20 July 2014

 Sofi here again! Mom didn't take a single picture this week, so she handed the blog over to me to tell about EFY. I only took about three more pictures than she did though. Luckily, other EFY friends from Facebook posted a bunch of photos, so I actually have something to blog about. For those of you who don't know, I went to Kirtland, Ohio for my EFY. This is a special edition EFY, so instead of doing classes, we visited all the Church History sites. This is my company in front of the Kirtland Temple.

These are some of the awesome guys in my company. Aren't they adorable? Though none of us knew each other in the beginning, by the end, our entire company was so close, we kept forgetting that we hadn't known each other our entire lives. We decided we must have all been friends in the pre-mortal life.

On our trip we took selfies galore. This one took place just before one of the dances. The dances were a ton of fun. We got to know lots of people, and listen to great music. Most of it was from the 1980s.

I realize that this is just a picture of a floor, but it's a pretty awesome floor. This one is in the Whitney Storehouse, a very significant place for the Church. Joseph Smith lived there for a while, and he established the School of the Prophets in an upstairs room. Both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to people in that room. 

 This is our whole company again, this time in front of the John Johnson farmhouse. The Johnsons were incredible people. They moved to Ohio after a dust cloud from a large volcanic eruption blocked out the sun and caused a bad harvest at their old home (I forget where that was). They lived in a small log cabin for 10 years, working and saving until they had enough money to build their dream house. Walking through the house, you can tell that it was the height of fashion in their day. All the walls are white, and the molding is painted very bright colors. It's super cute! Once the Johnsons converted, their faith was unshakable. Joseph Smith lived at their house for a year. Mother Johnson was the first person to receive a healing priesthood blessing in this dispensation. Later on, they were commanded by the Lord to sell their farm that they had worked so hard for, and to give the money to the church. They did this without hesitation. Learning about all these amazingly faithful pioneers really strengthened my faith, and my desire to give whatever I'm asked to give to the Church.

This was another highlight of our visit: the Kirtland Temple. The temple is no longer owned by our church, but by the Community of Christ, who are very kind and allowed us to tour it. It is a beautiful building with an amazing past. This is where Elijah and Moses and Elias and Jesus Christ appeared, restoring priesthood keys to the earth. We got the opportunity to sing the Spirit of God while sitting in the pews. This was incredible because the Spirit of God was originally written for the dedication of this temple. Closing my eyes, it was easy to picture myself surrounded by the early saints, singing this song for the first time. It was a wonderful feeling to realize that I get to be a part of this amazing Gospel that so many people have sacrificed so much for so that the truth could be spread. EFY was an incredible experience. My testimony grew a ton, and I made a lot of friends that I really care about.