Got Served
So I did EFY again this summer for one week in Flagstaff and it was AWESOME! I seriously wish I could do it all summer long. The atmosphere, the kids, the spirit, the other counselors you meet, everything about it is SO fun. It really is the best job you could ask for. I mean you are getting paid to hang out with teenagers who think you are the COOLEST person ever, and teach them about the gospel and help them come to realize what really matters in life, and how to have fun, and socialize, but still keeping the spirit with you! It truly is a fascinating program the church has, and definitely brings about miracles in all those lives who participate it.So a little overview of the week. Saturday I was picked up by another counselor going up(who I did not know at all) but we got along great and It kind of felt like a a blind date. Haha but luckily it wasn't awkward. On the way up though he did get pulled over. Mood killer right there. We got to Flagstaff and the other counselors from the previous week were hanging out at Bonnee's making some bomb curry! Then we hung out in the institute building and played games! It was pretty fun! Sunday I totally overslept til 12:30 and missed church and lunch and knew I couldn't eat til 6 after training! Luckily though Landon was sweet enough and tracked down some microwavable meal for me! Seriously was so nice of him So after training and the devotional we got our kiddos names and I had the 16-18 year olds!!! I was SO stoked! I wanted that age group so bad cause last year I had the babies all 3 weeks. I had 8 of them which is a very managable number! Then we did door tags and all that fun stuff and Greg brought me some DUNKAROOS! I couldn't believe they still made those things! Totally brought back childhood memories!
Then Monday started and I was still not very enthusiastic and hyper like I should of been. I think I was still sad from Trennon leaving. Like I just wasn't myself I felt like. But I went into the bathroom after lunch and I see a girl and she see's my name tag and shouts "HEY YOU"RE MY COUNSELOR!, Brooklyn our Counselor is in here!!" Then Brooklyn who is the the stahl yells, YOU KNOW PAIGE SKOUSEN!!!" Immediately I was like how the heck do these girls know all this stuff about me? annnnd they are super loud!! I was nervous from then on that I had some loud obnoxious girls and that was what I get for wanting older girls so much! But I stayed positive hoping it wouldn't be that bad! 
Then came meet your counselor time! The 2 loud girls walked in being loud again, but I was grateful for it this time because the other 4 at the time were quite. So they helped loosen the mood. Then Mariyah and McKenzie walked in and they were both talkitive so after that I knew the 4 talkies balanced out the 4 shyness. We got to know each other and they were all super sweet, nice, and funny in their own way! Then we had orientation and FHE and the kids got along really good together. 
Tuesday was classes and the dance, then Wednesday was Preach My Gospel activity and Games Night/Pizza Night which we dominated in!
Our skit got 2nd place and we won all the other games against companies! We had the largest 16-18 group so we kind of had an advantage! 
Thursday was spiritual day/variety show/testimony meeting. It was an incredible day and the kids were all moved and touched by the spirit. For Variety show, all the boys in our company did the interlude dance it was SICK!! Seriously they had the whole room going crazy for them! Next was the Musical Program and Fireside. and HOLY COW, was it such a moving fireside. The Director is in a wheelchair do to falling off a ladder when painting a house. He is paralyzed from the waist down and told he would never walk again. He told us how the atonement has applied to his life and he got me in tears. He said when his accident happened he got 3 different priesthood blessings all saying he would recover and walk again in a reasonable amount of time. He said that he has a promise from his Heavenly Father that he WILL walk again, and he has hope and faith that he will. Then all of a sudden he uses a wall to stand up against. I was like wow thats pretty cool. Then he calls his wife up to the stage and has her stand about 12 feet away and he begins to walk to her. (with a limp of course) but he WALKS to her. I started bawling at this point. I seriously couldn't believe I was witnessing a paralyzed man walk to his wife and baby girl and put his arm around them. I felt like I had a sneak preview to what his resurrected body will be like. That was the biggest testimony builder to me on the Atonement and how REAL it is, and with faith in hope in God's promises, he will make them come true. Then testimony meeting is one of my favorite parts because its so cool to hear the kids share what they know to be true and whether the light bulb went off this week, or they have always known. Then Thursday nights after testimony meeting are the weirdest thing ever. The kids seriously go CRAZY in their rooms! They are all super hyper and running every where and releasing all their energy I guess from the day. We don't understand it.
