Top 10 Memories of 2018

Another year has gone by, and what a year! I have to say that with the passing of time, it feels more and more "right" to be back in Singapore. That makes finding a spouse tricky, but well, I'll leave that to God to work things out. :)

And without further ado, here is my annual list of top 10 memories for 2018 (in order of which memory I could think up first).

1) I started my first "real"-income-earning, full-time job on 2 January 2018, so my 1-year anniversary is tomorrow. It's been quite a ride, and a steep learning curve. My Microsoft excel skills are not excellent but I think above average now hahaha... I will always be grateful to my boss for taking a chance on me and hiring me into his department that looks at university data. Totally unrelated to history, but I love doing something completely different.

2) Very good co-workers, and a pretty good working environment. I can't stress how grateful I am that my co-workers and I are one cohesive unit, and that there is very little office politics. Each of us work on different projects, so we don't "compete" with each other. Also, my skills as a data analyst are so inferior to my colleagues with real analytical hard skills, so nothing for them to feel threatened by me (:p)

3) I got called to work with Primary (children's organisation) in church. Really fun, but man! It is tiring. My ward's Primary is tiny (about 9 kids), but almost all (except 1 child) are from part-member families. It is a challenge to even get them to come to church consistently. Well, we do our best!

Christmas 2018, including the nursery and 2 visitors...small Primary but oh so cute!

4) By the way, if you have not heard by now, my Church made some significant international changes this past year, starting with the scraping of "Visiting and Home Teaching" programmes, now replaced with "Ministering". But that isn't the big change for me since I feel like I was already "ministering" even before. The HUGE change was that our Sunday Church meetings starting in 2019 would now be reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours, so as to allow more teaching to take place at home! Wow!!! And our prophet, Russell M. Nelson, told us to get ready for even more exciting changes. "Eat your vitamin pills," he said, "Get some rest. It's going to be exciting." We thank thee O God for a prophet indeed!

5) These changes by the Church will help my ward significantly, so everyone is excited! Since last September, when the boundaries of my stake changed, my ward has struggled because we lost about a third of the ward and gained no one. (We did gain 2 expatriate families, but one of them is completely inactive, and the other transferred to another ward.) Our average weekly attendance is <60! We also "lost" a few young single adults to missions and BYU this year, and for some reason, the Stake also likes to call people from my ward into Stake callings. While we rejoice with the members in these new opportunities, it is TIRING for those left in the ward. Every strong member either has a heavy calling or 2 smaller callings. Here's hoping we can increase our baptismal rate!

Slightly over 1-year-old Yishun Ward!

6)  I served on a committee that organised a 3 day-2 night retreat to Batam (Indonesia) for the Single Adult women (age 31 and older) for the Stake in September. Took lots of time to plan and get the logistics down, but on hindsight, it was a great trip. Also, we visited an orphanage there, and that has got to be one of the best experiences of my life.

7) Speaking of serving on another church committee (seriously...I've started turning down church assignments because it was getting ridiculous), the Church in Singapore is celebrating 50 years since it's dedication in 2019. 😊 Guess who was assigned to be in charge of Publicity, and also come up with a commemorative/ history book? My committee is still working on these plans, but we hope to have a few exciting things launched in 2019.

8) The trip to Batam in September reminded me of my own family reunion with my mom's side of the family in January at Batam. SO MUCH FUN! The cousins stayed up LATE to play endless rounds of Mafia, and it was nice to bond with them and enjoy a relaxing weekend.

9) Finally, I can't not end of the year by talking about the 2 overseas trips I took. The first, a trip to Beijing. I went there for a 2 day work conference, and extended my stay by about 5 days to tour the city with my mom. JAW DROPPING. You can't really "get" how ancient Chinese royalty lived unless you tour the city (and make sure you get a good guide...so worth it!). Now, whenever I watch Ming and Qing dynasty period dramas (like the super popular Story of Yanxi Palace...super good!), I can better understand the setting and the stakes/ risks people take to get in/ get out of the palace.

One of the must sees in Beijing -- The Great Wall. Unbelievable and stunning. 

Another must see (with a good guide) -- the Old Summer Palace, which is really a misnomer but I won't get into a history lesson here.

10) My youngest sister got married in the Provo City Center Temple!!! It is quite special to have a family member get married, and thank goodness everything went as smooth as you hope any wedding can go.

I should probably do a whole post on the wedding...maybe, if I have time. I still have not fulfilled my promise to post about my family's "Mormon Pilgrimage" like, 2 years ago...😂 This trip to the States this year was also the trip I cleared out my storage space and gave away everything I had accumulated while living in the States. It was the closure to that chapter in my life. Strangely, I felt relieved and bittersweet. I loved my time there, but it also felt right to go back home.

And with that, 2018 is over.

May your 2019 be a year filled with sweet and fun memories!