Idolatry, Tolerance, & Love

You become what you worship.

Anything that you prioritize before God is your idol.

Technology

Addiction

Yourself

Celebrities

Video Games

Family

Sports

Money

Prestige

Movies

YouTube

Pokemon

carnality

Addictions are never ending. More and more. Deeper and deeper. 

Addictions are self-centered.

Depression

Things as they really are. - David Bednar

Face God first.

Obedience brings freedom.

God has complete self-mastery.

Commandments are the path to God's life.

It is dehumanizing to live carnally.

Obedience to the Law of Chasity requires a higher self-esteem.

Power of force or influence.

Love of God enhances work.

Seek meaningful service.

Commandments gives power.

Obedience directs influence for good.

Good desires will increase obedience.

more commandments which inspired him.

Pray for service oppornities.

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Tolerance & Love

Tolerance is not the same as tolerant.

Love the person hate the sin.

2 Nephi 9:49 Behold, my soul abhorreth sin, and my heart delighteth in righteousness; and I will praise the holy name of my God.

Abhorrence - disgust/hate

Sin destroys people

Boundary lines without war lines

Each person has beliefs and assumptions that brings each other to a conclusion. One should not judge and reject because people think differently.

Textcast: Moving away from Google (also Huawei, Phone Companies dying, and Fuchsia OS.)

Alex: Hi Trevor, You may not believe it, but I want to delete my Google account. I bought a iPhone SE last night. I have the following things against Google:

- YouTube is too addicting with their personalized home page. 

- Google's search is personalized too, making the result biased.

- Google's ad service is makes my phone a personal mall, seeking to sale me anything according to advertisers desires, if it matches my profile.

- Google does not respect the privacy of my email, using it to their advantage; keep in mind, the many other things that they track such as: search, browsing, having questionnaires, and more.

I want to become free from this culture. Like I freed myself cares of movie, music, & celebrity industry. I want to free myself from YouTube & Google.

Trevor: Okay

Alex: This iPhone will enable me to get my old 0611 phone number back. hopefully going to Xfinity mobile, having free calling & texting. You think so? Transitioning away from T-mobile to have one less bill. They only charge for data.

Trevor: Yeah if Xfinity can work for you.

Alex: What do you think of my reasoning against Google? Are they fair & accurate? I may want to get into Linux too. Didn't you say that you like the SE?

Trevor: The SE is a nice size but now it could be getting outdated for system updates.

Alex: What do you think of my reasoning against Google? Are they fair & accurate?

Trevor: I could see that. For me I use YouTube because I usually I keep up to date with tech, and entertain me on my work commute. Personally I like targeted ads because its for me better than random ads that don't apply to me. You can always delete any info Google has on you in your data. You can always use YouTube without logging in if you don't like personalization.

Alex: I may use YouTube without logging it, but it is definitely less attractive without logging in, which I am happy about.

Trevor: Linux is fun. I just don't have time for it

Alex: Is messenger private yet?

Trevor: Messenger from Facebook? Facebook is worse than Google in Privacy.

Alex: Yes. I may want to get away from Microsoft.

Trevor: Linux just has some compatibility problems if you need it for specific programs.

Alex: It is easier to get away from Facebook. You don't need a Facebook account to access Android. Facebook's advertising is not universal.

Trevor: That's true. You can opt out of targeted ads on Facebook. Android without Google is crippled. You can still use it but the versatility is severely dulled

Alex: I am not worried as much about Facebook. I barely use it; plus, they are trying to be more private.

Trevor: You would need to download things through APKs

Alex: Have you been following the Hauwei news? Their cellphone division was basically destroyed; 10 billion dollar market share. Trevor: Yeah because Trump is using Huawei as a asset in the China-USA trade war. It's not because of Chins is "spying on us" He has no evidence.

Alex: Painfully Honest Tech said evidence was presented on a Thursday a couple weeks ago. 

Trevor: On FPT Prosser cited a video in which Trump said he would consider letting Huawei work with the US if Chins would agree

Alex: Trump has no tact. Trade deal conversation makes it obvious, but it is on snippet of the entire conversation. Huawei would have been blacklisted a long time ago, if our politics had not become so liberal.

Trevor: Trump is a businessman not a political leader.

Alex: Huawei is China's main tech company; heavily part of their communist efforts.

Trevor: He hasn't been informing the consumers anything and isn't telling us the real reason Huawei has been banned with any US businesses.

Alex: Trump has no tact.

Trevor: Hopefully China can make a deal

Alex: I hope that the ban is not lifted with the trade deal; then, Trump would not be a businessman.

Trevor: Well it would suck to see Huawei and competition die. They're the only company to compete with Samsung and Apple

Alex: Competition would surely not die, but be as the Gods, knowing good and evil.

