TripLE WhammY: "We BelievE," EFY MedleY, & "WhaT HeaveN SeeS in YoU" (7/27/14)

I know I'm technically posting twice today, yet one of the posts was meant to be written for Saturday as part of my music challenge. On Sundays, I try to listen to inspirational music to get me into the mood of the Sabbath. Over the years, I have loved listening to EFY music as well as Jessie Clark Funk. In my life, the times I have felt the Spirit the strongest have been when I have listened to music. It is amazing how just hearing a song about the Savior can soften your heart and touch it so deeply. A time in my life where I can remember feeling the presence of the Holy Ghost the strongest was when I went to my first year of Especially For Youth (EFY), a week-long church camp. The theme that year was "We Believe" and it was centered around Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the gospel of Christ. I loved the theme song for that year called, "We Believe" by Kenneth Cope. Listening to it now floods special memories into my mind, which I will cherish forever. I remember being so excited to go to EFY and be uplifted in that week. I had no idea going into it, how much it would forever change me.

This video has all of the songs from that year of EFY.

I will never forget, as long as I live, the way I felt on the last night (I think that's when it was) of my EFY session. On this night, the youth were asked to dress up and be escorted to a banquet for dinner. We gathered in the auditorium of Southern Virginia University afterwards, where we had a fireside with our session director, Brother Castillo. After his remarks, we stood together, united in Zion, and sang this medley. It is called, "As Sisters in Zion/We'll Bring the World His Truth (Army of Helaman)."

That whole week, our EFY counselors had been teaching us about the gospel and asking us to seek the Spirit as we studied on our own. They challenged us to ask a question during the week and seek to find the answer to that question through prayer and revelation. I think my question that week was about Heavenly Father and if He really loved me the way it is described in the church. As I sang the song that night, I think my throat swelled into my neck! I felt the Spirit stronger than I ever have before in all of my life; I felt God's love for me and His children. I felt so peaceful as I listened to the power that came from the noble youth of my generation; youth who shared the same goal as me- to live a righteous life in order to return to Heavenly Father someday. I am not kidding when I say that upon hearing this song and being unable to sing it, I cried SO hard! I'm not talking an I-have-tears-streaming-down-my-face-kind-of-cry; I'm talking an Oh-my-gosh-I-can't-breathe-and-I'm-making-those-involuntary-kinds-of-noises-because-I've-cried-so-hard-kind-of-cry! I remember feeling a little embarrassed when this happened because the girl in front of me turned around and looked at me when she heard it. I didn't care though; I never felt so close to the Lord in my life. I felt a glimmer of what Heaven must feel like. To this day, I think of that night from time to time and remind myself how important it is to live worthily to feel that way. It is my desire to feel with complete surety that God loves me and that I am doing all I can to be close to Him and His gospel. It is my hope that in the next year or so, I will be able to attend the temple and make special covenants there, which will only strengthen my relationship with the Savior even more. I have an even stronger aspiration to one day (hopefully not too far from now), kneel across from my future spouse and be sealed to him for time and all eternity in the Lord's house. From the time I was a little girl, the song, "I Love to See the Temple" was a song I loved to sing in church. It is my prayer that "I'll go inside someday," as the song sings. I'm posting another song as my song of the day, which depicts the feelings I have about the temple so beautifully. The song is called, "What Heaven Sees in You" by Mindy Gledhill and it is all about the white dress you wear when you are blessed as a baby; when you're baptized; and when you are sealed in the temple. It is a song that like the others mentioned in this post, has caused me to feel the Spirit very strongly. I have no greater desire than to obtain the moments described in the song. I'm 2/3 of the way there and I'm not giving up.

I believe I am still developing the eyesight needed to see "what Heaven sees in [me]." I love my Heavenly Father and am so grateful to Him for giving the gift and comfort of the Holy Ghost to our world, which Spirit can often be felt when music plays.