Personal Narrative: The Free Lutheran Youth (FLY) Convention

There is absolutely nothing better than spending a week on vacation with your friends. This last summer, I went to the Free Lutheran Youth (FLY) convention. FLY is a large get-together where Lutheran teenagers from all over the country meet and worship. Those of us who attend Bethel Lutheran Church decided to fundraise and attend the FLY convention. This year was the first time I have attended; it literally changed my outlook on life. The week I spent in Estes Park, Colorado, brought me closer to seven people who I never even dreamt of being good friends with.
Naturally, the best part of any vacation is the road trip. Mariah Machart, Jackie Thompson, and I left Culbertson and comfortably rode in Mariah’s dark blue Chevy Silverado. Our next

Every day, we had a morning session and an evening session. Both were always just like attending a concert. The music was absolutely mind-blowing- I could feel pure energy radiating throughout the hall. On top of the loud music, all the people combined together made the entire experience surreal. I could sing so loud and barely be able to hear myself, so it did not matter if you were tone deaf or had the voice of an angel. Furthermore, there were different groups of people who sang on the stage every night; mostly the singers were groups of college kids that were attending Association Free Lutheran Bible School (AFLBS,) so I was never tired of hearing the same voices sing. After the morning worship service, everyone split up to go to two or three different workshops. For example, I went to a workshop on homosexuality and religion; the speaker there was very talented and he gave a speech that provided a lot of useful and interesting information. There were all kinds of workshops you could attend; they ranged from video games all the way to relationship advice. Overall, the worship services at FLY and the workshops changed my view of religion, and I would do the same thing ten times over again and never become tired of

Instead of taking two days to drive back to Culbertson, we decided to go the entire way back. We drove all the way through Colorado and Wyoming until we got to Billings. Unfortunately, Mary Machart stayed in Billings with Emma and Bryan Pederson, as their uncle had been recently hospitalized. Therefore, Abby and Sierra had to ride the rest of the way to Culbertson in the pickup with Mariah, Lance, Jackie, and I. Once we had eaten, and departed from Billings, the best jam-session ever began. The six of us blasted music the entire way home; we sang so loud I lost my voice the next day. We sang a wide variety of songs, ranging from country all the way to Disney music. For instance, we sang “Let it Grow” from The Lorax. This included all of us practically screaming the lyrics; we knew the song by heart. As a result, we were all happy and there was a surreal energy in the vehicle as we ventured home. Overall, the way home from FLY created an extremely interesting experience between the six of