Trevor: Hahaha. Huawei would die without Android; thus, would leave Samsung and Apple yet again

Alex: Huawei is not a phone company.

Trevor: They say they have factories for in house chips and a OS they are working on it but I doubt it would give fruit

Alex: They existed before Android.

Trevor: Globally they are, Which is what matters

Alex: Smartphone companies have died before. Motorola.

Trevor: Competition encourages innovation and lower prices and variety. As a consumer I don't want just Samsung. Motorola is not dead.

Alex: It was huge.

Trevor: It's still around. They sell it in Best Buy

Alex: HTC

Trevor: HTC has unfortunately reduced to a Block-chain smartphone company. I think Google has HTC for some things

Alex: Samsung tried to kill them, but Google saved them.

Trevor: Yeah. Anyways Huawei was on the way to becoming a force to reckon with. A leader in smartphones Since this announcement it's very uncertain their future

Alex: China is like one gigantic company. Their business tactics are not fair.

Trevor: Huawei will still sell in the China

Alex: Yep.

Trevor: But they'll be just like the apple of China.

Alex: Oh yeah. That's an interesting thought. It might make them more profitable. Probably not. Chinese software sucks.

Trevor: I think Apple is endangered of being banned in China which could stifle their expansion and growth.

Alex: Taking business away from China would strength other international business ties, and increase our self-reliance.

Trevor: Maybe but we want good relationships with China being they make everything. haha I don't want high tariffs passed to me

Alex: Doesn't Apple have factories in India?

Trevor: I think so

Alex: Apple should be fine without China. People may buy more of Apple, if it were not made in China. Communism is evil.

Trevor: we have factories inland but Apple needs growth to not stagnate

Alex: Apple is diversifying.

Trevor: They're going towards services

Alex: Harvesting more wool from their sheep

Trevor: They need to saturate their sheep with endless bills

Alex: haha. I think the cell phone industry competition is dying anyways. It is stagnating. The ban will make new movement.

Trevor: I want Google to succeed and grow in the smartphone industry which they have started to show with their Pixel 3a. They have the potential.

Alex: What cellphones would the global market purchase without Huawei? Samsung?

Trevor: Samsung, Xiaomi could expand, except their Ex Googler leader have left them now. LG sucks they haven't done well in recent years. OnePlus will grow.

Alex: Sony's cell phones have died too. Who is OnePlus with?

Trevor: Except if Trump starts to ban more Chinese industries. Google needs more budget options to continue forth. Their last Q the Pixel 3 sold poorly.

Alex: Pixel 4 is almost more mainstream, but cell phone designs are more distinguished this year. It is not unique.

Trevor: It's a Samsung look alike, but it should have a 90hz screen like the OnePlus 7 Pro

Alex: I expect that the punch hole will not be like the notch. Samsung is not a company to copy this round.

Trevor: The punch hole is pleasing to the eye is more discreet. I don't think Google will risk with a popup camera.

Alex: I don't see punch hole city being built quickly. Notch City is huge.

Trevor: It's only Samsung who does it so you'll need to purchase panels from them. Maybe China has copied them already. Who do you think will rise internationally?

Alex: Internationality should not be dominated by China. China should not be its face.

Trevor: South Korea?

Alex: Them too.

Trevor: Apple? Google?

Alex: South Korea is a little Communist because Samsung and other companies are funded by their government.

Trevor: Is LG?

Alex: Apple & Google are not countries.

Trevor: 5555. They might as well be. They have more power than most countries.

Alex:

Trevor: Tariffs 😞 Do you think Trump will get any trade deals?

Alex: I don't know if this statement is true. "South Korea is a little Communist because Samsung and other companies are funded by their government." I heard it from a HTC person.

Trevor: I don't know either. I mean Obama's funded some car companies don't mean we are Communist.

Alex: Someone who worked there. He said Samsung was dominating Taiwan because it was helped by the government.

Trevor: Yeah I have no clue

Alex: Maybe it is a socialist practice

Trevor: Yeah socialist is more probable

Alex: Socialism leads to Communism.

Trevor: Yeah. Obama's idea of Federal funded health care was socialist

Alex: Yep. Samsung killed HTC. It's on its deathbed. https://www.statista.com/statistics/271496/global-market-share-held-by-smartphone-vendors-since-4th-quarter-2009/

Trevor: HTC didn't innovate after some higher-ups left; even though, their slogan was quiet brilliant. OnePlus is probably categorized as Oppo, since they're under them.

Alex: Sony died in 2012.

Trevor: Nokia died in 2011.

Alex: HTC died then too.

Trevor: Yeah that's when some of the leading designers left

Alex: Before 2011 was the hay day.

