Brenda and Dan called and said that they were coming over again for the afternoon, which was a surprise to us! I really enjoyed spending time with them again. I simply have the most adorable niece in the world (and I'm stoked to get 2 more nieces by the end of the year! They are going to be the greatest ever!) We played outside and played board games. It was a great way to end the day! I love my family!
Jason's birthday was on the 24th. We went to his Dad's house and we had cake and ice cream and did a gift exchange. We also went to Ogden and ate at Applebees. None of them had ever gone there before, so it was a brand new experience for them all. Jason said it was the best birthday he had ever had!
Wednesday night we played water softball for our activity. It was a lot of fun! We used swimming pools as the bases and a slip'n'slide for home. We even got our bishop to try it. We all got quite wet but it was a blast. I even got to pitch one of the innings. I'm the new Ward Activities Director so I go to all of the activities.
Well, I survived... Last night at the Hot Dog Roast my family decided that it would be fun to tell embarrassing stories on me. Fortunately it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. The stories they told to Jason weren't the absolutely most embarrassing ones or even the ones I expected but I am grateful taht they said what they did. I had a lot of fun spending time with my family. It was a great day. I was surprised how many people I saw yesterday. My uncle Eric and aunt Barbara came down and brought us lunch, Grandma Hodges was here because Grandpa is fishing, and my siblings came up. It was a lovely day!!!
During the first week in June I had the opportunity to be an EFY counsellor. I was so blessed to have that opportunity. It was SO much work but I am so grateful that I was able to do it. It started out with some training the Saturday before in Logan. We played games and went over the theme. We basically just got our feet wet in the EFY experience. I hadn't ever had an opportunity to attend, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. But I was excited! We had a fireside on Sunday night where we met the session director, Brother Fife. He was hilarious! I loved the spirit that he brought with him. Monday was us getting ready for the youth to come. We prepared by learning the hardest dance I think I have ever seen. Very choreographed. I met my girls. I had 14 girls and they were each very different but it was very rewarding. We got to know each other, had Family Home Evening and played some more games. Tuesday was the first days of classes. That was a lot of fun because I helped make sure the youth were under control, but I was able to attend the classes as well. I learned a lot of very valuable things. We also had a dance that night. Wednesday was our game day. That was a lot of fun, even though it rained all day long. My favorite game to watch was the Noah's Ark game where we had the youth act like animals. Thursday was probably my favorite day of the week. It was completely spiritual and edifying. We started out with a Young Women's/Young Men activity... (I attended the Young Women activity with my girls.) We were able to learn and grow and be taught by the spirit. This was also the night where Elder Kiese of the Quorum of the 70 was there and spoke which was so powerful. We then broke off into our companies and had a testimony meeting. My favorite part was that earlier in the day a young man in our company told me he didn't have a testimony and I was able to talk to him and testify of my knowledge and challenge him to pray about the things he has been taught. Half way through our testimony meeting he got up and shared that he knows now that this is the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was so proud and very excited to see that wonderful change in him. Friday was a day of farewells and sadness. We took pictures and exchanged information with each other. We had our final dance, and I said goodbye to the best 14-15 year old girls I have met in a long time. We gave each other letters and I truly felt like I had done something good for them as they continue in their lives. EFY was probably one of the best things I could have done for the week and I am so grateful I was able to do that.
