Especially For Youth 2011- Rexburg

Believe. Hope. Endure.

I wanted to be an EFY (A summer camp for LDS youth) counselor ever since I first went at 13. I was ever disappointed when BYUI required me to devote my summers to school taking away any chance of being a summer camp counselor. This past summer I managed the chance to do it. The application process lasts up to 4 months but the experience validated the wait.

I got to spend three weeks working with some of the coolest youth in the world. Here is a brief recap of each week:

Week 1:

The first week feels like a tornado of late nights, lessons, excitement and confusion. I never knew for sure what I was supposed to be doing (Even though I read the manual a thousand times). Thankfully I was blessed with an amazing Co-counselor (co-co), Sarah Hill. She kept me from looking like fool all week. We had an amazing chemistry and therefore our group of youth was awesome. I was sad EFY

stopped the week long competition between groups because I'm pretty sure we would have won EVERYTHING.

Traditionally EFY assigned the groups scripture based names. This is no longer the case. Now

the youth get a chance to create their own names based on scriptures the counselors choose

before the youth arrive. This week I over zealously decided for our partnership to use Deuteronomy 7:3-4-- the marriage scripture. From the scripture they picked "Destroy thy Anger." It isn't quite as cool as one of their other ideas, "Anger of the Daughters," but it was still the BEST name that week.

My only disappointment this week was to realize youth REALLY do think it is cool to sneak out at night. Counselors never do because this means no sleep. A word to the wise, when given a chance, respect other peoples right to sleep.

Also an important note- our cheer was awesome and should have been included in the cheer-off but the judges ignored the awesomeness of our J-Biebs cheer. (Sarah Bieber...anyone?). They did recognize the coolest banner in the history of EFY. I wish I could say this was all my idea- too bad counselors just supervise.By Saturday of that week I had NO energy which made helped me be insane. As counselors we eat breakfast after the youth check out each Saturday and then have a week wrap-up meeting. At breakfast I formed an awesome friendship bond of insanity with Rachel Oberholzer and Sarah (my co-co). Everyone kept looking at us for our excessive laughter. For the rest of the three weeks we stayed insane around other counselors and couldn't seem to shake that rep.

Week 2:

This week I was partnered with the amazing Aimee Warren. It was her firs week and my second. It rained every day, affecting many of the outside activities. I was initially scared to work with 14-year-olds because I thought they would be obnoxious- wrong. They definitely have a different energy than 16-year-olds but still fun. Again I had a group with an awesome banner and this week we added a top cheer (I did have to help a LITTLE with this one because they were quite as proactive as the 16-18 group).

This week I started telling my youth that BC (which actually means Building Counselor or the people just above counselors in the chain of command) meant Best Counselors. I wanted to convince them that they could vote me BC at the end of the week. Luckily for them I am too nice and told them the truth shortly after lying.

I loved working with Aimee because her testimony was so sweet. She was humble and willing to improve and made me want to do even better than I had the first week. Being a counselor can be a lot more difficult the first week than it would appear and Aimee did a great job. There was such a good feeling as Aimee and I team taught the last nights devotional. I loved teaching it from an angle of our advice to the kids on how to make the most of their teenage years. I flet like the theme tied in so well here. BELIEVE. We must believe first. As we come to believe we find HOPE. Hope is necessary to get through difficulties and trials that await us all in the future. That is how we ENDURE. It is all founded in the atonement of Jesus Christ. After that devotional we sang the theme song for the youth. (that was probably my most daring move- I do not sing)

WEEK 3

This week was more exhausting and rewarding than any other week. I had one boy in my group who didn't speak english. I spent most days translating for him and taught all my lessons bilingually- thanks to my mission to Mexico I could communicate with him. It is crazy how God works to make sure he had a counselor that week who spoke spanish (One of my CO-CO's is also studying Spanish in school- there is no way that is by chance)

Another struggle was having extra Co-counselors. There were four of us for the week. I liked working with each of them but never felt like our

relationship could be as strong because we couldn't bond like in weeks past.

