In the early 2000s, EFY began a program entitled EFY Special Edition, which was a unique session of EFY that would take place in locations of historical significance for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The session was specifically designed to help youth draw nearer to God as they explored Church history in the very places where many important events occurred during the Restoration of the gospel.
The program has been a huge success since it began and has only grown. For over two decades, EFY Special Edition sessions have taken place annually in Nauvoo and Palmyra, and sometimes in Kirtland and Independence. This year, three sessions will be held, with a session taking place in Kirtland for the first time since 2022.
Historically, the EFY Special Edition program has been one of the most successful enterprises of the EFY organization. “They are always some of our biggest sessions,” said Connor Stokes, an EFY program administrator who has worked with the Special Edition sessions over the years.
So, what makes these sessions so popular? “The vision is to get the youth familiar with Church history and get them connecting with the past,” Stokes explained. Each of the three EFY Special Edition sessions this summer offers a unique range of experiences to accomplish this purpose.
Palmyra, New York
In Palmyra, youth will visit the locations of many of the first and most remembered events of the Restoration. “It’s wonderful,” Stokes commented. “There’s just so much there: the Sacred Grove, the Hill Cumorah, the Joseph Smith Farm, and the Whitmer Farm." These historic sites tell the story of the Church’s establishment.
Additionally, participants visit the Grandin Building, where the Book of Mormon was first published. As they learn about what it was like to build a book in the early 1800s, many feel an increased appreciation for the importance of the Book of Mormon and the sacrifices so many made to bring it into existence.
The Palmyra session of EFY Special Edition offers youth and counselors the unique opportunity to be in the places where the Prophet Joseph Smith was during his formative years. For fourteen-year-old youth, what could be more powerful than visiting the grove where God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to a boy their age? For an eighteen-year-old, visiting the Hill Cumorah becomes especially powerful as one ponders the responsibility the young prophet must have felt at that age.
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is unique among the three sessions because while both Kirtland and Nauvoo are cities founded by members of the Church, Nauvoo has largely been preserved and rebuilt to appear as it did nearly 200 years ago. Participants of the EFY Special Edition Nauvoo session will be transported back in time to catch a glimpse of what it was like for members of the early Church.
“In Nauvoo, there are so many sites to see,” Stokes commented. “You have the homes of so many of the prophets and apostles.” Additional activities include visiting old-timey shops, playing pioneer games, and viewing shows put on by Nauvoo historical site missionaries.
Some of the highlights of the Nauvoo session include attending the Nauvoo Illinois Temple and visiting Carthage Jail, the location where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred. “Carthage is one of the most spiritual places on Earth,” Stokes shared. “You sit there, and you hear the testimony of the Prophet in the place where he lived out that testimony, the place where he died.”
Kirtland, Ohio
The return of the EFY Special Edition Kirtland session occurs amid increased excitement concerning the Church’s recent purchase of the Kirtland Temple.
While previous sessions held in Kirtland have featured a tour of the temple, the Community of Christ owned the temple until the Church purchased it in March of 2024. “The [Community of Christ] did a fantastic job of taking care of it, and it was a great tour,” Stokes remarked. “But now that the Church runs it, we have that added resource.”
This means that youth will get to spend far more time in the Kirtland Temple than participants from previous years. “During the session, we’re going to have devotionals, testimony meetings, and a tour in the temple. We’re going to experience what the Kirtland Temple is meant to be: a meeting place to commune together and with the Father.”
In addition to the temple, Kirtland is home to the old house of the Prophet Joseph Smith, as well as the John and Elsa Johnson Home, where Joseph and Emma stayed during the time that many of the revelations contained in the Doctrine and Covenants were received.
Conclusion
The EFY Special Edition sessions provide youth with a breadth of unique opportunities to not only learn about Church history but to experience it. “[EFY Special Edition sessions] tend to be some of the most powerful experiences that one can have,” Stokes emphasized. “You feel a peace and a spirit that are really unique.”
So, what can you expect if you’re considering attending an EFY Special Edition session? “You can expect to build unity within your company, but also to connect with God,” said Stokes. “When you’re in a place that you can look at the floor, and they’re the floors that angels walked on . . . you can’t really say that about a lot of other places on Earth.”
While not everyone who visits these sacred sites should expect a miraculous vision, Elder Alexander Dushku has taught that “we too can have our own pillar of light—one ray at a time” (Alexander Dushku, “Pillars and Rays,” Liahona, May 2024). Each year, EFY Special Edition provides youth from around the country with such rays: experiences by which they can more deeply connect with themselves, their peers, and their faith.