#ldsconf

so.
#ldsconf

awesome stuff.
the saturday afternoon session and sunday morning session were the best for me.

OH AND I BROUGHT JAINA'S HOODIE ON SATURDAY TO WEAR BECAUSE ITS A NICE HOODIE. the nice yellow one from korea. from spao #aiseh. so it was during the afternoon session and i wanted to wear it. then mom randomly asked me for my hoodie. guess what?

she was cold.
so i took the hoodie out and passed it to her.
there goes..i wanted to take a picture of me wearing it and then post it up on instagram on the morrow when i smash it together with a picture of me wearing my suit on sunday so it would be an awesome picture. so yeahhhhhhhhhhh i didnt manage to get one taken. oh well. mom was cold so bopian lah huh. before she left, she folded the hoodie and put it into my bag.

talked to someone and heard some unfortunate news. im kinda affected by it since i know the person...but i'll see what i can do better. i totally dont know whats going on and why but i'll find out more. till then, my mind wont be at ease.

stayed back for priesthood session. got a call from mom but it was during the video so i ended the call. she smsed saying that she forgot to bring her keys (we rushed out in the morning, had to take a cab). and apparently, her workflow doesnt include taking her keys/phone/mrt card (when she's rushing). its either one of them or a combi of two. never is it all three of them together. so this time, she forgot to bring the keys. guess what, this poor son of hers had to leave priesthood session early and then open the door for her.

haiyoh.
but anyway. i read through as many conference talks as i could on the train while taking down notes. and i was wide awake. which was good. oh and lol pres lai was sitting beside me during conf XD felt so pressured to write down notes.

so i got home about an hour after i left church even though i walked faster than usual.
so we went back home together and then tadahhhhhhhhhhhh opened the door lol.
finished up the rest of the session that i couldnt go through while on the train.

did that then mom asked me to help her with the brownies.
totally 100% very reluctant since i was hosting a L4D2 match.
had to be afk for like 20ish minutes.
not cool.
but i still did it anyway -.-
brownies turned out okay. kinda dry though...
and mom gave a big piece to cleo on sunday because of the article/reflection thingy.
hmmm.
i'll save that for another time.

but anyway.
on sunday i woke up super early. about 6.25am to settle my food during the 1hr break between the morning and afternoon sessions. fixed it up and then got ready to go to church. took the train and gave up my seat to and old guy. felt happy doing that, great way to start the day.

was wide awake (kinda) during morning session, and totally slept through afternoon session. must be the food i ate. someone put sleeping powder in it. must be....must be....anyway. wore my (dad's) suit to church and felt nice wearing it. once in a while lah. i dont wanna wear the pants though. the material so itchy, its annoying. its uncomfortable. but the suit felt nice. lol. but i'll be getting my own before i go on my mission. perhaps i'll get bigger when im in NS or something, so getting one now is kinda dumb.

yesterday, sister proffit asked if she and sister hansen could meet me after church today to report on the updates and keeping me informed. buuuuuuut today i told them that i want them to take today and next week off (after church) to get to know the ward members. updates can come later, but i feel that this is more pressing. so yeah.

all my buddies left first since i ended up waiting for mom...dad went for yc meeting, mom went for mish discussion with a new investigator. i dont like how mom and i keep getting called for mish appointments all the time, but i think i'll talk to them about it soon...i dont think now's the right time for it.

so YES. i sat alone. with edwin. the ysa. and uh. yeah. nothing really happened. we talked a bit, but thats pretty much it. i stayed on, waiting for mom. when she was done with the meeting i kept on waiting for her, and she eventually was finished with whatever she was doing and came down to meet me afterwards (but only after i gave her a call).

i was soooooooo tired.
quickly changed out of my clothes back into home clothes.
so comfy.
used com, kept dozing off -.-
sigh. sunday passing by so slowlyyyyyyyyyyyyy.







im kinda looking forward to something,
but also quite apprehensive about it too.
afraid of what people will see me as,
afraid of what i might become.
and i dont have enough control over the event for me to be comfortable enough.
sooooooo.
i think it'll have to wait.
besides.
i have my calling to think about.
havent been doing a lot lately.
i dont know what to do
i dont know how to do it
i dont know if it should be done
i dont know so many things
maybe because i havent served my mission
and maybe because it is such a big calling.
second most important calling in the ward.
why oh why.
why me.

