"Did you get a new calling?"
"Nope, I'm going to be an EFY counselor."
Tim then burst into laughter...and so it began.
I received a few e-mails now and then telling me things like which session I was going to be in and when we would have meetings and such. I made sure I had those days all requested off work, but other than that, nothing happened until Sunday, June 14th. The counselors had a training meeting that day. I had no idea what to expect, and I was pretty nervous. I had never even been to EFY before, how the heck was I supposed to be a counselor?! Had a momentarily lost my mind when I agreed to this? Probably.
I felt a little more informed after training...but not a lot. The prayer given that asked to "calm our nerves" was certainly beneficial, but were they really going to just throw us into this so quickly? We could mess up these poor kids lives forever. I went home, looked over the lesson I had to teach the next day and tried to sleep. This was going to be an adventure.
Monday was check in day, though there was a new twist this year. With the swine flu having been in the MTC, we had to take precautions. Every participant had to fill out a questionnaire and have their temperature taken. Any participant with a temperature of 100 or more degrees had to be sent to "Quarantine". It was my privilege to be stationed in the quarantine room. At this point, if anyone was going to get sick, it was going to be me. Only eight kids came through with temperatures though, and none of them were actually sick.
I then met my girls. I was counselor over 8 wonderful girls, ages 16-18. I thought for sure that since I am only 19 myself I would have a younger group of girls, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. Though our counselor spot was stolen, twice, and we had to resort to sitting in a foyer, I had a good time getting to know these girls. We had some fun family home evening games that night and I taught my first counselor devotional. I didn't think this would be too much pressure, until the session directors wife asked to sit in with us...crap. If I messed this up and sounded stupid not only would my girls know, but she would too. I'm so lucky that my girls were so willing to participate and the lesson went pretty smooth. We read scriptures, and Monday came to an end.
Tuesday morning I woke up thinking "I am so tired, it is only Tuesday, and there is no possible way I can make it through this entire week!" Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all passed. I woke up Friday morning thinking "I am going to miss my girls, I can't believe it is already Friday, and I hope that I did a good enough job this week."
Despite my nerves and not knowing at all what I should expect, It was a really good week. Thursday was a a particularly great night when I got to hear all 8 of my girls bear there testimonies. They all did a wonderful job, and hearing from them definitely moved me. It was hard to say goodbye to my girls on Friday night, but it was really gratifying to have each of them hug me, tell me they had an amazing experience, and that they loved me. It was truely a great experience.
Here is a picture of me and my girls. From left to right. Kim, Karren, Allie, Brynn, Me, Clara, Tausha, Loni, and Madi.