This week I found myself having more spiritual experiences and learning moments as I dedicated all my time to working with a youth who didn't speak the language while also trying to give each of the other youth in my group my time. Of all the weeks, the third was mostly about ME. I feel bad- I gave it my all but there was so much for me to learn.

Over all EFY was an incredible experience. I learned so much about the youth, about myself and about the Savior. I tried each day to pray and ask God to have me teach what he would have the youth understand. I asked to be able to see them as he did and to be able to show his love. I realize that I can never have been able to show exactly what he feels, but I did feel something different. I got a chance to understand better what it feels like to be disappointed by youth not wanting to do whats right, I felt frustration when words didn't seem to be enough and I felt satisfaction t the sight of changes. The youth taught me a lot. I'm glad I did it. If you're LDS, single and free for even one week in the summer APPLY! Heres the link: efy.byu.edu/yp.

Welcome to 2004

My complex has received "too many complaints" about slow wifi, so today they shut it off. I had to find a ride to the store (Snow was rapid falling outside) to buy an Ethernet cord. I haven't had a BYUI complex require that of me- ever. Wired internet feels like a blast from the past. When I arrived home I realized how lucky we are to live with all the amenities we have. My biggest struggle is that the world is only at my fingertips when I sit 7 feet from this whole in my bedroom wall. I'm so thankful for what we have. As I sit in classes and learn about the benefits of social media and viral marketing I can't help but be amazed by progression in the last 15 years. Count your blessings today. I'll start by giving you 1. Technology.

15 Credits

Today I signed up for three more credits. What? Yes. Three more credits bringing my total to 15. Sometimes I amaze myself; others i just doubt myself. Today I am doing both. Most people wouldn't consider 15 to be an overload- but they haven't met me. I have had incredibly successful semesters of 12 credits and failures at 14. (maybe B's aren't failures but it feels like it when they keep me form getting a scholarship) I hope this semester I can prove myself. this semester I will also be spending significant time on the board of the BYU-I chapter of PRSSA. I am excited for that but can only imagine how that will take away time not create more. Right now I can't see how people possibly survive medical school- a bachelor's seems like enough work.

Catchphrases and A Breach of Personal Comfort

I decided that it is only appropriate to read other blogs if I update mine. My life never seems quite interesting enough for other people to read. Oh well, you can deal with that.
While I was at EFY this summer (I worked 3 weeks as a counselor at a church summer camp- best job ever) I discovered that the youth LOVED every time we had cool catch phrases. So I picked up some that I can't seem to shake. My two favorites are "Deal with that" and "Turns out." Maybe if I use them with a situational example you'll understand better.

ex. 1: (A strange EFY tradition that i never quite liked or even understood is escorting. The youth like to meet at each others dorms in the morning to walk to breakfast together arm in arm.**see below**)While meeting my youth the second week i said: We aren't going to escort the girls to breakfast because they have asked us not to in the mornings so DEAL WITH THAT. It would make us late for breakfast anyway. TURNS OUT it isn't the best idea after all.

ex. 2: (I met my roommates and they asked if I wanted to go play basketball-Why basketball? I don't know- why don't people ever want to play pick-up games of soccer or volleyball?) After playing a game of basketball I said: I was never very good at basketball. TURNS OUT there is nothing you can do about it so DEAL WITH THAT.

So that is it. Catchphrases win friends. I heard from one youth form EFY who told me he has told everyone about my catchphrases- I'm famous.

**A Thought About Escorting: The danger of escorting lies in the awkward moments found while two fourteen-year-olds try to hold conversation.

