The Real Teacher Alicia Garcia

This article was written as an extra credit assignment and was

later submitted to the New Era magazine.

It was my seventh week as an EFY counselor. I was mentally,

spiritually, emotionally and physically exhausted, but I was grateful for every
moment. I didn’t expect to learn from those I was supposed to be teaching.
During my last week of EFY, I learned my greatest lesson from a seventeen
year-old girl.
The first day I met my girls I began the spiel about the rules for
EFY, including the dress code and what was expected of them. At the end of
my spiel, I ask the girls to share why they are at EFY. The ten new girls gave
a variety of answers, but the answer that worried me the most came from
Jenny, “I am here for games night. This is my fifth year and my group
always wins Spunity (Spirit/Unity). We are going to win this year.” As a
counselor this attitude worried me because I feared she might not get the
full spiritual experience.
Through the rest of Monday and Tuesday, Jenny was hard at
work motivating the group to win Spunity. Wednesday morning I went to
my girls’ apartment and the feeling in the room was somber. I figured it was
seven a.m.; it was a bit early. Before morning devotional, Jenny tells myself
and rest of the girls what happened last night. Jenny had taken a challenge I
had given them during devotional. The challenge was to pray and not end
the prayer until you got an answer. Jenny took the challenge and the result
was calling her long time boyfriend, who was a nonmember and breaking up
with him. In one night she made a life changing decision and had gained a
slightly new perspective and goals in life.
After that morning, something seemed to change within her. I
watched as she listened to speakers and devotionals that she was taking the
gospel in and processing it. Her perspective was changing and she knew
what she needed to do but she also knew how hard it would be once she
went home.
During the banquet on Friday, after they announced the
Spunity award (we didn’t win), Jenny turned to me and said, “This is the first
year I haven’t won Spunity and I don’t care. This has been my best week of
EFY.”
 As a counselor you get many opportunities to witness kids come to EFY
and embrace the gospel and you can see them change everyday and
everyday you pray that they keep even a portion that spirit and perspective
once they return home.
I realized that EFY is an inspired program and that the
session directors and EFY staff are all inspired as to what they needed to
teach, but the Spirit is the real teacher. As teachers, leaders and counselors
in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are merely cheerleaders and instruments in
the hands of the Lord.