괜찮아

왜몰라

AWESOME P-DAY PART 2

SO I RAN. i ran i ran i ran. like mad. people stared at me as i ran barefooted on the tar road. no kick for me since i train in school barefooted. no kick at all. HAHAHHAHA #showoff

so i kept running until i caught up with the missionaries (apparently not Sister Noh nor Sister Proffit). it seemed that they were in deep conversation so i just slowed down and kept my walking pace behind them. not far off, i see more missionaries sitting on the bench. about 6 of them, two of which were familiar faces. i said my greetings, and they never asked me why i was there. lol. anyway. not important. i looked around the beach. it wasnt long before i saw Sister Noh (where the heck is Sister Proffit?!) and i waved over to her when she looked my way.

idky, but she SCREAMED. like, what? she literally SCREAMED okay.

"AHHHH!!! (the scream) SAMM!! YOU MADE IT!!!" and she comes running over to me.

#erms

she runs over to me and slams this high5 with me. "yeahhhh i made it..!! sorry im late"

so anyway the day begins.
YES. the day officially begins when the fun starts, not when im eating breakfast, not when im in school, not when im eating lunch, not when im doing work, but it only begins when P-day BEGINS.

*please dont quote me on that, it only applies when i join in the missionaries on pdays*

so BAMMMM she brings me over to where the other missionaries are. i put my bag down, empty my pockets, and join in the beach volleyball court because one of the teams is short of one team player. guess who i saw? SISTER ALFREY!!!!! SHE'S ON THE COURT!!!! and oh man i CANNOT tell you how fun it is to play with the missionaries. IT IS ROCKIN FUN. EVEN BETTER THAN SOME USUAL PEOPLE *achem achem* BUT HEYYYYY ITS FUN SIAAAAAAAA.

so anyway. i played until i got tired. i got tired really fast. must be the sun. and maaaaaaaaaan i gave the game my all. i ran for the ball like mad, especially if it went out. I DONT CAREEEEEEEEEE i just wanna play to my heart's content.

stinkin good time with the missionaries (apparently the missionaries from msia were here too since they had zone conf). so there we go, we had a friendly match with these other people who wanted to play.

IT WAS FUN AGAIN!!! madness i tell you. its just more fun with the missionaries idky!!

so anyway, soon i got all tired and really cmi already. took a good break, and then played badminton with sister proffit. had a nice casual chat with her (even when the wind was really spoiling the game). so anyway some of the Elders had to go off because they had to go for a meeting of some sort i think. so someone called for pictures. one of the sisters volunteered to be the photog but im like "hey no way you're a missionary, GET IN THE PICTURE (no of course i did not say it that way)" and so i collected 5 cameras. they wanted Sister Chan's pancake camera because "its the best, look at it" lol and the rest were all digicams.

they all formed up and then im like just standing there with cameras on my wrist and in my hands. they all screamed for "ONE CAMERA" only but hey man im a photographer and i know what its like when you want to have a picture to call your own but you dont because you wanted to go off and do something else but im like NO WAY.

soon, 5 pictures were taken. i remember having Sister Proffit's camera too and so yeah thats what i remember. anyway i had the chance to serve all the missionaries in a way, albeit kinda insignificant (for now though).

anyway, i saw Elder Rasmussen and Elder Moore!! i got pictures with them, along with all my past and present missionaries :)

bam
bam
bam

most of them parted ways and so we all got on our way too. i left with the choa chu kang elders (Elder Ethington and Elder Mikovitz) and the Woodlands Sisters (Sister Noh and Sister Proffit). we all headed to the bus stop, and then some took the bus. the 5 of us were going for a dinner appointment (good thing i brought clothes and shoes) at the Lee's house.

yessssssssssssss LEE's house. aka yongbee's house #clapclap. it was 6ish-pm and the appointment was at 7pm. Sister Noh called for a cab, but she somehow couldnt understand the receiver, or maybe its the other way around. so she hands me the phone, and i talk to the person on the line. bambambam i get the directions and EVERYTHING done hahahha. the thing is that booking fee is $10 for the stupid maxicab because theres 5 of us. i asked for a rough estimation of the meter fare and the lady says $20. i ask the missionaries if they have $30 on hand with them (i only had $7) and they said yes. so i said to the operator "okay go ahead with the booking".  soon, we get an sms saying that there arent any taxis available.

