Turkey Trip

I've been thinking a lot about Basketball and how it relates to the gospel.
The Savior is our coach and we are the athlete.
At first we don't even know the rules of the game. We are kind-of like new members of the Church or non-members. The Lord lets us know not to double-dribble and not to walk out of bounds.
Once we learn the rules, the counsel changes. Then we learn how to improve our game. We learn how to dribble, pass, shoot, and score. The Lord keeps adding elements to help us grow. "Try to dribble with your left hand." or "Try to do a no-look pass." Some days the Lord will have us practice alone. Other days with the team. But always pushing us to help our game grow more dynamic and creative. Until we win . . .
What is the difference between our good selfs and the best we can be, is how well we implement the second aspect of counsel. We might feel clumsy at first trying to dribble with our left hand, or shoot with our left-hand, but we will improve. And win . . .

We had a great time in Turkey . . .

Sunday: We flew into Turkey out of Tel Aviv and traveled with our Tour Guide named Buelent to the Cartoon Hotel. It really was called that and had lots of Mickeys and Goofys and other cartoon characters around. Robert Hickman was my room-mate. He is such a kind-hearted and humble individual.

Monday: Buelent is from Istanbul and had a good accent, but not too thick, and he was very funny. We went to the Blue Palace and the Blue Mosque. We also went to the Grand Bazaar, which happens to be the largest shopping center in the world.

Tuesday: We visited Troy today. I went back to conquer my kingdom. And I prevailed. What that means is that I got a picture in front of the wooden horse. We stayed in a city called Cannakale. It was really neat, mostly because it had a large wooden horse right by a basketball court. We played with some of the local kids out on the court late in the evening (and right when we got there). It was such a neat game.

Wednesday: We visited Assos and Pergamum and Asclepion today. Those are old cities that Paul and others went to visit on their jouneys around as they did missionary work. Lots of Roman theming and lots of columns and pillars and temples and amphitheatres.

Thursday: Visited Ephesus and Miletus. More of the same. We went swimming at our hotel this evening. We had a small earthquake and it was neato. Cool as can be. a 5.9 right in our area. My bed shook. I thought it was me shaking, but it was actually the hotel room.

Friday: We visited some Hot Springs and drove to Bursa.

Saturday: We drove a lot and finally got to Istanbul in the Evening. Our plane ride was great and late and I slept through most of it. We got to the J.C. on Sunday morning at about 3:00.