I'm back!!!

Ha! I've neglected my blog for quite some time now, but I think I am back for good. Yay for me! Anyway, updates on my life:

1. Being an EFY (Especially for Youth) counselor in July was the best-ever experience of my entire life!!! I got to meet LDS youth from about 25 different countries and experience a very cultural gathering of the saints in Blaubeuren, Germany. I was blessed to be the counselor of seven amazing girls during that week and I was very impressed by each one of them. My testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ has grown so much because of them and the opportunity I had to serve. I also had the best co-counselor (Kevin) to work with! <3

2. I attended a summer program with Heidelberg University that helped me learn better German and understand their culture. The classes were all in German. It was so fun!! I met some great people from all over the world and made a wonderful friend from Moscow.


3. Spacetagung, a YSA convention in Darmstadt held the 1st-4th of September, 2011. What made that week amazing? My best friend in Germany and my previous EFY co-counselor, Kevin. Pretty much we spent the weekend together and had fun being random. 

Some more random updates:

I visited Schwetzingen gardens during a car show. Best combination ever! I love old cars.

Marienburg Fortress, Würzburg

I went to the Bundesgartenschau in Koblenz :) I don't know whose shiny head that is. 

Mini EFY!

The weekend of May 27th-29th was AMAZING! I went to a mini EFY/training for the counselors and other administrators for the real thing coming up in July! The train ride to Blaubeuren and back was obnoxious, but other than that everything else was fantastic and a great learning experience. I am going to be a counselor at the International session. It will be translated into different languages because there will be youth from all over Europe attending. It's just so exciting!!! I can't wait! 

The first day was the day that everyone arrived and we had a nice little dinner. People were pouring in all night and the more people there were the more fun it got! We were fed a spiritual thought about the purpose of EFY, which is to aid the youth in coming closer to Christ, and then we learned a new line dance. I was terrible at it at first... and I still am, but I am going to practice and have it down perfect by the time I need to know it! EFY is going to be loads of fun with lots of fun activities and dances and most importantly, spiritual feasting.

Saturday we learned the EFY games and did some of our own cheers, as well as learn a completely new line dance. All of this was so much fun and there was a lot of bonding time between the counselors! We became more unified, which is one of the purposes of all of these activities.

Sunday was my absolute favorite day, though. We didn't play any games or learn any new dances; we had our own sacrament meeting. The spirit I felt there was overwhelming, and I knew I was in the right place. There is nothing that can compare to the EFY Medley when it is sung in both English and German and separated into parts. It made my eyes a little wet and totally reinforced my testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know that this gospel is so true! Not only because it makes sense, but also because I have received a witness of it through prayer. How can I argue with that?