k so really, we weren't in Miami, it was Ft. Lauderdale. But it was called the EFY Stay at Home Session- Miami. So, the title still fit. We had to go into this session with a very open mind because we had no idea what it would be like since none of us had ever done a stay at home session before! But it turned out to be quite an amazing session where I just felt SO much love for these youth! These kids were different. They have come from so many different lifestyles- broken homes, only converts in the church, and other tough situations- and sacrifices were made and distances were traveled for these kids to be here. And they amazed me. I think it helped a little that I was in charge of the musical program because I got to know a lot of them. They are such sweet kids with sweet spirits. I loved that I had the opportunity to work on the Musical Program that week. It was special. Not just because the kids were special, but also because kids in that session were actually in the musical program dvd that would be played while they sang the songs. So at our last rehearsal I told them that they may recognize a few familiar faces in the program. Just to see their excitement and faces as they watched it was a pretty cool experience. Bottom line of it all: I loved the Miami kids. They taught me a whole lot!
So like I said, the stay at home sessions are much different. Kids go home at 9 and we ran everything in their local stake center.
Which meant, we were the food servers for every lunch and dinner. But I enjoyed it.
The first day was 7/11... free slurpee day! And I was excited for this ALL day! But we had to wait till after 9 to hit up the local 711. Counselors piled in cars, ran into the gas station, only to see this sign on the door. What?! That can't be possible. But it was, and we were sad. But I still needed to get a slurpee. I hadn't had one in months so I needed one!
Jorden LOVED this week because he got the approval to find some latin music to play at the dances. We found him in our site office most of Tuesday listening to music with his headphones on. We would be pretty entertained from his dancing and loud talking.
Games night was chaotic- shocker? nope. A thunderstorm was about to grace our presence so we kept changing it from inside to outside constantly. We got the approval from our boss man to let us have 2 games outside even though we could hear some thunder, but it never came and the kids enjoyed themselves.
And part of having EFY in a stake center meant we cleaned the church every night. We restocked things, took out the trash, vacuumed, etc. But, it was actually a really fun time as we jammed out to the EFY cd and we were all super efficient so we would be done pretty quick.
Our team loved this week! Miami session was pretty awesome. It was different than our normal routine, but it was nice to get a little break to get an hour or two more of sleep each night.
And, once again, I really loved the youth! I have never gotten so much love and hugs from kids as I did that week. They were awesome!
Not to mention, we had some pretty awesome counselors for the week too!
One of my favorite things from this week was staying at the Stake Presidents home in the 10 year old, Carson's, room for the week. His signs outside his room were PRICELESS! We got a kick out of that the first night we got there. What a trooper for letting 2 girls take over his room for the week! They were such a nice and sweet family!
Our session directors were AWESOME! Sad I didn't get a picture with Brother Johnson too but I LOVED Sister Johnson! They were the perfect people for this group of kids! So fun, so awesome, so insightful. I definitely enjoyed their fun spirits that week!
After we did our final cleaning of the church Friday night, all the counselors went out to Chili's to celebrate one of their birthdays and to say our final goodbyes as most of them would be done with EFY in the South.
And then, week 4 was over and it was onto our final week in Kentucky!
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