Well, mom wanted me to write about my EFY experiences. So, here we go. First off, it was a Special Edition in Nauvoo, so we got to do baptisms for the dead and tour old Nauvoo, which the other EFY groups didn’t get to do. It was and AMAZING experience, something I never could have gotten anywhere but EFY. Our first day we registered and got to meet our roommates and counselors, which was fun, but it was so hard to remember everyone’s names, especially since we had two Brittany’s in our room. Luckily I was right next door to my friend Estelle in our ward. On Monday we also had orientation, FHE, and FHE games, which was all really fun. Oh, the walk down from our hotel to the stake center where everything was about 1.5 miles, so everyday we probably walked at least 6 miles.
We had devotionals every morning when we woke up and before we went to bed every night. We also had gospel and scripture study and morningsides everyday. Our Session Director, Brother Richardson, was an AMAZING speaker. I can’t stress enough how great he was. He is a professor at BYU and I think he’s been on T.V. before. Our theme this year was “Steady and Sure” and we all became “immovables”(like the incredibles movie, the counselors all had the super-hero masks).
On Tuesday we had our four classes. They were SO COOL. They were great speakers. I learned so much. The four classes were: The Tragedy of Sin, Popularity Vs. Principle, The Doctrine of Discipline: Learning the Art of Self-Mastery, and Recognizing the Promptings of the Holy Ghost. I was rapidly taking notes the entire time. It was like listening to John Bytheway. I wish we had more. We only got one day of classes, compared to two, since we were a special edition and had to do the baptisms and touring. That was one drawback. That evening we had banners, cheers, and games night. That was pretty fun. We even did Indian leg wrestling and stick pulls.
On Wednesday we started some of our touring. We started by going to the cemetery where Edward Partridge was buried (where I saw some of our Hart Family ancestor graves.) Then we went to Carthage Jail and drove past the Courthouse there that Abraham Lincoln spoke at during the Civil War. Last we went to the quarry where the saints collected the limestone they used to build the temple. It was all really cool. Then we went to the Visitors Center to watch “High Hopes and River Boats” which was put on by the performing missionaries. I’ve seen it before, but it was still really good. When we got back from all of that we had dinner and dance instruction. Then I went to my first dance! It was so much fun! It was so great to have appropriate, fun music and dancing the whole time. Then we walked the entire 1.5 miles back to the hotel in the rainstorm with lightning and everything.
On Thursday we started off with touring old Nauvoo, like the Brick Yard, Blacksmith, Bakery, home of Brigham Young and Family Living Center. Then we had lunch and went to the temple. It was really cool to do the baptisms. The spirit was very strong there. Oh, I have to tell you something that I realized when I walked past the temple everyday. There was always some kind of sunlight shining on it. Even when every place around it was dark, there was a light through a cloud that shined on it, and it being white, it always glowed. At night it was lit up and it was so gorgeous! Anyway, after the temple we had dinner and went to a Musical Program. It was amazing how strong the spirit was! After the Musical Program, our session director spoke to us and by the end I was crying. Now, you have to understand, I never cry, never. Then we sang the EFY medley. You’ve probably heard it, it’s the one with “As sisters in Zion” and “The Army of Helaman” mixed. Everyone was balling and sniffling the entire song. It was amazing. It’s just impossible to put into words how wonderful it felt. It was almost like during EFY, I was being unzipped and by the time we sang the EFY medley I was all the way open and the spirit was just pouring happiness in me by the gallon. It was SO AMAZING!!!!!!!! After that we had the testimony meeting. I listened in the back, trying to hold in my tears. WOW. That whole day was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. So, those of you that have the chance to go to EFY, GO!!!!!! It is worth every cent.
Friday was our last day. That morning we went to the Visitor’s Center and watched the Joseph Smith video that I think is also played in Salt Lake City. When we were waiting to go inside, we saw a glimpse of the back of President Uctdorf’s head. It was really good. I had to hold in my tears during that, too. Then the session director’s wife spoke to us and we went to the statue garden outside the Visitor’s Center. We had lunch and a few of us went down to Annie’s Frozen Custard during free time (it was really good!) Then we walked all the way back to the Stake Center for the Variety Show. It was really fun! It was quite entertaining! The last guy that performed opened his mission call after he was done with his family on the stage. It was really awesome. He got called to Guatemala. After that we had our second and last dance. It wasn’t quite as fun as the first one since we had to wear church clothes, which were much harder to dance in. Then we went to watch “Sunset on the Mississippi”, which wasn’t so great the first 10 minutes or so, but then it was REALLY good the rest of the time. Last, we watched the slide show of pictures from the entire week. The next morning mom and dad picked us up ( me and my friend from church). I was so sad that it was over, it went so fast.
So the moral of this story is... GO TO EFY!! IT IS ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS THAT WILL EVER HAPPEN TO YOU!!! I definitely plan to come back every year and I really want to be a counselor, if possible. My testimony has strengthened so much and not only have I grown spiritually, but mentally, social (did I tell you we had to link arms with the boys in our company while they escorted us everywhere? Ugh!!), and physically of course (I probably walked at least 30 miles during the week). It was so great and I’m so exited for next year. I will post some pictures.
Marisa
