Especially For Youth

I never went to EFY. 

I never felt picked on or cheated out of something about it though.  I only knew one friend who ever went, and she'd come back all sorts of excited about it, but I don't remember ever wishing to go myself.

For one, it sounded like a lot of money, that I was pretty sure I would have had to save up for myself, but I'd rather spend my babysitting money on other things, and two, I had (have) a hard time in new situations.  A week.  Away from home.  Where I didn't know a soul?  No thanks.  (Never mind the fact that back then it took months, not days, for me to have the nerve to speak to someone)

Plus, I'd heard that it's an opportunity for Mormon teenagers everywhere to get together and meet other Mormon teenagers.  Uh?  I lived in Utah.  It wasn't exactly like Mormon Teenagers were a rare breed or anything.  The term "can't swing a dead cat" comes to mind.

But we sent Nick.  And given that I have no real idea of what I was sending him off to, no fond memories to call upon to ease my over-active worry-prone imagination, I was a little nervous.  Probably more so than the actual kid who was attending.

But he loved it.  He spent the weekend with my mom, where she spoiled him and made him all his favorite foods. She dropped him off at the BYU campus and got him situated- She was the perfect person for this job, because despite the fact that she doesn't like to admit it, once upon a time she called BYU home.

Anyway he loved it.  "Everybody was so nice, and they smiled all the time!  It even has a nickname-  they even call it "Happy Valley" there cause everybody is so happy!" 

And then he proceeded to tell me about the giant scoops of ice-cream they were eating all the time, ridiculously cheap scoops of ice-cream that were really more like 3 or 4 scoops of ice-cream.   I personally drew my own unfounded conclusions between the mass amounts of ice-cream everybody consumes and the fact that everybody was so happy all the time, and Nick didn't appreciate my insinuations that there must be some special additive in the ice-cream. 

Anyway, he had lots of fun.  Had a great roommate, made lots of friends, met lots of cute girls, danced with lots of cute girls (23 to be exact).

He can't wait to go back next year.  He didn't appreciate my joke that this was his one and only year to do so, and he wouldn't be back.  He rolled his eyes at me, and didn't even give me the satisfaction of seeing a little bit of panic in his face.  Clearly not going back is not an option.