Capturing the moments of EFY

Some of the Cutest roomies i ever did have. and they pretty awesome friends if i do say so myself. 

Jess and i made jessica sandwiches all week! and Miranda is just a blast of energy and fun:)

These are 2 pretty cool co-counselors. We had an awesome week working together.

These girls are my 2nd week. Celestial seekers! They were so sweet and fun!

I got engaged. To Bo. he's a gem. Funny, witty, energetic, and 5'5" but hey we're getting married. I even have a dollar bill ring. I had no idea EFY would change my life like this!!;)

Here's my last week. They are 16-18 year olds and they became my good friends! i loved getting to know them. Also 2 of them are from Twin Falls!!! so i'll be seeing them around for sure.

This is the team i was on! I didn't get to meet all them and know them really well but the ones i did meet became my really good friends. I love how united we all were and how friendly and fun each and every person was. We all brought different strengths and worked rather well together.

Especially For Youth; Especially for me.

For most of the month of August, I spent 3 weeks being and EFY counselor. I must say it was the coolest, funnest, hardest job i've had. It was awesome because i got paid to work, have fun and play and be in an environment of inspiring lessons and the constant spirit present. EFY is one of the best weeks for these kids and the cool part is i get to help make that happen! I learned SOO much and am changed because of this job.
The thing is that i'm only a small part of their experience. Honestly they taught me so much. I have been beyond impressed by many of these 14, 15, 16, and 17 year olds.  They can be so powerful, strong, and firm in the Gospel. They have so many insights on things and often times aren't scared to share them. So many have good habits and you can tell they live righteous lives as best as they can.
Not only did I have to have a solid testimony of the Gospel, since i was going to be preaching it to these kids, i had to maintain the habits i was encouraging them to do so that i wasn't a hypocrite. But most of all i learned personally the POWER OF PRAYER and the ENABLING POWER of the ATONEMENT. My testimony of this is immovable.  I know that i am nothing without God. He gives me the air i need to breathe. There is no way that anything else is mine if i rely on him for AIR, the main necessity of life. The only thing that is mine is my agency. I used that agency to choose to allow the atonement to push me to be the best teacher i could be for these kids. I used that agency to pray to Heavenly Father to allow me to be humble enough and in tune with the spirit to work as an instrument in His hand. After all it is HIS glory i'm preaching, not my own.  I am not naturally able to speak hours on end or make a powerful speech on demand. The blessing of tongues is not a natural talent for me. But the cool thing is that because i asked for His help and wanted these kids to know God, teaching them was smooth. I had words come to my mind and they made sense when you put them in sentences!! This week, me being a teacher or a facilitator of the Spirit, was a miracle. I know it happened because these kids deserved it, they had parents and friends praying for it, and i prayed for it.
I learned to see people as God sees them. Because God wants these kids to feel his love, he uses that love in us and quickly we are able to love all of these kids. Yes, 35 new kids each week. I LOVE THEM ALL! i believe it is because we are surrounded in that love of God but also because we share things dear to our hearts and become vulnerable to each other in confidence of no judgements made. This Spirit i feel here at EFY is made possible because of the many prayers said each day (up to 20ish each day) and the testimonies and devotion to this Gospel and God.  EFY taught me first hand that God loves each of us. Because it was so easy for me to love these kids, i know it reflects just a small portion of His love. I got a taste of it. And i know he loves me because look what he allowed me to do! i was a counselor and that scared me but because i turned myself over to Him, it became one of the most enjoyable 3 weeks of my life.
Each week, each day, each hour i learned something inspiring and amazing from the Condies, the Youngs, and the Littles. They were such wonderful session directors. i learned from the other counselors during our meetings how to best reach out to the kids so that they can learn, and i also learned from the youth.  I had to write it all down otherwise i would forget. So many precious doctrines are scribbled in my handbook. I may not remember details off the top of my head but i do know that they all confirm and support God and His omniscience and divinity. His love. Christ's Atonement. The plan of salvation. The book of Mormon. Modern Prophets. and the JOY THAT MAN CAN HAVE. All of "these things are TRUE; for the Lord God hath spoken it." I KNOW IT.
Mosiah 2:41

 41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the
blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of
God.  For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal
and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are
received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a
state of never-ending happiness.  O remember, remember that these 

things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

I have met so many awesome kids. The best counselors out there!! So many friends that are true friends and do good things.

