here we go again.

EFY: Round 2.
Am I really up for doing all of this again?

A week ago I went to the huge EFY counselor training meeting at BYU. It was so much fun, but I was having a serious case of deja-vu. I did EFY last year and to be doing it again feels unreal. At the training it kept feeling like a dream. I loved EFY last year and never, ever, thought I would be doing it again. During the training I kept thinking over and over again the question:
Am I really up for doing all of this again?

Part of being human, I think, is when we look back on positive life experiences we only remember or recall the good parts, which is a good thing. Not that there was anything negative about EFY (except for the random teenage-boy-poop-in-pizza-box-prank...true story); but the fact is that EFY is exhausting in all forms: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. At the training I was thinking: I FORGOT HOW CRAZY EFY WAS! THIS REALLY WAS A TON OF WORK! Pretty much 24 hours/6 days a week:

walking, teaching, dancing, running, portraying a sense of spiritual goofiness
ALL.
THE.
TIME.
with no sleep and sneaking the occasional 5-minute power nap in the bathroom stall.
(I started that trend last summer among fellow counselors)...

After a few hours I got so overwhelmed with the thought that I was doing this all over again that I began to doubt my excitement for it.

But then during the training there was a lesson on teaching not by word only, but by example. This got me thinking about a girl named Annie (pictured below amongst a bunch of boys).

Annie was a girl who at first may appear to be a little different. She suffered from social anxiety and bipolar disorder, amongst other things. The first day of EFY that week my girl-co-counselor and I could tell she was having a hard time fitting in with the rest of the group. We were worried that she wasn't going to have a positive experience.

But then on day 2 something changed.
Without any invitation by me to do so (or knowledge of their intended actions), the boys in the group began to pay extra close attention to her.

When she was sitting alone at meals they would all stand up and move to sit next to her.
When she would sometimes talk out of turn during a lesson, and sometimes off topic, they would listen and not laugh, acknowledge her comment, and then add on top of it.
When she couldn't run as fast as others they would cheer for her instead of complaining that they lost. (Again, these are teenage boys).
When she couldn't find a scripture they would turn her pages for her.
When she was walking alone they would walk beside her.

During that short week we could tell that her experience was getting better and better.

Later that week we learned that the boys, independent from any influence by us counselors, had all decided after day one that they would include her and make sure she had a positive experience.

It was then we realized that we were seeing the example of the Savior through the lives of teenage boys:
When people were sitting alone, Christ would sit with them.
When people would talk, sometimes unwantingly, He would listen.
When people did their best, He would cheer them on.
When people didn't know the doctrine, He would teach them.
When people were walking alone, He would walk beside them.

After recalling this story and the example that these youth were to us that week, it was then I remembered why I love EFY so much:
It gives everyone involved the opportunity to discover what really matters in life.

And so with that my excitement was been rekindled.
I look forward to the walking, teaching, dancing, running, portraying a sense of spiritual goofiness
ALL.
THE.
TIME.
And the 5-minute power naps in the bathroom stall.
And hopefully I can somehow display the example I learned from these youth last summer.

So yes, I am up for doing all of this again.

The EFY theme this year is:
Believe. Hope. Endure.

The scripture is:
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul - We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
- The 13th Article of Faith

My schedule for the summer:
Week of June 6 - Provo
June 13 - Flagstaff
June 20 - Flagstaff
June 27 - Santa Barbara
July 4 - Santa Barbara
July 18 - Ogden
July 25 - Provo
August 1 - Provo

Let's get this party started.