The art of escorting goes something like this: from the first day all the youth scope out who their
C.O.W. (Crush of the week) will be. the boys find a girl they hope to escort and the girls find a guy they'd like to ask them. then as the week begins as soon as the counselors say 'Find an escort,' the youth pause. All of a sudden the awkwardness of walking arm in arm has hit the boys. Each girl waits anxiously as the boys are coerced into finding an escort 9not because the counselors really care if the youth meet the opposite sex-- but because logistically its easier to keep track of the youth when they walk in a single file line). The girls silently rejoice inside as the right boy asks offers his arm but then they too are struck but the uncomfortable escorting.

Rarely does anyone actually enjoy escorting- it could be because of the tie to the 1500s with nights and ladies, or it could be the inescapable moment when your escort says nothing, or maybe it is just the girl who shaved her arms just before EFY started and is scratching you with stubble. Whatever your reason- you'll discover its weird. Nonetheless EFY youth pretend to LOVE it and Counselors keep enforcing it. If only I had a picture of the awkward-escort-lines to post, then you could more fully imagine the strange intricacies of EFY. Unfortunately this will be a picture-less post.

Today this blog wil be private

As life turns out...I decided that I don't want everyone in the world to read what I write on here. So I decided to make it private. Hopefully this will help me write more often without the fear of who will read this blog. I am currently in class so I wont write a lot.
Peace.

Doing the Dailys

I should be in bed, but I'm not. Some days life is too perfect to stay up late. As if staying up late would tarnish a perfect day. Right now is not one of those days. This is one of those moments where I look for a reason to be happy. I found it. Staring out my window I see the temple. Im going to miss this view. The first time I saw this view was on move in day. I then had plans for this to be the perfect semester, but each difficult class seemed to be followed by a snowstorm and laced with feelings of lonliness and a lack of fulfillment. Sacrament meeting after sacrament meeting seemingly empty promises were made of rewards to the faithful, of comfort to the humble, and of blessings for the deserving. I found myself asking where I lacked. I wondered if I had not been sufficiently humble, or if I was not grateful enough to be blessed. I pondered these questions week after week. My much needed answer arrived in pieces. Part arrived in letters from friends. Another part arrived in new people I found. It finally finished arriving this weekend in a book mom bought me at Deseret Book. It is called "Broken Things to Mend" by Jeffrey R Holland. "Every time we reach out, however feebly, for Him, we discover He has been anxiously trying to reach us. So we step, we strive, we seek and we never yield." He was there all along. The promises were waiting, the blessings were available, the hopes were answerable but yet my hand lay dormant. I ran around for months aimlessly trying to find the hop on my own. I had served a mission and thus I knew where happiness lie. I had tried to give it to so many people that I forgot the simple keys of how to find it personally. As they said in sacrament meeting today, happiness is found in doing "the dailys." (Church, Scriptures, Prayer)

Reconnect

Saturday is a good day to blog. i don't have work, just homework.

I could change the name of this blog to "seeing old friends" but I wont. It seems that is all I do anymore. I do not make new friends, rather i spend my time goign out to lunch with an old friend, watching a movie with an old friend, walking to class with an old friend, or making pizza with an old friend. Reconnecting has a strange sense of familiarity to it with an awkward mix of "Who are you again?" I find now thta meeting up with some people turns out great. Meeting with others is almost unbearable.

To spare the hurt feelings of the innocent I wont share names but yesterday I met up with 3 groups of old friends. The first two were slightly uncomfprtbale, looking for an escape type events. The intial meet ups were more of the second type. looking around for an excuse to leave, after about ten minutes i cannot even concentrate on the topic at hand because i am so uncomfortable in the moment. It brings a sad realization that things as they once were are not the same as things as they will soon be. With a change in life has come a change in sociality.

the last get-together/ reunion was great. Slightly awkward at times, but that happens a lot to me. Im just awkward; my life isnt a movie after all.

Midnight.

Arthur and DW always wanted to know what happens after midnight on new years. Well last nigth i found out for them. the answer? martinellis, a big ball dropping, and banging pots and pans.
happy 2011