Four Days

My Triumphant Teal group! I got to be the co-leader with the amazing
girl with the bow and two other awesome boys!

I have had the most amazing week. I went to a church camp called EFY (Especially for Youth) for four days, and I had experiences there that I will never forget. Four days without the noise of the world, four days surrounded by my friends who share my standards, four days of learning.

Monday, the first day, was amazing. I got to spend time with the people my age. We spent time with Kenneth Cope (see below, the guy in the middle), who was a speaker, and he got to know each and every one of us on a personal level. We took a hike and it was amazing, fraught with internal reflection and contemplation of the future. We went on a speed date, which led to conversations with people I never thought would happen.

Tuesday, everyone else arrived. My friends and I went crazy, which is what we did to get everyone else excited to be there. We played games and did relays and listened to Kenneth Cope sing and speak to all of us. He had a great message about our individual worth and the love of our Heavenly Father. Then there was a dance, and we ended the day with an amazing devotional about being anchored in truth that my friend and I gave to the 9 lovely girls in my cabin.

Wednesday, we gave another devotional about standing in holy places, and I think it went well. Then my friend opened his mission call to Cincinatti, Ohio speaking Spanish. He is going to make an amazing missionary! After that, he and I gave a presentation about being an example of Jesus Christ, and over the next day and a half afterwards, I realized how much of an example I can be and have been to people around me. It's amazing how the Lord can teach us the things we need to hear at exactly the right moment. We listened to more speakers who continued to expound on what Kenneth Cope had told us, and it was amazing how they were all linked together.

We had the most amazing and spiritual testimony meeting. All of my friends and I participated in a type of choir performance and it was so impactful! The best part of the whole trip was going back to the cafeteria and hugging all the people who have made an impact on my life, crying with them and explaining how much they mean to me. I don't think any of them realize how mich of a strength each and everyone one of them is and has been, and the things they have taught me. After this we had a sum up devotional, and it was incredibly powerful.

Thursday, my friends and I were told that from now on, everything changes. Our lives are beginning, and it's really intimidating but exciting at the same time. We had one last devotional on being prepared, and I think it went well. The speakers summed up everything that had been talked about, and my friends and I said our farewells to the wonderful place where we had learned so much over the last four years.

I will rise up and I will never be the same again.