote by an unknown person; "The Atonement not only mends broken branches, it also strengthens roots." I think this is a good reminder that the Atonement doesn't just allow us to repent and be forgiven, it also helps us to become better and stronger in Christ.
My first class that day was titled "Knowing Who You Are" by Dustin Bennion. I wrote down some good reminders that Bro. Bennion mentioned in his lesson.
- God loves me with an infinite love.
- Part of discovering who I am means that I will go through trials, but God will help me through them.
My second class was taught by Alissa Smith, entitled "The Worth of Souls is Great". It was centered around the scripture in D&C 18:10 which reads; "
Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;". She talked about how the world thinks we need to be perfect, and we often get sucked into that. She also told us the definition of perfect, which is; having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics or as good as it is possible to be, or whole. In my scriptures next to the scripture I have written; "The worth of souls is the capacity to become a God." Isn't that the truth? God doesn't care about how much make-up we wear, what the new fashions are, what color our hair is. God loves us just the way we are, and if we remember that and strive for celestial glory, God will bless us abundantly. After the two morning classes we had our panel discussion, where in questions were asked from the youth, and were answered by the panel members. It was pretty cool. The last class I went to that day was titled "It's your life... what will you choose?" by Dustin Bennion. I wrote a lot of things down during this class, but I will just share a few.
- We start sinking when we stop focusing on the Savior
- If we do start sinking, the Savior will always have His hand reached out to us.
- Success is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from our mistakes.
- If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.
This was probably my favorite class, Bro. Bennion was so good at having the Spirit in his lessons, it really helped my testimony grow.
Games night was Wednesday also, it was way fun! We didn't win any of the competitions (except our flag was one of the winners), but we had fun working together to compete against other teams. We grew closer together, learned more about teamwork, and found out we are great at setting up for group photos!
For gospel study that night, we focused on how we are loved daughters of our Heavenly Father. We talked about how awesome each of us are, how God wants us to be happy, and how God's and Christ's love for us is infinite! I AM AWESOME!
Thursday: Thursday was "spiritual day" We all wore best dress.
The morning side Thursday was by Bro. and Sis. Sweat. It was on women and the church. A few things I wrote down about this;
- Don't take counsel from my fears.
- Marriage and family are faith-based.
Two things to remember
- Don't compare myself with others.
- Christ will restore/redeem all unfairness and inequities of life.
After that was the Young Men/Young Women Activity, where we split up and read over and discussed The Family: A Proclamation to the World. My group talked about how important it is to be kind to your family and what a great blessing it is to be sealed to them for time and all eternity. I love my family so much! I couldn't imagine my life without them, I'm so glad I am sealed to them forever, even if I do fight with them, I love them to death.
The musical program was that day also, I participated in that and came closer to my Savior by singing my testimony for others. The musical program was definitely an experience I can't forget. In between songs, there were some speaking parts, and a few messages from general authorities. Throughout the whole program, a slide show was on, showing pictures that went along with the songs and the spoken words. It was amazing how strong the spirit was during the program, it was so cool!
Testimony meeting was that night, and what an amazing experience that was! I bore my testimony just quickly on how much I was grateful for the gospel and my family and my EFY company. I actually didn't bawl my eyes out, which was amazing. It was really cool to listen to the others bear their testimonies on what they have gone through, and how they grew from that, the Spirit was with all of us that night I'm sure.
To end the day our session directors gave a fireside. One thing that really stuck out to me was that the Atonement means cover. Christ wraps His arms around us and covers us. And the sacrament is a re-commitment of our love for Christ. I know that I have often felt the warm embrace of my Savior, especially in my time of need, it is the best feeling in the world, to know that Christ has His arms around us and will protect us from the world.
Gospel Study that day, for me was centered around the Holy Ghost. In the topical guide under Holy Ghost it says; dove, source of testimony. I also thought it was cool how when Mary was pregnant with Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:18 it said "Mary was with child of the Holy Ghost." That just goes to show that even when He wasn't born yet, He still was alive with the Spirit.
Friday: Our last day of EFY started out with a morning side by Bro. Sweat, as usual. Here are a few things I learned that morning;
what we see and hear = what we think
what we think = what we desire
what we desire = our actions
our actions = our character
our character = our destiny
So everything lies on what we see and hear, so we need see and hear Christ in everything we do. The more we focus on Jesus, the more we see and hear Him in our lives.
After the morning side we had a sharing the gospel activity, there are four steps;
- Restate the question that was asked you.
- Answer the question.
- Testify of what I answered.
- Invite.
It was really cool searching for a specific answer to a question someone might ask me about the gospel, I was lead to where answers were by the Holy Ghost, and knew what I was supposed to say.
Next was the variety show, everyone did amazing, it was really cool that others had the courage to share their talents with others.
During gospel study Friday I contemplated going on a mission, and kept studying the scriptures and praying after EFY also, and got the answer that yes I should go on a mission. But what I really loved about that night was the goal we set to keep after EFY because of EFY. We all shared them with eachother. Here's mine; Because of what I learned at EFY, I will remember Christ's love for me.
Later was our last dance, which I mostly sat out for because of the pain in my foot. After that was a short good-bye fireside from Bro. and Sis. Sweat, then we all sang the EFY theme song "Here Am I" and the EFY Medley. My company all sang it in a group hug. That was when I really broke down and bawled my eyes out, starting during the Medley, all throughout the closing prayer, our hugs and good-byes and it didn't stop until we were on the road headed back to my cousin's house. Here's some awesome videos that were shared.