#erms

okay can, so, how do we solve the problem? it was suggested that we split cabs. but that means having to spend $40, and i dont think i want my/the missionaries spending so much for transportation. so i do the next best thing i know doing, and that is, getting us OUT of the problem.

i went over to the bus guide, and look at the buses. soon i spotted buses that we can take. so here's the plan (Sister Noh was still on the phone talking to the operator, she apparently called back for i dont know what), the "plan's that we take a bus (i forgot which one it was) and then we alight at this place and get on the train. we head to jurong east and make our way to the home from there. steady?"

it was quickly agreed on and then POOF the bus that we were gonna "wait" for magically arrives. Sister Proffit goes like "this is the bus right?" and im like "yeap thats it. lets get on". we call out to Sister Noh (still on the phone) and then gets her to the bus.

I grabbed a picture of the bus' route first before boarding. I get up, tap my card, and off we go. The idea was to alight at pan pac hotel's bus stop and then take the train down to jurong east then up to bukit batok. After a few stops, and referring extensively with the picture I took, we alighted SOME WHERE. Actually one stop late. I had somehow missed pan pac. Perhaps it was at the back side of the hotel which I could not recognise, but anyway. We ended up at the esplanade LOL. Followed Sister Noh first then eventually I got my sense of direction back.

For some reason, Elder Ethington was walking slowly. Sister Proffit and I walked just fast enough for him to be in our sights, but neither too fast where he couldnt catch up. We managed to get to city hall mrt soon and then just so happened that we went to the wrong level of the station (we ended up on the lowest floor, which would take us to jurong east via woodlands). I went up quickly to the stairs (first one up) and then when I reached the top I saw people. Lots of them. From the side that we should be taking. I look behind me and said "train train train" and then they all started sprinting up the stairs. Good thing none of them tripped!!

We missed the train by a few seconds. Elder Mikovitz was the next up and started towards the train but I managed to get him in time so that he wouldn't leave his companion behind ahhahha. The rest slowly caught up with us. Then BAM the door of the train opened up!! I motioned over to them to board the train, and we did. So then, our journey to jurong east began. We had a few ideas but eventually decided on cabbing from bukit batok instead of jurog east because je would have a ton of people looking for a cab (since it was peak hour) and also because the roads would be jammed at je. I think.

So thats what we did, we alighted at bukit batok. I went up with the Sisters first on the cab, the Elders soon got one after us. I sat in the front and gave the address. The driver didnt know exactly where it was but he roughly had an idea. I struck up a conversation with him in chinese (it wasnt that difficult...!!) and managed to sustain it all the way to the destination. I was going to invite him to church but we had reached the place already. Haiyoh. The Sisters at the back spilled out cash to pay for the fare but I was faster!! Hahahha. I don't believe in missionaries paying for cabs for appointments because its so expensive. Its like ill pay, since im the ward mission leader. I have to take care of my missionaries. So. Well. Unless they arent late, or they were deliberately late, then ill let them pay.

So thats that. We got in to the comppund and then headed up to the house. First person we see is yongwoo!! He was at the gate on the left, but we entered the house by the one right in front of us. He put on his shoes, walked over to the house, and took off his shoes and walked in.

LOL.

Anyway. We said our greetings to Sister Julia and the Sisters went on to change (they were still in their pday clothes). I went in last when they were both done. The Elders arrived later and greeted.

Apparently, Sister Julia knows me...? Hmmm. Idk how that happened. I saw her and talked to her for the first time on that night. Anyway, she was really nice. Yongwoo ran up to Sister Noh and she grabbed him hahahaa what a cute sight.

Well, we had japanese food for dinner. Sushi, salad, fried chicken, and some dumplings. An awesome spread!! Sorry no picture because I dont do that at people's house!! Anyway we all had our good share of dinner. We talked and shared a lot of stories all around the table. Ezcwpt me. Lol. The missionaries had so much more to say than I can offer.

