As sisters in Zion, we'll bring the world his truth.

If you are above the age of fourteen, a member of the Church, and especially privy to 24/7 spirituality for one week and cliche microrelationships that blossom from literally nothing to full-fledged "dating" in less than a week, chances are you attended at least one EFY program in your youth.

Let me explain.

The Especially for Youth program, or EFY, is a program organized by the Church to get the youth more engaged in activities that invite the spirit, encourage good habits of reading scriptures and writing in a journal and to develop relationships with other teens who believe in the same things.

I think the EFY program gets a lot of flack, especially from those who have been, loved it, but don't want to admit it. Everyone's all, "EFY? Pff. I went to that, like, once in junior high. It was soooooo awkward and long. Definitely not my favorite."

Riiiiiiiiiiiight. Quit kidding yourself. Unless you're like my friend who almost got kicked out for wearing a Shade shirt. Then keep on keeping on. (Weird, right?)

I had a lot of fun.....I don't know. Maybe I'm just....different. (Fantastic Mr. Fox, anyone?)

Well, as I was perusing iTunes today to start building up my mission music library, I came across the EFY medley, which contains the songs "As Sisters in Zion" and "We'll Bring the World His Truth." Watch it here.

I honestly had forgotten about how much I truly love this song. I don't know what it is really, but I think ever since I've gotten my call, anything and everything having to do with missionary work either brings me to happy tears or has me checking up on my little portal countdown thing (84 DAYS WOOP WOOP)....this song is basically a timeless example of a perfect missionary song.

My favorite line out of the whole song is simply, "And we will be the Lord's missionaries, To bring the world His truth."

It's incredible to me to see the influx of missionaries that are truly going out to bring the world His truth. By the end of this year, a large majority of my friends will all be out serving, and those who aren't, I know are definitely playing a huge part on the homefront. I'm so grateful to be surrounded by countless examples and wonderful people who are willing to sacrifice 18 months to 2 years in order to help bring the light of this gospel to people all over this world. The church is true, ladies and gentlemen, and I absolutely love it with my whole heart.

In the words of one of my favorite people, the prophet Joseph Smith,

"The Standard of Truth has been erected;

no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing;

persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame,

but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent,

till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country,

and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished,

and the Great Jehovah shall say

the work is done."

Wandering thoughts.

Thought of the day, brought to you by Pinterest and Roald Dahl. Stay curious.

The darndest things.

Kids these days. I love 'em.

I work at an elementary school in the summertime, and it makes my heart sing. The children are incredibly sweet, and their innocence continues to amaze me every single day. Love your job and you never have to work a day in your life, yeah? Every day without fail I have those moments where I see all of these kids and think to myself, "I couldn't have been this small in the third grade" or "Has it really been SEVEN YEARS since I was in elementary school?!"

In the immortal words of Nationwide Insurance: Life comes at you fast.

While I was pondering this a little bit at school, I was in charge of the third graders for an hour. Naturally, I did what I do best with an hour to kill....make the children craft. Mother's Day is Sunday, obviously, so a Mother's Day card was in order. As the boys and girls started to cut out the fragile paper circles that would soon transform into some kind of flower for the card, I walked around to see if anyone needed any help. I pulled up a chair next to a table of little girls, and we quickly got talking about the new puppies that had been born this morning and the birthday party of a girl in their class.

Suddenly, one of the girls looked at me and said, "Miss Emi, are you going to be here next year?"

I smiled and replied, "I really wish I could, hon, but I'm going to be gone next year!"

After much interrogation of why I had to leave and where I was going, I explained to them that I was going on a mission. One of the other group leaders these kids knew just left a few weeks ago, so I explained that I was doing the same thing as she did. The girl that asked the question got dead silent and looked at me with these huge eyes full of curiosity and wonder. As she opened her mouth to speak, I knew that there was some kind of Mormon myth that I may have to dispel, so I was equally as curious to hear what she had to say.

With a voice that half whispered her words, she stated in all seriousness this question:

"Miss Emi, are you a Moron?"

I can honestly say that I've never had to hold back a laugh as hard as I did in that second. I promptly told her that although I am indeed a moron, the word she was probably looking for was Mormon...and I was that too. I changed the subject to avoid much discussion about religion in the school, but I silently laughed for the entire rest of the day.

I am a moron. I know it, I live it, I love it.

I'll call it mission prep.

Hi. I'm back. If I've learned one thing about myself in the past four years, it's that I am probably the worst blogger that has ever graced this earth. I only wish I was exaggerating. After trying to extensively redo my last one (HA NOPE), I decided I might as well start my cliche "going-on-a-mission" blog now....why? I've only got 91 days to make the best of it, that's why. So strap in, buckle down, and get ready for a whirlwind of flurry and fun. I'm gonna be better. I pinky promise.