Back From EFY

Hey Guys! This is Meredith on mom's blog. I am just posting about EFY this past week. For those of you that don't know what EFY is, it stands for Especially For Youth. It's one week in the year where youth from all over the United States who are members of the church come and spend a week at a college campus. There are EFY sessions all over the US but I went to one in Bowling Green, Kentucky at Western Kentucky University.

It was such a blessing that my friends and I got to go... Caitlin, Emily, and I went up to KY the morning of EFY hoping that we could get a spot because we signed up too late. So, we got there at 11 in the morning and had to wait until 3 in the afternoon to see if we got a spot. My friend Caitlin got a spot right away in the 16-18 year old group but the counselors there thought Emily and I had a pretty good chance of us going home that day. But they didn't give up on us! We told the counselors that we had been fasting and praying for weeks that we would get in and that we had a pretty good feeling about it. So after we went to get some lunch, we came back and they told us we didn't have a spot so Emily and I went to the dorms to say bye to everyone and when we got downstairs the counselors were so excited because they had a plan... They were gonna try to let us take one of the counselor's rooms so they had to call Provo, UT to see if it was OK. So when Lori, the counselor that helped us get in, got off the phone we were all screaming and hugging and it was probably one of the most exciting parts of my week :) From then on that week, the counselors called us the EFY miracle babies :)

When we got the registration all figured out and the rooms situated we got assigned to our company... We got SOOO lucky! We had the coolest group. Our group's name was Looked Up. Our counselors names were Bizzie and Jason. ( Yes her name was Bizzie but she was the coolest! ) but when we met everybody we were excited because we knew some of the guys in our company. It was pretty cool. I'm so glad everything worked out.

So Monday we met with our group and had orientation and played company games. Tuesday we took four 1 hour long classes all on different topics of the gospel, then that night we had a dance :) it was so fun! Not only was it my first dance, but it was at EFY! (and it was Emily's too) Wednesday we had more classes and then that night we had company games and we had a cheer-off and banner competition against the other companies. It was also Pizza Night!! and also a wacky tacky fashion show :) Thursday was probably the most spiritual day of the whole week. The girls and the guys were separated for most of the classes. So each of the classes was about perfecting ourselves so that we can become better young women. It was amazing! That night we had testimony meeting with our companies and it was also very spiritual. I felt the Spirit so strong. I was overwhelmed by it. It was the sweetest feeling (even the guys were getting choked up) :) Then, on Friday, we had some devotionals then we went to an activity designed to Strengthen the Youth. After that, we did a service project. We each buddied up with someone in our comp. and made little hats for kids in the winter. I'm not sure what organization we donated them to but they sure got a lot of hats! It was also a great learning experience. Not only did we get to know our buddy we were working with better, but we learned how to knit toboggans! It was so fun. Then that night we had a banquet and had lots of picture-taking followed by another dance.

EFY was so much fun and I learned so much. I also met some of the coolest people :) I am so thankful that we got in! What a blessing. I am so grateful for Lori, one of the counselors that was so great for helping us get in, Kayla, the counselor that gave up her room for Emily and me, Jason, one of our company counselors and also the BEST dancer :), Bizzie, our AMAZING other counselor who helped us have the best first year at EFY, and Emily, my best friend and roommate. I love you guys!!!

The EFY Miracle Babies :)
Emily and I didn't have a mirror in our room so we would always take pics of each other to see how we looked:)


R to L: Me, Caitlin, Emily

They are sisters and my best friends!!! (We took this pic right before the Friday night dance)

Lucy and Me:)

This is us with Michael :) he was in our company. He was so fun! Cait and Me :) having fun at the Tuesday night dance!!

This is us with Camille :) She was SO sweet. I miss her! R to L: Emily, Caitlin, Morgan, Me :) Before the Friday night dance More of the Thrilling Three! :)

Bryce and Me:) We became friends because he was in my company and he is in the same stake. We were also partners at the service project :) we had a ton of fun!

This is Codi :) He was in my company. He was really funny!

More with Michael

This is Ben! :) I love being around him because he ALWAYS makes me laugh. In the middle of class he would always try to make me laugh by drawing me funny pictures:)

Buds! :)

This is Hannah :) she was so sweet. She was also in my company.

Sorry this post was so long but I just had to fit it all in. This was only a glimpse of the week we had. This week was AMAZING! Enjoy the pictures! :) ~Meredith