Sister Julia was kept busy by yongwoo, so we didnt see her that much around. Nearing the end I turned to Sister Noh

-the Sisters were sitting on my right, Elders on my left, and yes, I was sitting at the head of the table. Weird because I wasnt the most senior in the house. However, Sister Noh said that I should be sitting there because im not a missionary and because I'm the ward mission leader. And I didnt know any better...so I went ahead...-

and asked her if we (the missionaries) have a message to share with the family. It is "customary" to this because missionaries DONT go to a house for dinner just for dinner. She asked the Elders and they said no. I was like.....uhhhh how can this happen you shouldnt be freeloading off an invitation to dinner like that. But anyway. Heres what we DID do. We gave a message, as we should. Sister Noh shared on courage, on doing the right thing even though it would be really tough. Seeing that the others werent gonna share anything, I chimed in to save the day (idk whats going on in their minds lol).

I shared on how it took me so much courage to stand firm by my decision that I will keep the sabbath day holy, no matter what. Even though I have been asked to participate in so many competitions, I declined every time. People have tried to persuade me to join in, but every time I said no. I did give it thought. A lot. But my decision still stood, that I will not participate in any compeition on Sundays. And so how have I been blessed for keeping this commandment (even though it is tough to)? Well, I have been able to rise up as one of the most experienced and skilled fighter in the dojo currently. I can take hits (considering my size) and still stand. I can deal blows, I am fast and nimble.

And ultimately, I am not a pushover.

I have been requested for to have a spar against the others in the dojo because I can teach them how to be better, because they can learn something from sparring with me.

Thats just a few ways that I have been blessed by being courageous in all situations to keep the sabbath day holy.

So I shared that with the family.
And you could just feel the sweet spirit.

----------------

We soon left. We said our greetings and thanks. We headed out to the bus stop. The Elders were travelling in a different direction so they had to cross the road. We decided on taking the bus all the way back home, it would take us back to my old house and I can walk home from there, and the Sisters can take the train back home. We had to wait for a good long while before the bus arrived, by which time the Elders had already boarded their bus. We had a fun time going back home!! Well I did at least. Sister Noh asked if she could look through my pictures and I was like "uh yeah I guess so, I dont have any private pictures or anything". So I passed her my phone and she went looking through them. Good thing she did anyway. There were a few pictures that shouldn't be in the phone and she asked if she could delete them, and I was like yeah sure go ahead please. I explained how those pictures were from whatsapp and sent from people in my class, and how I never scrolled through them.

And she understood!! She said that "its not that im judging you. Im just looking out for you, youre like my 동생" (or something like that). She and Sister Proffit had a good laugh at some of my pictures hahahhaha. But anyway, it was all in good spirit.

Soon it was my stop and I alighted. Seeing the time, it was WAAAAAAAAY too late for them to be out so I sent them a text telling them to let me know when they reached back home.

50 minutes later, I get a text from them saying theyre home. And yeahhhh it was way late. Im sure they were tired, but definitely, a wonderful day.

And I could sleep peacefully knowing theyre safe.

AWESOME P-DAY PART 1

i was just gonna write about this past monday (31st march) then i saw how many blog views i had. 4364. WHO READS MY BLOG SO OFTEN? come on own up. this is kinda scary!! oh. well its been a whole year since i last created this blog. but uh, is 4364 reasonable? idk. BUT ANYWAY.

yes, this past monday was WAAAAAAAAY AWESOME. i went out with the missionaries from the church!! so basically it all started on sunday after church when Sister Noh randomly asked me (since im the ward mission leader) if i had any birdies (badminton shuttlecocks) and i said that yeah i do have them. so she asks if she can borrow them for a day since she's gonna be playing badminton with the missionaries tomorrow (monday) during their p-day (preparation day). so im like yeah sure why not but WHY DIDNT YOU INVITE ME. so anyway i kinda regretted saying that because it made me sound like an idiot. a pure idiot. but Sister Noh was super enthu about it and was like "YEAH YOU SHOULD TOTALLY COME WITH US" and im like "uh okay". i asked her where and what time they were gonna be playing and so she said that she'd text me. fair enough.

later at night i fully felt the regret in full force so i texted the Sisters saying that it just miiiiiiiiiiiight be awkward if i went for the game.  she said "So not awkward! Meet the missionaries!! We're playing sports at east coast park :)"

east coast park.
so far.
im up in the north.
and theyre playing in the east.

