Sept 30, 2013 On Clotheslines and Taxi Drivers‏

So it's football season again. At least I assume it's football season. The outside world does move on without me right? It didn't just stop right before the Super Bowl in January? Football season means highlights and highlights means one handed catches, crazy moves and big hits. I especially remember the big hits that they call ''clothesline tackles''. The idea is that the guy with the football gets taken down unawares by a an arm or some other outstretched body part that hits him above the shoulders and takes him to the ground.

 I now have some personal insight to the origin of that name. I was riding around in Baku and talking to a member who was showing us around a different area. As I biked I ran into a clothesline (with clothes on it too, I really should have seen it) that pulled me backward off the seat of my bike and onto the seat above my back tire (which is there in case we need to give someone a ride) before breaking and sending to clothes into the dirt. Fortunately we knew the people whose clothes had fallen and they thought it was hilarious. I thought it was pretty funny too but the line cut my lip up a little. Football injuries, they're intense. Fun fact, football is called ball aub in Khmer which means ''hug ball''. Languages are fun.

We were heading to Baku the other day when a motorcycle driven wagon (a lomock in Khmer) stopped in front of us. The driver indicated that he was going to an area a little past Baku and if we wanted a ride we could hop on for 2000 riel (a little less than 50 cents). Well that sounded great so we got on and started talking to the other passengers. There was a twinge of concern when he turned south rather than continuing west but I knew there was another road that headed to Baku off that way and just assumed that he knew a better way. I even asked one of the passengers and he confirmed that we would be turning west again after a while. We kept going south for way too long, driving nearly 30 minutes. We finally stopped and the driver told us he was going to continue going south to his house and if we wanted to bike to Baku we should ask for directions. Ouch. We were far away from anywhere we were familiar with, our phone was not going through and the road we were on was dirt and very deserted. It was pretty crazy. We just started biking and kept going and going. We asked for directions occasionally and talked to a few people about learning with us (because hey, why not right?). After about another hour of riding, in addition to the 20 minutes before the lomock and the 30 minutes riding the lomock, we finally got to Baku. It was quite the adventure. Got to know the area a little better.

I'm reading over General Conference from April in preparation for General Conference coming up this next week. This morning over breakfast I read Elder David A. Bednar's address on chastity which included the statement, ''The precise nature of the test of mortality, then, can be summarized in the following question: Will I respond to the inclinations of the natural man, or will I yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and put off the natural man and become a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord (see Mosiah 3:19)?

That is the test. Every appetite, desire, propensity, and impulse of the natural man may be overcome by and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We are here on the earth to develop godlike qualities and to bridle all of the passions of the flesh.'' Elder Bednar was speaking about chastity, but that statement is applicable to each of us in nearly every aspect of our lives. Today, am I going to do what's easy or am I going to do what's right? I believe that as we put that question at the forefront of our thoughts, it will be easier to make the choices that will lead us to ''happiness in this life, and eternal life in the world to come'' (The Living Christ). I challenge y'all, when you wake up and say your personal prayer tomorrow, ask for strength to choose the right and keep that question in mind as you start your day. Today, am I going to do what's easy, or am I going to choose the right?
Love y'all. Elder Vore