More pictures soon to come:)

Wrapping up School in 2013

I came home right after i finished finals for Marissa's wedding. It was a great reunion of friendships!

The next day one of my best friends since 2nd grade gave her farewell in church. She did awesome! So mature, ready and willing to do what the Lord has asked of her.

 I came back to Rexburg to finish up the semester by just playing all day! a group of us went to Rigby lake and later I said goodbyes to many friends then FINALLY our whole apartment was together. I doubt you recognize how much of a miracle this is!! The whole semester we all did our own thing pretty much all the time, or just a couple of us would do things together. Even at night we weren't always all there. Someone was either working, with their fiance or gone home. It was cray all semester. But the last night we made it happen. We climbed a roof of a church and had fun under the stars and the beautifully full moon. These girls are awesome and i love them all so much. I'm always blessed with the best roommates and friends and I thank Heavenly Father all the time for such blessings. I've met inspiring people and made some pretty amazing friends here at BYU-I.

Nerf Guns and Thunderstorms

Last FHE of the semester. 4 of my FHE bros and Cassie and me were the only ones who showed up but boy did everyone else miss out. My brother had this massive box of Nerf guns he had collected over the years and some were so big i had never seen them made like that! we went to the Kirkham building which has a stage where dance performances are. Usually its all locked up but we had a connection:) we got in and this same brother knows how to work the lights and sound so it was quite a show. One of my brothers had a hurt knee so he was the DJ/Commentator. Best part: he has a British/Scottish accent. It was so fun to mess around. It was girls against guys...we obviously dominated. Cool thing was behind the stage i was walking and there is a mirror on one side and a screen on the other that was lit up in the purple lights and suddenly i felt like i was James bond. Ya know at the very beginning when it's just his silhouette that walks out to the center of the screen then turns and shoots? i had one of those moments. Just call me Olsen, Jessica Olsen. Then Cassie and I did some classic charlie's angels poses. We couldn't resist.

Last night i was at my apartment doing homework when i noticed a storm was coming outside. Next thing i know the lighting is right over our heads at Nauvoo and the thunder is booming. This lightning was so bright and the best part was that it lit up the whole sky in purple!!it was so gorgeous. Take a look at the pic. NO EDITING. amazing the beauty God creates. My roommates (as well as the whole Nauvoo complex) was outside on our porch because it wasn't raining and we just enjoyed the rare event. Eventually it started to pour and everyone danced in the rain. This is one of the joys of summertime:)

Celebrate America

On Saturday i went to a carnival fair thing in Driggs. It was a firework show and a concert. The beach boys were there! it was super fun to hear them and be right up close to the stage. 

There were a TON of people at this thing but we managed to squeeze in and find a good spot. I went with Tanner, a friend i just met earlier this week when we went on a blind date which was pretty fun. He's a farmboy and a red head (surprised mom??) yeah normally not my type haha but still fun! also Lee Greenwood was there who is the guy who wrote God Bless the USA and he sung live durring the firework show which was AWESOME. We were right under them and they were so big and spectacular. We were so close that i could feel them boom in my chest when they went off. That's when you know it was a good show hahah but it was a good time.

I really am glad that i live in America. We are so blessed with freedom. Even though there are still trials with government and some of the ways of this land and the people that live here, overall it is pretty darn splendid. 

'MERICA!

