GSMST

I go to GSMST.
I am in accelerated physics.
I am in accelerated math.
I am in accelerated English.
I am in Spanish 1.
See my problem?

EFY 2010 Day 1

Welcome to the Greene's car. We should be arriving at Brenau University in about an hour.

-----1 hour Later-----

I hope you enjoyed your ride.

------

After a bit of looking around, me, Brooke, and Brooke's mom found where we were supposed to sign up. After a LONG time waiting in line, we got in. First, we went to a table where they asked for our names. Then we got these little name-tag things. At the next table, we got EFY lanyards, which we put the name-tags on. Next, t-shirts. Then, the CD and Handbook. We looked at our name-tags, and it said we were in Yonah, Room 208. So we went and stood in the Yonah/East/Bailey line, and got our keys -we'd signed up to be room mates.

We went and got back in Sis. Greene's car, and drove to the Yonah building. We went up two flights of stairs, dragging our suitcases, and found our room. It had two signs with our names on it.

**Madison W.**

COURAGE Welcome to EFY!

TO STAND I'm your counselor, _Carrie._

STRONG Please meet in room _208_ at _1:15_

Wearing your participant t-shirt.

I'm so excited to meet you!

efy

Wait, hold on a second....our room was 208! It was only like, 11 then, so we unpacked and made our beds. Then, we hung up streamers...and put our stuff away. Everything had to look all neat and stuff for when everyone else got there.

And no, I don't know why the sink wasn't in the bathroom. I'm kind of glad it wasn't though. Then I went walking down the hall, looking for a water fountain. But first, I found Carrie. We were both looking for the water fountain. So I introduced myself, got some water, and went back to the room to tell Brooke what Carrie looked like. Then, we had our Meet Your Counselor thing, where we also met our group -ten girls, one counselor. Sharing our bathroom was Taylor, and across the hall was Krislee, who we had met but sadly wasn't in our group.

Then we went to our company meeting spot. The groups: two girl, one boy. The counselors: Carrie, Laura, and Frank. Then we played Killer Frog, which was awesome. And next? Orientation. Our session director was an awesome British guy named Bro. Diamond. Oh yeah, and our company meeting spot was by the tennis courts. And after we met there, we had to be escorted by the boys.

Day One

Monday

11:00am-1:00pm...Check-in

1:15-2:15pm...Meet Your Counselor (counselor group)

2:15-3:15pm...Meet Your Company (larger group)

3:30-4:30pm...Orientation

4:45-545pm...Dinner

6:00-7:00pm...Session Director Devotional (meet with company)

7:30-9:00pm...FHE Activities and Goal Setting (company)

9:15-10:00pm...Personal Scripture Study, Quiet Time

(journal time, get ready for bed)

10:00-10:20pm...Counselor Devotional

10:20pm...Prayer Meeting (counselor group)

10:30pm...Lights Out

To be Continued...

Up next, the missing towel

Lilburn 2010 Pioneer Trek- Days 2 and 3

Friday, June 18-

That morning, I woke up around six. The only other person awake was Sis. Gerber, one of our neighbors, and I tried to help her try to start a fire. It was working out so well, but then Bro. Spurlock drove by in his truck and said that they were going to make breakfast this morning, because there wasn't enough fire wood. So we didn't have to start a fire. Breakfast was an egg and sausage burrito thing, that I didn't like so I ate one of the energy bar thingies that my mom packed. It was pretty good.

That day's handcart modifications? The boys built things shaped like |\ over the back and on top of the wheel, and put the back handle on it to raise it up. Since there was more room, I could push. We got a LOT of comments on it....

Not much happened that day. Another story was about a woman who was widowed, and she had to push the cart by herself. And right when she had given up, she saw her husband, who encouraged her to keep going. So she did. Remember the muddy hill from the day before? Well, this hill was shorter but just as steep. This was the womens' pull.

The boys went and stood along the sides of the hill, while we pulled it up. They were singing....well, anyways, when we got to the top and the boys were allowed to go back to the carts, they were talking about how they wished they could've helped us, and all this stuff...it was kinda sweet, but they carried US across the river yesterday (well, creek thing but still) and then pulled the handcarts down. Then we were even.

When we stopped for lunch, we made ham and/or turkey sandwiches. Then, since we still had time and the other company was right in front of us, the boys and some girls played stick pull. I sat in the cart and watched. Then someone from the first company came and challenged our 'best man' to a competition. When we got our best people, they had a big thing. I'm still not sure who one, since we both had like five people go up...