Trevor: Scott Scroyle went on to form Next bit which was bought by Razer and since he has moved on. I remember 2010 was a year of phones before I left on my mission. He left in 2014 i guess. Blackberry is still popular in some part of Canada/US. They died in 2010. RIM-BB. Samsung really sold the most Q4 2018

Alex: How do you think we will transition to Fuchsia OS? 

Trevor: Probably in a couple years. It will probably first be on Pixelbooks and Smart-home devices

Alex: hm

Trevor: Phones I think will be adopting it later since Android is so predominant https://9to5google.com/2019/05/09/what-is-google-fuchsia/

pocketnow.com/huawei-defends-apple-against-possible-ban

www.androidauthority.com/ungoogled-refurbished-smartphones-986985/

Christ's Parable about Suffering

Studying Matthew chapter 13, I thought that the following parable relates to suffering: 

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 24-30)

Why does the steward not remove opposition? It is because it would destroy the product of his field. His field would be more fruitful if he waits until the harvest to sort out the enemy's seeds in the end.

Characteristics of a Disciple

What is a disciple? a follower of Jesus Christ

• Jesus comes first before friends and family.
• Serve others before yourself.
• Humble & Modest   
• Seek no glory. Glory be to God.   

Why? To get to heaven.   

Obedience: Habits or rituals?

Live the commandments with purpose.   

What are the reasons that you are obedient to each commandment?   

Bonus:

Life is streamed live before the Heavens, and God can only edit it by your repentance & faith.

For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. (D&C 128)

Institute: Marriage (edited notes)

Marriage   

The marvel is eternity.  Man can be married for time and all eternity.

The congregation called Shakers reject marriage. Parley Pratt was sent to preach to them.

We teach the following about marriage:

Marriage is ordained of God, a partnership with God to raise his children. A student shared that his parents changed their habits of competing ideas, which may have contributed to his troubled nature; however, they united by practicing the following pattern: discuss, decide, & a confirm by revelation and prayer.

Eternal progression is a sole blessing of exaltation. All other glories have a limit to their progress, a damnation of sorts. Earth is created to be full, enlarging the human family.

The Doctrine of Mortal Suffering: Part 4

This talk on suffering by Francine R. Bennion is longer than expected. She questions general assumptions, making the following statement.

"If we believe suffering shouldn’t exist, but it does; or suffering is God’s way of testing and teaching, but what can a wailing infant be proving or learning; or prayer should cure the problem, but it hasn’t—then it is not only the suffering that troubles us but also the great cracks in a universe that should make sense but doesn’t." (A Latter-day Saint Theology of Suffering: Francine R. Bennion)

Is suffering only an aspect of mortality? When I read this, I made the following simple note: Don't ignore consequences. There are consequences to all decisions. Some have good results, and some have bad results. Most people would think enduring negative consequences is suffering. Negative consequences rarely affect one person; even, personal issues affect others. If this is the case, how can existence in Telestial, Terrestrial, or Celestial Kingdoms be absent of suffering? Telestial & Terrestrial Kingdoms are definitely full of imperfect immortal people, and the Celestial Kingdom is full of perfect immortal people; however, some Celestial beings are part of the marriage covenant, enabling them to have children. Will all of the children of God be perfect? No. It is a common Christian belief that one third of all of God's children chose to follow Satan. Spirit children before mortality exercise agency. How much anguish did God suffer at the loss of one third of his children? It must be tremendous. I expect that God feels a lot if not all that we go through by empathy. This empathy and suffering does not destroy all happiness and joy.

The Doctrine of Mortal Suffering: Part 3

Continuing my study of suffering, I have learned that a universal answer to suffering is important because it reflects on our understanding of and relationship with God. Some perceptions of Him that are brought up in the talk are depressing and false. The following are examples:

- Thirty-five years ago, one of my schoolteachers would not take medical help for a lump in her thigh because “God had given it to her.” 
- In Relief Society one Sunday last year, a class member told us we shouldn’t concern ourselves with events in the newspaper because God is planning destruction before the Millennium anyway, and all we should concern ourselves with is our own righteousness and that of our children, and then we’ll be all right. 
- A few years ago, one young woman’s confusion about God and suffering was central to her anguish and paralysis in the face of repeated violence: “I don’t know what it is God’s trying to teach me with my husband’s temper.” (A Latter-day Saint Theology of Suffering: Francine R. Bennion)

God does not delight in our suffering and misery unlike Satan. Heavenly Father desires man to have freedom, stability, peace, and prosperity; teaching them the way to achieve such a life. Man has their agency, and God granted them this gift, which he rarely intervenes. Earth is man's stewardship. Satan seeks to make mortality as miserable as possible, designing destruction. 

People of Diversity are chosen of God.

Last night I started to read the chapters for "Come, follow me," and I realized that one of Christ's original disciples was a Canaanite. 