MADNESSSSSS.

so anyway i decide to go, since if i DONT turn up then im making myself out to be a complete idiot. its like i tell you that i wanna go (basically inviting myself) and then when you invite me, i turn it down.

#idiotonlysia

so yeah i didnt wanna be a full-fledged idiot so i went along with it.
they texted me at 8 in the morning (sounds about right) saying that theyre gonna be at east coast at 3pm, but gonna proceed with their usual pday stuff before that. they asked me if i wanna eat with them. i replied later at like 1+pm (i know, how stupid) saying that i'll be eating at home with mom and then head over to meet them later.

i changed up, picked up the bag (it was already packed) and then headed off. i took the train heading towards jurong east to head to tampines then take a bus from there. when i was at yew tee, i smsed wong ming asking him if i can take bus 172 (i anyhow bomb one number) from tamp interchange to get to ecp. he said he dk since he doesnt take from there.

so im like OH YEAH HOR CAN TAKE FROM YISHUN RIGHT?? *i genuinely knew that, it just didnt come to my mind to take that route*

and he says he takes from bishan. sooooooo im on the wrong train. i should be going the other way. so what happens? i swap trains and head back up. took me like 10+minutes to get back to marsiling, and an additional 30++++minutes to get to bishan. the train decided to go slow. by the time i get to bishan, i follow ming's instructions to take bus 13. when i got out to the main road, i looked up the bus guide and then look for the road that i should be alighting on as stated by ming.

BASKET CANNOT FIND.

but guess what, the bus arrives, and im forced to make a decision. so i go up to the bus immediately, ask the bus driver if the bus goes to this certain road, and she says YES after thinking for a while. sounds legit enough, so i tap my card and hop on. i told her that i'll be right behind her so she can just tell me when im supposed to drop off.

this must have the most scary bus ride i have ever taken in a long time. on my own, dont know where im going, only trusting in wming and his directions. EVEN IF ITS MING'S DIRECTIONS. i dont really like taking buses because theyre confusing. so i keep staring out the bus' window to look at the bus stop's sign to see what road im on. looking all over the place and everywhere so i have a rough idea of where i am.

i text the Sisters at 2.40pm saying im running late. they text back 3mins later saying they're super late too so no worries. 50minutes later i text saying im on the bus, along sims ave. 5minutes later they text back saying that theyre PLAYING at the beach near Burger King.

oh wow. i immediately reply that im STILL at sims ave (it is one RIDICULOUSLY LONG ROAD). I said that the road gives off the vibes of eastern singapore (well, the road signs also said "geylang" and "lorong" so i guess must be east sg lah right?), and that im comforted by that. also said that im sorry for being so late.

2minutes later they text back saying that "Ur good!!"

soon the bus driver tells me that i should be dropping off at either this upcoming bus stop or the next. i tell that i going to east coast park and then she says okay then drop off at this coming bus stop. she told me to alight and then walk (she didnt say walk WHERE, or for HOW long, but just "walk").

#okaycan

i alight, and took 3seconds to decide on which direction to walk. against the traffic or with the traffic (i picked with the traffic). i walked, crossed diagonally across a junction, walked around, figuring my way out, and then i come across a shop. i asked the shop owner where the underpass to ecp is, and she says 10minutes walk. just follow the HDBs and keep going straight.

#therewego

so i follow her direction and kept walking, following the HDBs. it didnt take me 10minutes. it took me about 3minutes. lol. anyway. im a fast walker. so anyway. i reach the end of the HDBs where it meets a small road blocked off by some fences. so i cant go straight anymore. i look around, and see this bunker-like entrance. it pointed downwards, so it must be leading somewhere, other than a bunker. i make my way there.

at 4.09pm i texted the Sisters saying "okay im at the underpass now. i beliebe [sic] im arriving soon"

i went down, across, and up and out of the underpass. i see two guys rollerblading, so i asked them which way burger king was. they pointed, and so i said thanks and headed off. then soon after, i see the backs of two pairs of missionaries. one of them look like Sister Noh. i took off my slippers and i ran.







-cliff hanger-