EFY

Another summer of EFY has come and gone and I can barely believe it. This summer wa more amazing than I ever could’ve wanted it to be. I worked with amazing people and we were able to share some pretty awesome experiences.

Training in Provo was the first time that I met the group. I already knew Logan and Tazia but everyone else was new. We all bonded pretty quick and spent a ton of time together. We even made a random trip to Squaw peak for a dance party. Its on insta so check it out. (I’m pretty sure you could see my entire summer on insta. Follow me @jaronrsmith. Instagram that crap up.) Yes, this post will have a few things that will only be funny to handful of people #weloveinsidejokes. I had planned on having a couple of weeks free between training and heading out to cali but that plan disappeared. A friend working in Provo was looking for guy counselors so I picked up the week after training. I also picked up the next week in Idaho. That meant pure efy from May 22 to August 4. Woof. I am super glad I picked up those two extra weeks though. I was able to get back into EFY mode and learned a lot about what it would take to be a good BC. My kids those weeks were phenomenal. Sure there were some things that were tough (like kids not showing up for major things like dances or Thursday firesides on more than one occasion) but I guess I needed to have some of those things happen so I would know how to handle the situation from a different position. Tazia, Logan, Derek, and I all worked the week in Idaho and left Friday night so that we could get things put together to fly out Saturday morning. This was seriously a no-stop summer. We may have cut getting on the plane a little close but whatevs, we made it. We picked up Kelly in AZ and Suz met us in Cali. That first week was in Citrus Heights just outside of Sacramento. Things went really well for it being our first week. We had observed a week during training and some of us had worked a week or two so far so we knew how things were supposed to go. We picked up some awesome counselors on the spot who ended up staying with us for a good chunk of the summer. The next week was in Fresno. Really great small session. Swam in the mornings at our hosts’ pool. Texas Roadhouse. Then we drove out to Santa Barbara. Finally I would get to spend some time in my mission. Logan and I first did an EFY express session in Arcadia. Yeah, those things are not the coolest.  Besides being really fast and having a ton of unorganized  kids, we didn’t even have our dance playlist. We had forgotten to bring the laptop and had to put together a dance from my phone, Logan’s ipad, and soundhound. And the kids were plenty vocal about their thoughts. I’m pretty sure I was threatened a couple of times. But then we got back to the Celestial kingdom of EFY. Oh those three weeks were awesome. Amazing kids, view of the ocean, skuncooning, the DLG, Keith, Blenders (craving…), H&M (I still need to find that cardigan), and a billion other things. Spent a Saturday down in thousand oaks. We got Chinese buffet, went a visited a few people, and just had a great relaxing day. May have bought a watch. Our week off was unbelievable. It would have been cheaper for me to go to Hawaii and work. That’s how awesome it was. Our day in Disneyland was freaking amazing.  We dominated that park #changedmylife #nowiunderstand. We had some beach time and got super burnt, went to a baseball game, went to LA, went to institute, just a good week. Oh and Las Brisas. You know we had to have good food that week. Mmmmm…. Then came Tucson. Ugh. Whatever Tucson. Lesson: I hate AZ. It’s hot, hot, and I got a friggin ticket. They have cameras on roads (not just stoplights). And I didn’t even know I was speeding. The road was huge and not residential. My Utah driving says 50. It was 40 and probably had a different speed for the rest of the day. Yeah, their speed limits change depending on the time of day. Birthday Cake Oreos. Our last week was in Redlands. Ready or Not Redlands. This week just had tons of random unexplainable things happen. I was over variety show. Haha, yeah that show was varietous alright. Hip thrusts, midriffs, Maroon 5, pokemon, falsetto, yeah, it was awesome. Coming home was weird. I hate that feeling of having to go back to real life, but I was ready to be done. EFY is draining. Who knows if I’ll end up doing it next year. I love it but it doesn’t do much to pay the bills.