Category Archives: Math

The only time math has ever been or will be interesting

27 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Math

≈ Leave a comment

It’s safe to say that math and I aren’t the best of friends. We get along like old people and smart phones, couch potatoes and marathons, or Tony Stark and humility to name a few. To sum it up we just don’t suite each other well. We don’t buy friendship bracelets for each other, exchange Christmas cards or know each others children’s names. In the end, when you divide it all up we just don’t seem to equate or have a common denominator. In fact, our relationship can be reduced to us simply “agreeing to disagree”. We simply don’t enjoy each others company…Until now, in this single isolated case we actually add up! This parallel however is an isolated instance and is just because it’s awesome! Check this out:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was formed in this last dispensation in 1830 with 6 members. From those 6 members it increased steadily until after 117 years (in 1947) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hit 1 million members! That is an average growth of 5,405 members per year in that span. From there the work sped up dramatically. In 1963 just 16 years later the membership of the Church hit 2 million members. That is an average increase of 62,500 members per year in that time span. That also means the Church reached its next million members 101 years faster than it did the first million! The Church hit 3 million members in not 16 years, but 8 years later in 1971! That is an average growth of 125,000 members per year during that span. The Church kept on keeping on (yes another Joe Dirt quote) and hit 4 million members only 7 years later in 1978, which equates to an average growth of 142,857 members per year in that span. A mere 4 years later in 1982 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hit 5 million members (5,162,619) to equal an average growth of 250,000 members per year in that time span! So how is the Church growing more recently? Well, from 1982 to 2013 there has been 9,919,409 more members join the ranks. That is an average increase per year from 1982 to 2013 of 319,980 members per year! That is an average of 26,665 new members every single month or about 889 new members every single day! It seems to me that the Army of God is being built and fortified!

Now class do you see a trend here? Let’s keep going…

The number of Temples is always on the rise also. We are now at 144 operating LDS Temples throughout the world. There are 4 more Temples preparing for dedication in the next 4 months, with 14 more under construction, with 12 more announced!

Membership is up, Temples are up, how about missionaries? In October 2012 when President Thomas S. Monson announced the new eligibility ages for Men (18 down from 19) and Women (19 down from 21) the number of missionaries serving was 58,500. Today, the number of missionaries serving is 88,000. That is an increase of 29,500 missionaries within 2 years! Sure, some of that is due to the age change, but the Church also reports that since the age change has went into effect, not only is the percentage of Sister Missionaries on the rise, but Senior Missionaries also! To keep up with this increase, since that announcement there has been 58 new missions created… with more announced!

Oh, and I’m not even close to finished, sit back down…

Genealogy work is increasing also! Meaning yes, there are scores, likely millions and even countless more “people” being given the opportunity to join this Church who are joining the ranks from beyond the veil. That literally means the numbers above showing current membership numbers, as incredible as they are… very likely don’t even begin to scratch the surface of what true membership in this Church is really at in the totality of things. How is that possible? Chew on this:

According to familyseach.org it took 80 years to make the first 1 billion records easily searchable online. That is an average of 12,500,000 records per year in that span. However the jump from 1 billion to 2 billion names being easily searchable online was completed in not 80 years, but 7! That is 73 years faster than their first 1 Billion records! That’s an average of 142,857,142 per year in that span! This is aided by more missionaries, more volunteers and better technology, and of course God. Part of the increase in numbers is due to the process itself. In the past information contained on microfilm took 12 to 18 months to become available. This includes capturing, mailing, processing, duplicating, cataloging, and then making the microfilmed images available through a network of family history centers. Now, the process has been refined with digital imaging technology and the information is available online at Familysearch.org and partner sites down from 12 to 18 months to about 45 days, with the goal to whittle even that down to 14 days!

The point with this entire entry was not only to use as many math puns in the first paragraph as possible but to show how the Prophesy of “The Church will fill every nation on earth” is being fulfilled in front of our very eyes! We are witness to an ongoing and ever bigger miracle! Our family members, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends are joining the ranks and entering the mission field. We ourselves are still in it too formerly called or not! People are waking up! Are you awake!?  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints cannot and will not be stopped. There will come a day when EVERY knee shall bow, and EVERY tongue confess Jesus is the Christ. We have been told that, we know that. There will be opposition. There always has been, however, it will not prevail! One of my favorite all time quotes is by Joseph Smith. It is motivating and inspiring to the highest degree!

The standard of Truth has been erected, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.

With those words we are assured again that this work will continue forward. So, if you were to form a hypothesis as to the future of the Church, all variables considered, it’s mathematically proven it will continue to thrive! Class dismissed.

