EFY and such

So, I got back from teaching at my first EFY. It was awesome but hard. I learned some valuable lessons in teaching that I feel obliged to pass on.

First: Don't wear many layers while standing in front of hundreds of teenagers in a hot badly air conditioned room and especially don't do it if there is a chance of panicking. That combination can lead to overheating and possibly passing out (which leaves all those teenagers unsupervised and can create potential problems).

Second: If given weird answers from class members concerning something that you have no expertise ie) global warming as a way that Satan is taking away our agency, an good answer is, "You know, I don't know much about (insert weird topic like global warming), I'm just here to teach the gospel. But I appreciate your comment."

Third: If you get a rambler (someone who doesn't seem to know how to stop their comment)
for example:
Me: what are somethings that happen that make you angry?
Boy: You know when there are guys that try to flirt with girls by doing dumb things like taking their water bottles when there are other guys that are really trying to do nice things and the girls never even know that they are there and then the girls just pay attention to the dumb guys and .....

a good way to break in is to agree with them (you shouldn't to disagree as that will keep them talking) and then to acknowledge that should there be extra time at the end of the lesson you will turn the time over to them (just kidding).

Finally, I do have to say that even when you think you have royally messed up, chances are that you were able to teach something to someone and have thus not failed. In fact, as a rule of thumb, your lessons will have touched more people than you possibly could know (even when teaching the Sunbeams). Besides, I believe that there are special blessing reserved for those of us who are willing to bear some part of our imperfect souls so that other can learn (even if it is from our mistakes).