EFY WEEK!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone!!! So I haven't been able to post anything this week because I have been gone at EFY. Which stands for Especially For Youth, for those of you who don't know what it means. It is amazing! It is a youth activity that is apart of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has so many amazing activities that are not only a blast!, but also that are amazingly spiritual and peaceful. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend with over 900 other youth!! 

Monday was our first day at EFY. We all got registered, got our name tags, with an awesome EFY t-shirt, a handbook with all of our lessons in it and an area to write things down, and also a DVD that has tons of songs we learned and sang throughout the week, with a few video lessons on it too. After we received those, we all went into the auditorium and got a preview of how the week was going to play out and what kinds of different things we would all get to experience. It was absolutely incredible. Everyone enjoyed it all and had a blast!! When we got finished in there, we went to find our counselor groups which had between 5-12 people each in it. We got to know everyone in that group, then found out that we were going to have a company group, which was created with 3 counselor groups put together. There were 2 groups of girls that were put with one group of boys. In no time, we were all acting like we had known each other our whole lives and were already joking around with each other. After that, we went back to the auditorium to get some more news and updates about the week and what the rules, etc... were.   That pretty much concluded our day.

Tuesday was a blast. We were all able to have fun playing more games with each other and get to know more things about the other people in our company. We also had FHE with everyone together in the auditorium. It was so amazing and spiritual. We also had a lot of laughs during it. That evening we also had a dance with everyone around. We were able to learn some new dances for some of the songs that were played. One of them was Hoedown Throwdown by Miley Cyrus. I'm not the biggest fan of her, but I happen to really like that song and the dance to it. 

Wednesday was our game day with all of the other youth there. We all got to participate in about 6 different games with our companies. Every one of the games I had never played before so it was kind of confusing for me in the beginning. But I got the hang of it soon enough! We were also able to have our morning devotional with everyone and also our own company devotionals. After the day was starting to come to a close, each of us got to spend time on our own reading the scriptures, praying, looking for answers that we felt were needed at the time.

Thursday was church dress day. When I arrived that morning, I saw all of the young men dressed up in their white shirts and ties and dress pants. When I saw them, I wanted to cry because of how amazing they all looked and what an amazing sight they all were. I loved being able to see how brightly each of the men light showed. I have never seen such a more beautiful sight before. The young women were dressed in amazing church dresses and skirts with cute little blouses. We each felt so amazing and happy. Thursday was so spiritual and warming. I had never felt so amazing the whole day. We also got to learn new songs that all of the young men and young women got to learn and sing together. It was absolutely incredible!!! The young men also got to shout "HOORA! HOORA! HOORA FOR ISREAL!" Every single one of the girls LOVED that! We all cheered for them and clapped for them. I knew right then that our young men are so special and amazing, and are necessary for our future and have such an important roll that is needed to be played in the world. That evening with our companies, we got the opportunity to bare our testimonies. I went first, explaining how this whole week has changed my life, and who I was for the better. I also explained that I did make the best friends ever in less than a week, and how much I loved and appreciated them all. Every single one of the boys also bore their testimony and how being there at EFY changed their lives also. So many of them explained how they WILL go on a mission because how the wonderful experience they all had and how being there changed their life. I love those boys so much and know that they all will do what they said they will.  We were also able to watch the variety show, which was pretty much a talent show, but with so many variety of talents shared with us. We also were able to listen to a musical program.

Yesterday (Friday) was our last day attending EFY. It was such a wonderful day. By far the happiest! My company actually became a real family! We all became so close to each other and had true love for one another. We were able to do a service project, which was making blankets for people in one of the near by nursing homes. That was so much fun. In the nursing home, there were about 130 people in there, and we youth made over 180 blankets for them in an HOUR AND A HALF!!!!!!!! How incredible is that! We had so much fun being able to do a wonderful cause for people who don't even have family to come visit them. Each of us loved the experience! After we finished the blankets and got our lunch, we sat together as a family and company taking pictures, getting everyone's information to stay in touch with and just played around. We all loved and enjoyed the time we spent together. That evening, we had our last devotional, last lessons, and our last time together as all of the companies together in the auditorium. We watched a video of the week that we had just gotten through with all of our activities. Pictures and music was played of all the events taken place there at the site we had EFY at. Of course I cried throughout the whole thing. I was so sad that the week was coming to an end. That we would all go home, and got our separate ways. We all sang the songs that we got to learn earlier that week, which made me cry even more and harder. God gave me just the smallest amount of love for each and every one of those youth that He has for them. I realized that these people were and are my family. That they always will be, and how amazing each one of them are. I love them so much.

Thankfully, last night was not the last night we got to see each other. Tonight we are all going to a Stake Regional dance and we all get to spend time together again and enjoy the wonderful smiles each person has. We will always be able to stay in touch, because of the incredible ways God has given us for different ways to communicate. I love EFY. I love the people I met. And I love my Heavenly Father so much. I am so grateful that I was able to attend this wonderful EFY program with so many people from all over the place! I am grateful for the testimony that I have and how much it has grown this past week. For the wonderful spirit I have felt this whole week. And I am going to do everything it takes to keep that spiritual high with me at all times, and in all things, and in all places.

I love you all so much! =) And until next time....
Have a fantastic weekend!!!

Jessy