Then came meet your counselor time! The 2 loud girls walked in being loud again, but I was grateful for it this time because the other 4 at the time were quite. So they helped loosen the mood. Then Mariyah and McKenzie walked in and they were both talkitive so after that I knew the 4 talkies balanced out the 4 shyness. We got to know each other and they were all super sweet, nice, and funny in their own way! Then we had orientation and FHE and the kids got along really good together. 
Tuesday was classes and the dance, then Wednesday was Preach My Gospel activity and Games Night/Pizza Night which we dominated in!
Our skit got 2nd place and we won all the other games against companies! We had the largest 16-18 group so we kind of had an advantage! 
Thursday was spiritual day/variety show/testimony meeting. It was an incredible day and the kids were all moved and touched by the spirit. For Variety show, all the boys in our company did the interlude dance it was SICK!! Seriously they had the whole room going crazy for them! Next was the Musical Program and Fireside. and HOLY COW, was it such a moving fireside. The Director is in a wheelchair do to falling off a ladder when painting a house. He is paralyzed from the waist down and told he would never walk again. He told us how the atonement has applied to his life and he got me in tears. He said when his accident happened he got 3 different priesthood blessings all saying he would recover and walk again in a reasonable amount of time. He said that he has a promise from his Heavenly Father that he WILL walk again, and he has hope and faith that he will. Then all of a sudden he uses a wall to stand up against. I was like wow thats pretty cool. Then he calls his wife up to the stage and has her stand about 12 feet away and he begins to walk to her. (with a limp of course) but he WALKS to her. I started bawling at this point. I seriously couldn't believe I was witnessing a paralyzed man walk to his wife and baby girl and put his arm around them. I felt like I had a sneak preview to what his resurrected body will be like. That was the biggest testimony builder to me on the Atonement and how REAL it is, and with faith in hope in God's promises, he will make them come true. Then testimony meeting is one of my favorite parts because its so cool to hear the kids share what they know to be true and whether the light bulb went off this week, or they have always known. Then Thursday nights after testimony meeting are the weirdest thing ever. The kids seriously go CRAZY in their rooms! They are all super hyper and running every where and releasing all their energy I guess from the day. We don't understand it. 
Friday always seems to sneak up on us. Whether we like it or not. We had the normal stuff and my kids were having a hard time focusing, and so was I. We were just shot from sitting down for so long! We then had some company rivalry, and then to end that we had a wedding ceremony of one of our boys with a girl from the other company to bind us together as one and have peace between us. It was hilarious! We had a tunnel of people for them to walk under, a preacher, vows, bridesmaids, and groomsmen, and the whole sha bang, It was hilarious how into it the youngies got. 
Then we had the last dance! It was a blast! The had the counselor freeze and I was frozen next to Jonathan and the kids made us dance and then got him down on one knee and had him propose to me and me act shocked and ya di ya di ya da. It was the best counselor freeze ever. Then it was pretty much all over from there. Oh except that night the girls left me some tampon and pad love on my door! haha It isn't EFY without that right? 
Overall I had AWESOME girls! Seriously so solid, and nice, and participated, and overall fun! My Co-Counselors Papa Ghandi and Arielle were phenomnal as well. I learned so much from them and hope I can be a counselor next summer so I can apply what I learned from them. 
Anyways its 4:00am and Im leaving for lake Powell in 3 hours! Yippee!! I am so stoked! 18 years is WAY too long! Happy 4th of July!
Then we had the last dance! It was a blast! The had the counselor freeze and I was frozen next to Jonathan and the kids made us dance and then got him down on one knee and had him propose to me and me act shocked and ya di ya di ya da. It was the best counselor freeze ever. Then it was pretty much all over from there. Oh except that night the girls left me some tampon and pad love on my door! haha It isn't EFY without that right? 
Overall I had AWESOME girls! Seriously so solid, and nice, and participated, and overall fun! My Co-Counselors Papa Ghandi and Arielle were phenomnal as well. I learned so much from them and hope I can be a counselor next summer so I can apply what I learned from them. 
Anyways its 4:00am and Im leaving for lake Powell in 3 hours! Yippee!! I am so stoked! 18 years is WAY too long! Happy 4th of July! 
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