FSY for Jonah

Jonah was excited to go to FSY. It was pretty similar to EFY last year and he was excited to have that experience again.  You get to pick your roommate when you register and Jonah and Kyle decided to room together and Christian and Ky room together. I was driving home from Idaho, so Keith dropped Jonah off.  The week before Jonah and I went shopping together and got everything that he needed. It's so nice that BYU is so close and they get to go to FSY there. 

The kids could register for any session of FSY, but our stake was given a time to try and have the kids go if they could.  The session started on memorial day.  You are guaranteed to be with your roommate, but that is it, so we weren't sure if Jonah would be with his friends from the ward.  Jonah and Kyle ended up in an apartment with Ky and Christian and Kenneth and Nathan were down the hall.  Tasha sent me this picture when she dropped her boys off.  They were pretty excited to be together.  Jonah was hoping to meet new people and not just be with people from the stake, but he said he was really glad he ended up with his friends.  He didn't know the girls in his company, but all of the boys were from our ward or stake. He bore his testimony today and he said, "Four best friends rooming together is asking for trouble." Ha!  Then he said, "I didn't think we could get any closer, but we did and now it's a brotherhood." He talked about how they became so much closer because they were learning about Christ together and He brought them closer together. Christian also bore his testimony and said the same thing.  Angie and I were talking after about how grateful we are for their friendship and that they will need each other as they navigate life in High School.  Unfortunately, Ky is moving this summer and that is going to be hard on all of them.  

Every night I would text Jonah to ask how the day was.  He always said it was great. I would ask him if he had any pictures and this is what I got one day. I love seeing what my kids take pictures of, it's so funny.  

I love that kids have phones and take so many pictures.

Jonah was hoping to ask Tess, the girl in the back left to dance, but he said he was asked every song.  I told him that's a rough problem to have, Ha! He enjoyed the dances. 

Jonah said he learned that Heavenly Father will use people to reach you so we should follow our promptings.  He said during the EFY testimony meeting (last summer) his friend Kendall (who died suddenly a few months ago) patted his back to tell him to bear his testimony and when it was over Kendall gave Jonah a cosmic brownie.  Jonah said that at FSY during the testimony meeting he felt a tap on his back and when it was over this boy in our stake gave Jonah a cosmic brownie.  Jonah was really touched by that experience and felt like Kendall was close by. 

We have such a great group of boys in our ward.  I'm so grateful that Jonah has so many close friends at church.

These four are definitely the closest though. They have been great friends since we moved here over six years ago.  I'm so glad they got to have this experience together.  Jonah said they had so much fun in their apartment. He said they had singing competitions in the shower every night. It was a contest to see who could sing the loudest and the best while they showered.  Jonah said he won once, we are so proud!

Here are the counselors for their company. Alberto and Taylor.  Jonah said Alberto was very cool and chill and they all loved him.  They called him Alfredo. I told Jonah it looked like he was biting Alberto's head in this picture and he said, "that's what I was going for."

I don't think they slept much, so I guess they caught naps where they could.

Here are the boys from their company. Six of the boys are in our ward and the other four are in our stake.

Here is the whole company.

And the company with the counselors. Elder Rasband came and spoke to them on the last day.  Jonah said he talked to them about gathering Israel.  Jonah was excited that he got to shake his hand. 

Jonah's testimony was so powerful today.  I heard a few people tell him how much they enjoyed it and how they felt the spirit during it.  I wish I could remember everything he said.  He talked about how grateful he is for Jesus Christ and that He knows each one of us personally.  He said he knows how much Jesus Christ loves us because in the Garden of Gethsemane He asked if there was another way because it was so hard, but He did it anyway because He loves us. Jonah said that He knows Christ is always there, but we have to reach out and accept Him.  He talked about the devotional where they all sing the FSY medley and he said, "I have one word to describe the feeling that I had there, undeniable. You could feel the Spirit so strong and you could not deny it.  Singing 'The Armies of Helaman' with 1700 people was amazing.  We are the army of Helaman!"  He said it wouldn't be the same singing alone, but when they all sang together the Spirt was so strong.  He also said, "They gave us two questions to think about, what would Jesus say to me if he were here and what would I say to Him if he were here.  I've been pondering these questions ever since and it has helped me make better decisions when I think about that."  I'm so grateful that Jonah had such a great experience and I'm so proud of him for taking advantage of the great opportunity that he was given and learning all he could.