Field Trip

So one thing that i really love about my major is the whole hands on idea about things and classes.  Like today durring the middle of the day for my Pest class, we went to a POTATO FACTORY haha we were learning how they control pests in a large facility like that, they receive potatoes, package them in some sort of frozen form whether that is mashed, twiced-baked or some other kind. It was fun to just get out of the classroom and the best part is we dressed up!! lab coat, hard hat and hairnet. Keepin it classy here. Do you think they noticed i was a visitor?

#idahopotatoes #farmgirl #fieldtrip

One of those tender mercies

This spring semester i brought my bike up and its the first time i've had a bike here at school, i used to just temporarily borrow bikes in the past. But i LOVE short bike rides around town just for the fun of it or if its a hot sunny day make a pitstop at snowasis then the park. (or kerianne's which is italian ice and custard.....so. darn. delicious). This semester i've been on my fair share of bike rides and i can never get enough whether it's at midnight around campus or in the evening with my apartment.  So one saturday i wanted to enjoy the nice weather so i went to go on a bike ride. See the thing is i had never locked up my bike yet and it's managed to stay on the bike rack until this saturday morning. I was devastated.  my bike was gone! someone stole it. I was hoping that someone was just temporarily borrowing it like i used to do with bikes in the past haha but after looking into it and checking up my bike was gone. Good news was that i borrowed my roommates snazzy bike and still got to go on that bike ride. 2 weeks passed and after constant checking hoping that my bike would show up, it still wasn't there but i had gotten the word out that it was stolen.  i was up visiting a friend at her apartment and as i was leaving i glance over at the bike rack having a small sense of hope that it might be there. I scanned the bikes and i thought i saw it. i kinda got really excited and got my hopes up super high but i had to stay somewhat sane after all i was in public and it was still possible that it wasn't my bike. I ran downstairs to the rack and got a closer look. MY BIKE WAS RETURNED!!!! I had been praying not that my bike would just be found but that whoever took it would have a change of heart and in a way feel guilty that they took something that did not belong to them. But i was aware that i may not ever see it again and was working hard to forgive whoever took it.  I find it a miracle that after it being gone not just for a day or two but for a solid couple weeks that it was returned.  I couldn't thank my Heavenly Father enough for being so kind to answer my silly prayer but He knows just how happy my bike and those bike rides make me:) I want to remember this forever, it is an example in my own life of how prayers can be answered.

The Dunes

The sand dunes are the perfect place to have bonfires and up here in Rexburg, its one of the coolest places to go. This last Friday i went with a group of friends. One of them went to Columbia on his mission and they made lanters.....remember Tangled? yeah kinda like those ones, but HUGE and so he wanted to try the method out and make some of our own! we made some out of tissue paper and constructed our own fueling device. We glued them together and made three. Then we hopped out to the Dunes and went to light them off. umm to cut to the chase i'll just tell you that it didn't work hahah the wind wasn't in our favor. We tried to light a small one and it caught of fire then we tried the second one (i made it and named it barbie because it is pink and white). It never filled with enough gas to actually take off. We're in the process of figuring out why it wasn't working. Matt and Kevin are both studying to be petroleum engineers so i'll leave it up to them. We're hoping it was just the wind and that's why it never worked. We'll have to try again. But it was still a great night out to the dunes and spent with friends and roommates!

This thing was on FIIIIIRE.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the night!

Lets go Barbie

Wednesdays--they're all about the Wildlife

Wildlife Wednesdays are a really well known thing up here in Rexburg. On Wed. you can usually spot people sporting a wolf shirt, an eagle one, or anything in between.  One of my friends threw a party after getting all pumped up about since he visited Jackson hole and bought a wolf shirt. So college students+a theme+food+music=one heck of a party!! it was super fun! it was mostly people from my ward there so i knew like 95% of the people and it was just a blast. They even had food, a photo booth with their stuffed moose max, and a raffle hahaha with some snazzy dollar store prizes.

My fabulous roommates that came:) plus a photobomber.

The night got a little wild with some tats....it's Rexburg so of course stick on tats are the hit of the party.

we managed to steal these off the backs of the guys in charge. it was Cassie's goal of the night.