Towards the end, the 'Pa' in the cart in front of us said 'Why don't you give the boys a break and let the girls push?' Yeah right, he just wanted us to go slower. We did, though...and the boys took a shortcut back to camp, so they were there already when we got there.

We went swimming again, and I almost did a flip off of the rope. Me and Tori had a mud fight while waiting in line (she started it!) and somehow Omar and Ashley got into it too. Then we jumped into the river to wash off. There was watermelon, which tasted pretty good. That night for dinner, we had ribs, 'eggroll guts', rolls, beans, and sappa....something for desert. We had a weird little dance, with like square dancing, and then we listened to the people talk some more. When that was over, desert was ready, so we went back to go get them.

When I was walking back to my bucket, I was the first one back from my family. Bro. Dodge said 'I have some semi-illegal sweets if you want some.' and then he started walking back to camp. I followed, because I didn't have anything better to do. 20 or 30 minutes later, we were all sitting around a fire, passing around M'n'M's and Skittles. Apparently Bro. Dodge had gone and gotten them during the dance.

That night, after playing 'Cheat' (or BS or Liar or whatever you want to call it) with Sis. Dodge, Ephraim, and some kid whose name I forget, I walked around with Lauren and Jessica (Aaron's sister). Then, we played Ninja. I lost, but it was still fun.

Again, don't know when I fell asleep or woke up, but I didn't wake up as early this time. We made pancakes and sausage as a group (4 families) and then we had Testimony Meeting. After THAT, we went and got meatball subs for lunch, and they passed round t-shirts.

Before Testimony Meeting, though, we had packed up camp. So then we went and loaded our trash bags into the back of cars, grabbed out buckets, and started the long walk back to the road.

Some kid named Mitchell took my bucket, and carried it more than half of the way up (and down). Some kinds had gotten rides in or on cars. When I got there, I took my bucket, found my bag, and waited. Then I heard someone say 'Grayson ward, over here!' and we got into a bunch of cars. I got into the McWilliams' car, and was in the first group to get back. 10 minutes later, my ride got there -Sis. Carter. An hour or so later, Elizabeth and Spencer Carter finally got there. We went home, I took a shower, and all was well....

Lilburn 2010 Pioneer Trek

Thursday, June 17-

I woke up early and got dressed in pioneer clothes -a blue skirt and shirt. I wore hiking boots, and my bonnet and apron were in my 5-gallon Lowes bucket, a long with most of the rest of my stuff. My sleeping bag, pillow, and blanket went in a trash bag. We left for the church, and got there at 6:59 -one minute before we were supposed to leave.

45 minutes later, everyone else had gotten there. We loaded into cars and took off for Cornelia, Georgia. In an hour, maybe an hour and a half, we had gotten to the site. They dropped us off, and we put our sleeping bags' bags into the back of trucks, picked up our buckets, and walked down a long, hill-filled road. When we got there, 'there' was a clearing by a river. We walked down a muddy path to a place with a sign, calling in 'Camp Nauvoo.' At Camp Nauvoo, we went to tables and signed in, then once most people had gotten there, we all sat in a big circle on our buckets and listened while the leaders and the stake president talked. They introduced the cook (Bro. McKay), the person in charge of the water and trails and stuff (Bro. Spurlock), the one that brought down the porta-potties (Bro. McRae) the people that made the handcarts, and all the Ma's and Pa's. Then, the Ma's and Pa's got up and called out who all was in their family

I was assigned to Bro. and Sis., Dodge, along with nine others. There were five girls: Me, Laura, Lizzie, Brittani, and Sariah; and five boys: Frost, Jared, Chris, Aaron, and Ephraim. We sat in a circle on our buckets and played a get-to-know-you game, and wrote down everyone's name in these cool little journals that we'd gotten.

We went back to our company's campsite, the first clearing we had gone to. Since we were the second company of three to leave, we set up our tents. A smaller one for the Dodges, a medium sized one for each the girls and the boys. I laid out my sleeping bag (the others just put theirs in the tent) and we emptied our buckets of all except what we thought we would need on the trail. Some people put their stuff in other's buckets, and even after Sariah's stuff was in mine, their was still room for the food.

The boys went to work on modifying the handcart, and we (the girls) made the flag. They wrote 'Unity' on it in big letters with a sun by it, and we all signed it. The boys, meanwhile, had gotten two sticks that Bro. Dodge brought, and put one next to the handcart's handle, for a better handle. The other went in the back so more people could push it. We loaded it up, put the flag on a stick, and set off with the rest of our company- the Ray Handcart Company.

