Especially For Youth '12

EFY! oh my goodness I have so much to write about. First off, I never got to post about Youth Conference. That was a great three days that I got to make new friends and become better friends with my fellow friends. It was really fun but very little compared to EFY. 

EFY is always one of the best weeks of my summer. It's fun and spiritual and I learn so much. Anyway, I'll just start from the beginning I guess.
Monday morning Jenna, Taylor, Cassidy and I headed off to University of Puget Sound. We got to shop on the way up and stopped at the Nike clearance store where I found an awesome deal. I love when that happens! So we got there and got our blue wrist bands, our name cards, our manuals, our shirts and our backpacks. I was blessed to be in a group with two of my really good friends; Taylor and Jenna. We were just a few doors down. I was really nervous about who my roommate would be but it turned out to be a girl who is in my stake and we got along really well. So that was another blessing. My counselor, Brittany was the best I could have asked for. She goes to school at BYU and we got really close this week. Tuesday was the day we had classes. The teachers are so inspired by God and that makes their lessons totally incredible. Here are some of the things I learned:

• In the preexistence we all lived in the celestial kingdom and we are here to prove that we can keep/claim our palaces back in heaven
• When we write things down we are telling the spirit that we are ready to receive revelation
• Man in his natural state cannot dwell with God
• Darkness will not seem dark in the light, but you can see light in the darkness. You cannot open a box of darkness in the light and say "Look how dark that is" but you can light a candle in the darkness and say "Look how bright that flame is"
• "After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel" -Joseph Smith
• "Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional"
• We can teach people through our own sufferings
• Because of the atonement, none of us really die
• Without Heavenly Mother, Heavenly Father would just be a Heavenly Man (Quoted by Brother Andre's 5 year old nephew)
• Satan focuses on destroying what he will never have: A body, marriage, families and the priesthood
• "There should never be a conscious choice to let the spirit become secondary in our lives"
• "When we ask in faith, our questions will be answered"
• "I guess I have just worked through them (the scriptures) so much that they have become a part of me and my vocabulary" -Sister Hinckley
• We can tell how close we are to Christ by how we treat others
• And this video was something that just blew all of our minds 

That's just a little bit about my week. EFY is awesome because the boys are so nice there. They take your plates for you at dinner, let you go first in everything, open doors for you or just give you random hugs. On game night I was just walking through the field and a boy came up to me and said "Can I have a hug?" I had no idea who this kid was but I said "Sure!" And then I asked what his name was so it wasn't so weird :P It's cool too because it's not like any other church activity, kids are there because they want to be there, not because their parents are making them go. Everyone is always smiling too. It's very rare to walk past someone on the EFY campus and not smile or say hello. At school in the halls people just put their heads down and walk a little faster. You get to meet so many new people and you never get judged because when you are there, it feels as if everyone is equal. No one is better than anyone and no one is less to anyone. If you haven't had the chance to go to EFY, GO! Seriously. It's so worth it.

Teal! One of my best friends.

Two of my best guy friends

Love these girls! :)

Drew, Brittany, and Mason

Gerbil! :) 

Dallin

Mason escorted Taylor and I a lot. He is so hilarious :)

Kyle. The thing of the week was that Kyle was a "Strong priesthood holder"

Ryan (amazing at piano) Teal and Babbalicious 

They all dressed up for the last dance! White ties and black shirts. We told them that would score points with the ladies 

Brittany! We love her so much. She was the best counselor. 

The Andre's :)

Here's to another week of spiritual enlightenment and being tired at girls camp! :) So excited the weather is going to be nice there at the beach. Yay for awesome girls camps on the beach! :)