EFY Provo 2014

This is Conner.  I had the opportunity to go yo EFY Provo for the first time.  It was an amazing experience.  My cousin was supposed to come with me but he didn't get signed up in time.  I believe that I had a better experience without my cousin because I didn't know any of the people so I was forced to make friends.  We got to stay in the dorms and I stayed in Heritage Halls.  EFY is such a good experience and I can't wait to go again next year.  My company decided to do the Variety Show so you just do something that you think is funny or a cool thing and try out.  My company made it through try outs and performed in the Show.  I actually was a part in it.  We did Slam Poetry to Eye of the Tiger, Baby, Boyfriend, Let It Go, and Say Something.  I did the Let It Go part.  I had lots of fun doing it.  This is our group picture after the Variety Show.

On Thursday it was Sunday dress and I thought that was one of the best days.  You could feel the Spirit a lot  in the classes and at the end of the day it was the Testimony meeting and that was really good. This is my group at Lunch in all our Sunday clothes.

Parker time! This was my third and final year of attending EFY and I already had high expectations about going again. I already knew that it was amazing and I was super excited to be able to go one last time. On Monday when I met the guys in my company I wasn't too sure of how they were going to be and everyone was a little reserved and shy until we started loosening up a bit. When we went and met the girls in our company everyone was being shy and didn't really know how to act around everyone. This changed extremely quickly though. We played some bonding games and had some firesides that first day and just got to know each other and around that point we decided that everyone was cool and we all just clicked. From that day on our company was so united with each other that it didn't matter who you were with in the group. We all got along incredibly well and had an amazing time with each other from that point on.

 On Tuesday we had a bunch of amazing classes from teachers such as Brad Wilcox and Alex Chatelain (I preferred Chatelain to the shock of many people). They were such great teachers and everything that they taught was exactly what I needed to hear in those moments. During free time our company went to get some ice cream at the creamery but the line was so long that I decided to get a snow cone instead. Here is the massive snow cone that completely numbed and painted my mouth.

One fun thing that you get to do at EFY is choose a company name and make a banner for it. Using our scripture we decided to name our company Free Will(y). It was a lot of fun and we had some great artists who made the masterpiece above.

Wednesday night was the cheer off and games night. Our cheer was......... Interesting to say the least and came up at the last moment. Lets just say that we were glad when it was over with. The games were a different story. Even though my company was small (10 guys and 10 girls), we dominated the games. We essentially won every game that we played and had so much fun with all of it. Luckily this year I didn't feel like I had to throw up during it! Afterwards was pizza night which was amazing even though the pizza was cold. Lots of bonding moments with all the guys there and with our counselor. Picture above is my company after the games night with our banner.

 Thursday was church dress day and essentially everyone's favorite day. The Spirit is so strong throughout the day and you have great opportunities to practice sharing the gospel. Me and my partner (Emily) did an awesome job and were so excited with what we did. Overall it was an amazing day (like all of them) and the best one overall. Friday is the day where you have to enjoy it since it is the last day of the week. Although it's sad, you need to make all the moments last and just have a blast with everyone. Our company went bowling during free time and I had my best game of all time (141). Everyone was saying how I'm so good while I tried to tell them that I'm really not! Pictured above are some awesome people from my group. Back from left to right: Sierra and Sabrina. Middle: Abby and Olivia. Front: Me and my funny roommate Josh.

 Here is my awesome counselor Nick enjoying the nap time he had during the Variety show. He was truly an amazing guy and knew just how to deal with us 16-18 year olds.

Finally here is my whole company posing for one last picture before we left. I'd name them all but it'd take up way too much space. Anyways, they were an amazing group of people and I miss them all a lot. Hopefully we can have a reunion or something in the future. Free Willy!!! EFY is amazing.