Frost, Jared, and Chris pushed in the front, and Lizzie, Sariah, and Brittani pushed in the back. Ephraim was pretty depressed-looking most of the time, and walked either in front of or behind the handcart. Aaron carried the flag, and me and Laura just walked. I would have pushed, but there wasn't really enough room. And Laura had some problem with her back, so she just couldn't push. After awhile, Aaron tried to put the flag on the handcart, but it was falling off so I just took it and carried it the rest of the way.

The only really remarkable thing that happened on the trail that day was what we later all just called 'Mud Hill'. It was a two-mile-long, steep, muddy hill. The group in front of us only had two boys, so Frost, Jared, and Chris went to go help them. Bro. and Sis. Dodge and Aaron went to push in the front, and the others stayed and pushed in the back. I would have pushed, but the handle on the back wasn't very sturdy, so there wasn't much room. I still wish I would have pushed...but I could the second day, which was good. By the time we had gotten to the top, it was about 2:30. Bro. Spurlock, who was there, told us we could have a 30-40 minute break to eat lunch.

Back at the beginning, they had told us that today we would have something the pioneers had eaten for lunch, and that they would feed us normal food the rest of the time. Our lunch? Home-made bread, Sausage, Crackers, Parched Corn, and Beef Jerky. Then we kept going.

Throughout the day, they had stopped us once or twice to give little skits about pioneers. This one was about the three boys in the Martin Handcart company that carried everyone across the river, and later died because of it. We had left the handcarts on the hill, and walked down to the bottom, where there was creek. After the story, the woman that had told it said that the boys in each family had to carry the girls in their family across, then go and bring the handcarts down. So they did.

Around four, we got back to camp. It was a hot, humid day, but it was fun. Then we changed into extra clothes (or just took off our skirts so we were wearing a shirt and shorts) and jumped off of ropes into the river to swim. When we were done, we made a fire and made Shepard's Pie and Peach Cobbler for dinner.

But, while Bro. Dodge was cutting firewood, he cut into his hand with his hatchet. So he went to the hospital, and we ate dinner. Then, we went and listened to people talk at Camp Nauvoo, had devotional, and went to sleep. Well, the others slept, but I couldn't. I heard REALLY loud snoring, Bro. Dodge coming back, and people talking. I don't know when, but maybe around midnight I finally fell asleep.

Tao Hsieh Wu Shu

So...I started a new karate thing :)

Except it isn't karate, its Tao Hsieh Wu Shu. It means 'The Way of Unified Martial Arts' or something like that. Its a smaller class than my last place, and a smaller room, but thats ok. And even though I'm only a white belt (actually, I don't know if I'm even a white belt yet....) I'm in the intermediate class. There's five other kids, from around 7 or 8 years old (I think) to 14 -that's me. There's, um....Megan, Brandon, ....Allen/Allan....umm....something thats starts with a J....Joshua maybe? I dunno. And one other kid. Hm....I'll get back to you on that when I think of the name. And the instructor's name is TJ.

Its at the Georgia Gymnastics Academy, in a loft thing upstairs. It gets kinda hot up there, so hardly anyone wheres the uniform in the summer -only the kid whose name starts with J. The other kids mostly just where a GGA Martial Arts shirt with a sticker thing on it for what color belt they have.

I think it'll be a lot of fun, but I dunno if I'll do the competitions...O.o There's one in like, November, I think, so I'll be a yellow belt by then. Sensei TJ told me I'm going to test in August- but I can do whatever. I think I will, though. It's only in a couple months, there's not to much to learn for the first test, but then again, I have vacation/church stuff...eh, I'll do it.

Why I am sad.

Today, I just so happened to find out that I'm not in my ward anymore. The ward that I've been in for 10 years. I'm not sure it even WAS a ward when I first moved to where I am now. The Dacula ward has some, um... interesting characters, but still, I've know some of them for a decade. And now....some adults and little kids that I kind of know -and that's it.

Delta

So, I'd like to thank Delta for bringing my grandparents to Georgia. Here's how my day went:

First, I went to school -bleh.

Then, I came home and waited.

And FINALLY, at around 6:34, me and my dad left for the airport.

Around 7:25, we called our -or my, sorry, not my dad's- Grandparents (aka the Wheelers) and they had landed.

Ten or so minutes later, they came out and we put her stuff in the car.

At 8-somthin' (That's 6-somthin' in Utah) we went to WaffleHouse for dinner.

Sometime later (I stopped looking at the clock) we got home and talked.

Then we went to bed....I start out on a couch, but I didn't like that so I ended up on the floor. It was actually quite comfortable -I don't think my dog liked it though :)