In the parable of the ten talents, Jesus tells of a merchant who gives his servants talents before departing for a long journey. Two servants multiply their talents and one buries it in the ground, afraid that he would lose it. When the merchant came back from his journey, he was pleased with the two servants who multiplied their talents but angry with the one whom, being contented with what he had buried it in the ground.

“Arise and Shine Forth” is the theme of this year’s Youth Conference and the Conference provided the same amount of possibilities for us, as did the merchant to his servants, to showcase and discover our talents, and serve the Lord with them.

The alarm rang. Like every morning I pushed and kicked in frustration only to see an unfamiliar face of my bunkmate on my left. Stretching my eyes with every muscle I started to become conscious of the surroundings. Time never passed so fast when I was at home completing that Chinese essay.

It seemed like I was still at home, preparing for Youth Conference, being addressed by President Victor Chen and frustrated by the long and never-ending bus ride. It seemed like I was just getting to know my group better, running amok in the fields capturing flags in and preparing for the talent show. It seemed like I was still sitting in the chair shining a torch at Bishop Nef listening to how each of us were different types of lights, but could shine forth and be useful in different ways.

Thinking of the day of excitement ahead, I got out of bed pushed, pulled and yelled everyone out of their beds and we started the day with a healthy dose of Alma. After breakfast, we headed straight into a T-shirt designing workshop conducted by Sister Soh, where we were allowed to unleash our creativity onto a harmless plain t-shirt using just crayons!

After I got to see the artistic talents of our stake youth, everyone got into our competitive gear and spirit as the groups played against each other in a series of competitive sports. It was very entertaining to watch all the sporting talents being exhibited . Whether it was watching in agony at the water-polo ball being rebounded off the post, or the pain of the ball falling into the hands of the opposition captain, or the relief of at the guy who just dived to save the ball from falling to the ground, or the free-kick blasting through the posts of the goal, I admit that I still had fun.

After an active morning, we had a workshop conducted by Brother Oh on how we as the youth were a peculiar people, and how we could use our peculiarity to spread the gospel and the standards that we believe in.

When the workshop ended, I got more hyped up as we started another game, Project Runway. In the game, we designed an outfit that our models paraded after the short time span of designing. After a very exciting “runway” show, we proceeded immediately to the talent show. The talent show this year had the same theme as that of the youth conference. It was interesting to see the different concepts and storylines created which all had the same meaning in them, and it was that it was important to be a good example as youth of the church. The highlight of the evening was also the acting, whether it brought about laughter or eye-rolls.

Our team bonds were further strengthened when we took part in a night treasure hunt that night and rafting the next morning. Before the very vigorous Wednesday activities kicked off, we had a workshop which was conducted by Sister Evelyn which was to “Stand Up and Be Illuminated”. An interesting quote that she mentioned was that we should “Either Stand Up and Be Illuminated or Stay Down and be Eliminated”. To me, it is whether we are idle and satisfied with our talent, or work for more, just like the parable.

After falling into the muddy waters of the lake while rafting, on purpose I admit, I was thrown into another vigorous series of activities. The Survivor Obstacle Course. With obstacles testing wit, strength, teamwork and determination, the course was never set to be easy. The final obstacle which only one group completed was digging for stones in a huge sand pile. In the first few minutes, I did strike lucky with a stone but I guess that was all the luck I had for that day as a searched in agony till the end of the game, while listening to people go, “Why did Ang Moh Kio ward have to be in charge of the games!”, “Ang Mo Kio Ward Youth are sadists!” and “I’ve been praying for the last ten minutes!”

Even though I was tired out after a full afternoon of activities, the interesting dance workshop that was planned out after that was energizing. The best thing was that our very own youth taught this workshop, which shows another form of the diverse forms of talents that our stake’s youth have.

After the dance workshop, we got to put those moves into action as we got ready for the youth conference dance. Although it rained in the middle of the beach dance, and that the dance had to be shifted to the seminar room, the dance was still special because like every dance, I usually make more friends than I do with the youth in a year. Maybe it’s because the dance is always a license to get a little crazier than how one usually should behave.

I woke up the next morning very unexcited for the first time in days because it was the last day of the youth conference. After hearing the inspiring experiences and words of gratitude at the testimony meeting, I packed up quickly and made my way to the lobby to get autographs as remembrances of another memorable youth conference.

As I stood in the middle of the Singapore Stake Youth while taking a picture, I smiled at all the talents that we had here, and was touched by the great examples that many of the youth set for me of how they multiplied their talents, and the work of the church, in order to “Arise and Shine Forth”!