"In the case of Matt. 10:4 and Mark 3:18, which refer to Simon, one of the Twelve, the word should be Cananean rather than Canaanite; it has reference to his political attachments rather than his lineage or geographical point of origin. Simon is also called a Zelote in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13, Zelote probably having reference to the Zealots founded by Judas of Gamala, which sect was called the Cananeans, and who openly opposed the census of Cyrenius. In other instances, Canaanite refers to land of origin or lineage through Canaan, son of Ham, as in Gen. 10:6–19; 12:5–6; and Abr. 1:21." (Bible Dictionary, Canaanite)

Nevermind, Simon's lineage is not of the Cananeans; however, Christ's apostles come from very diverse backgrounds. Jesus Christ ordaining of these people should help them feel embraced. People of many different cultures should feel comfortable in the church of Jesus Christ.

The Year-round Transportation, a Cycling's Advantage over Motorcycling

Last Saturday, I asked a motocyclist coworker about riding in the snow. He explained that bicyclist have an advantage in snow cycling because bicycling is an aerobic exercise; therefore, the body generates heat. Motorcyclists do not generate heat by physical exertion; therefore, they would feel the pain of the freezing climate. Motorcycling doesn't seem to be a year round means of transportation while I have found that it is at least in my residence of Portland, OR. I don't advise cycling on ice.

Looking for 50 GB Free & Affordable Cloud Storage

At work I had thoughts to back up the data of my external hard drive to cloud storage. Looking online, I found that Degoo gives 100 GB for free, but I could not transfer my files through my USB cable to my iPad. Degoo only allows people use their service if they use their app, or pay to use their service; lastly, a computer program is provided, if they invite ten people to use the service. That would be simple, but I did not want to deal with it. 

Apple only allows their users to transfer photos over USB. I think that Apple only allows that because they have an odd scheme. They have a "service," gathering individuals' photos. Apple syncs all the photos among devices. I think that this service is unnecessary. The scheme incentivizes people to pay for Apple cloud storage and phones with higher memory. They also make it difficult to delete individual photos. One practicely has to delete one at a time. Many dumb things like this makes Apple ridiculous. They have many little things that make their ecosystem difficult to get out of. This syncing of photos among Apple devices encourages people to upgrade to a more expensive device and subscribe to cloud storage.

Another cloud storage company that I considered is MEGA. They give additional storage space, if an individual is loyal to other products available. Their offer was satisfying my need, but a footnote soured it. The additional storage was a limited time offer, which is 180 days. 

I was looking for 50 GB, and I have been using OneDrive for sometime. Checking out Microsoft's offer, I found exactly what I was looking for, but their service cost 2 dollars a month.

This slowed down my day a lot, but I know that my data and files will be safe.

The Doctrine of Mortal Suffering: Part 2

7 March 2019

Today I studied more about suffering. Francine R. Bennion, the professor, taught that a quality of theology and religion is that it needs to answer questions universally. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints still doesn't have an official doctrinal answer to suffering; although, this speech was given one hundred years ago.

"There is no single theology of suffering in our church, one framework uniform in all respects in the minds of all leaders and all other members. Though we may share the same scripture, the same revelation, prophets, and belief that God and Christ are real, we have various frameworks for putting them together and for seeing suffering, either our own or someone else’s. One person thinks God sends suffering to teach us or to test us. Another thinks God or Satan can affect only our response to the suffering, and some think it is Satan who is causing the suffering. Others think there should be no suffering at all if we are righteous and certainly no misunderstanding at all about why it is happening. These are only a few of the varieties of LDS belief about the origins of suffering, and however contradictory they be, each can be supported by fragments of scripture."

I have not finished reading the talk, but the quote above offers some answers.

I will expound on these thoughts below.

"One person thinks God sends suffering to teach us or to test us."

Mortal life is hard, and the general term suffering can mean very different things for each of us. Difficult experiences vary for everyone. Many people rely on the school of hard knocks, learning from their mistakes. "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted; for all things shall work together for good to them that walk uprightly, and to the sanctification of the church." (Doctrine & Covenants 100:15) Who will walk uprightly before God? Who will trust God despite hardships, remaining faithful? This belief is a generic belief applicable to many mortal situations, but it may not be satisfactory to all.

"Another thinks God or Satan can affect only our response to the suffering, and some think it is Satan who is causing the suffering."

Each person's suffering can bitter or humble man, and both God and Satan will send their spirit to prompt them according to their influences. One may struggle to choose between the opposite enticing. I don't think that this explains suffering.

"Others think there should be no suffering at all if we are righteous and certainly no misunderstanding at all about why it is happening."

This is a utopia type belief, which I believe only exists in the Terrestrial and Celestial stages of the Earth. This belief is not applicable to our current life in the Telestial stage of the Earth.