Spenny!

 ....and Tyler had to join in and copy me.

 Here's the guys that put it all together. Ross, Spencer, Danny and Tyler. They're the best!! i love them all

Life as we know it

I feel like i haven't had much happen in the last couple months to blog about it, but i'm kinda regretting not blogging about little things more. I switched my major to Floral Design and i LOVE it!!! my floral arranging class is so much fun and i totally feel like i'm in my element. The other horticulture classes are alright but i must say i really do enjoy all the hands on stuff i do. Like for my pest control class so far we've used the Rodentator (kills rodents/gophers by shooting their holes with an explosion) and i mixed some pesticide and got to spray it in the jungle greenhouse. I love my religion classes, especially my Prep for Eternal Marriage class. I'm learning some good stuff in there! hopefully i can remember all the amazing things i've learned. I picked some pretty bomb teachers for my classes. i enjoy going to class

Over memorial weekend, i went to Salmon with my roommate Cassie and a group of friends.  We hiked up to some hot springs and it was GORGEOUS. They were completely natural hot springs and it was so cool to be sitting in one and looking out and seeing this amazing view of the mountains. If any of you were to go i would warn you about nudity haha yeah we came across some surprising situations. And i managed to get a little sun too! yaaay!

The best thing about Spring (although it hasn't been very warm this semester compared to others) is bike rides, softball, and picnics!

Missionary Friends

So i think having missionary friends is the best/worst thing. it is so fun to write them and share the events going on in our lives it's just bittersweet that they're not living them with you. But i know they're out there doing the best work they can and its awesome that they're so motivated to share the gospel! A couple of their birthdays are coming up and i want to send them something awesome so i'm starting to brainstorm now! any ideas?? they'd be great to hear.

and so march begins!

March started out great! i went back home to see this guy get one year older and baptized. He is awesome for making that choice.

With March i'm hoping the weather becomes a little more Springy and less Wintery. That would be grand. Love is in the air! at least for all of my friends...Kaycee's missionary, Kolby, came home last night and she gets to see him TONIGHT! i've never seen her this happy. They'll probably get married;) Kambrie comes home every night with a big smile on her face so things are going great for her and Kelli is going home to surprise a guy that makes her happy. Oh i love it!

With school, i switched majors. My dream job now: wedding designer! it would be like pintrerest in real life everyday!! unfortunately they don't have a specific major for something like this, so what i figured would help me best with gaining design experience is Floral Design.  Next semester i'll be taking classes for that major, still with an emphasis in Culinary Arts. School sounds so fun and creative to me now and i can't wait to see how it goes:)

just an update

School is so good but it is so busy too. Last week i sent off one of my best friends, Emily Kemp. She's goin to the San Fernando California mission. I'm so happy for her but i know i'll miss her dearly. I talked to her literally every day.  i guess it's time to perfect my writing skills now!
i still love all my classes and i'm finally getting a feel for them and how hard they might be this semester. I've been thinking recently of switching my major just because i've been doubting if it's the right direction for me. The only class i'm taking for my major is my least favorite class this semester, i don't take that as a good sign. So if you have any suggestions of things for me to look into let me know!!
I decided just the other day when i was talking with a friend that i'm going to be an EFY counselor the 3 weeks after spring semester. He did it and loved it and so he was telling me about pictures and stuff then the idea came to me that i should do it and it just felt so right. I applied the next day and have an interview with the program soon, but i don't know when yet. i am beyond excited for this opportunity and i'm hoping it all works out!
This last weekend was great. i celebrated a friend's birthday and lets just say we had a grand ol time:] i truly felt like i was living the college life.
Time has been flying by and i can't believe another week is just starting!!! it feels like i just got up here to school.

I have this feeling....

....that this semester is going to be splendid. I have awesome roommates! So far i love my classes! i feel like i have friends everywhere! and I love socializing! plus i still have lots of cool people to meet! yep yepp