Less is More in Christmas Math

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Christmas, Math

≈ Leave a comment

When we think of the greatest events in history, and we categorize them based on attendance and/or statistical viewing and ratings that are monitored by people with computers and calculators and stuff like that – we get an idea of how many people across the world tune in their TV’s for certain events.  The following table represents one report of the 10 most watched television broadcasts on earth: 1

Keep in mind the population of the world today is estimated to be over 7.2 billion, 2 so if 2 billion people watched a single event, that’s pretty good – in fact, that’s nearly 30% of the entire world.  That’s a lot of people watching the same thing.  For reference, approximately 111 million people have tuned in for the Super Bowl the past 5 years.3 Of those millions, there is likely a high percentage of those viewers that recorded the events for repeated viewing or sharing via DVR or other similar devices, not to mention the recordings that have been made and are available online or in packages of various types.  This allows these events to live on in history, in a very real and visual way – extending their viewership even further than what is listed above.

Whether or not you think the 10 most watched events as reported above are great or not, they provide us with some statistical data to review, especially when we reference and contrast them with one of the absolutely greatest events4 in this world’s history; the birth of Jesus Christ. 5 

The birth of our savior was witnessed by only a few privileged enough to see it with their mortal eyes, along with some humble, yet very lucky animals.

There was not a single recording of this birth event made, and thus made available on DVR, DVD, or online6 that we as mortals can view – no matter how much we’d like to. But, I would suggest that there were more people watching this great event – and watching with more rapt attention – than any statistical group would ever be able to measure.  I like to think of the “heavenly host” which appeared suddenly to the shepherds [with the angel] that said “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” as referenced in Luke chapter 2 (vs. 13-14) as part of the witnessing party to that first great event.  I like to think of my pre-mortal self as part of that ‘host’ and I like to think that the ‘heavenly host’ was indeed immeasurable, innumerable, or without number.

This viewing demographic just wasn’t of the mortal type.  The host without number was not a group of mortal beings with mortal eyes seen by other mortal beings, but it was a group every bit as real as the viewers who watched any super bowl, sporting event, or political event here on this earth.  In fact, the number of viewers watching the truly great events that are recorded in the list above is probably an accurate number, since the immortal world likely has little to no interest in most of the events documented there.  However, the inverse of that trend would continue in the things that really matter, as immortals tend to view (in higher and higher numbers) the events that are truly great, but are not thought to be so, and thus not recorded as such, by the world.  Therefore, the seemingly unimportant or unheralded events, are in fact those witnessed by the most viewers, they just aren’t mortal viewers that can be tracked online or through a TV viewing poll.

This illustrates the skewed way in which we often think of ‘great events’ or at least in how they are measured by worldly standards.  We cannot and should not think if ‘great events’ as determined by the number of mortals that are aware of the event, or how many ‘views’ it has on real TV, YouTube or any other social media site.  We can liken this to ourselves and can rest assured that our ‘greatest events’ are the ones that are witnessed by few mortal eyes, if any at all.  We can also rest assured that our ‘greatest events’ are inversely the ones that are witnessed by hosts of immortal eyes that are immeasurable, innumerable, and potentially without number.  These ‘great events’ are very often the most basic and simple everyday activities that have power to change a heart, save a life, and therefore change the world.  These are also the very events that turn the tide for our families and us in the great battle between good and evil.  This is our blessing and our challenge every day here on the earth.

We can also be very confident, that this great birth scene (and many of our great events) indeed have been and are recorded in the book of life, and can be viewed by those who are privileged enough to be shown the vision(s). 7 Someday whether in life or death or with our mortal or immortal eyes – and if it suits the needs of the Lord to further his purposes – we can be blessed with the privilege of viewing the actual birth of our Savior; the very first Christmas or any number of other ‘great events’ as it furthers the impact of the spirit on each of us, and motivates us to do the most good in his kingdom, and to become more like him.

Let us remember that we do the most good at home where nobody sees us, and where there is no fanfare, no press coverage, no interviews, and little acclaim.  We are doing the most good when it appears as if nobody is even paying attention, just like the Savior did.

Notes

1 See http://www.worldlistmania.com/most-watched-television-events-world/

2 http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

3 2014 http://www.ibtimes.com/super-bowl-2014-ratings-how-many-people-watched-seattle-seahawks-vs-denver-broncos-1552989

2013 http://www.ibtimes.com/super-bowl-2013-how-many-people-watched-baltimore-ravens-over-san-francisco-49ers-1060698

2012 http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/02/million-people-watched-super-bowl-113632.html

2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/07/super-bowl-2011-ratings-s_n_819559.html

2010 http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/02/08/super-bowl-gets-1065-million-viewers-most-in-american-tv-history/

4 This may sound like my opinion, but whether or not you or I or anyone else believes it or feels differently about the ranking of the greatest events in history, the truth is what it is, and it will not change based on anyone’s opinion.  Thus, I have left it as an absolute since inspired men and scriptures call these events the greatest.  In addition, whether you believe in the atonement, or choose to apply its healing and enabling powers or not, that does not diminish or change that fact that Jesus Christ did in fact come to earth, and that the events that took place as mentioned above made every other event on the earth possible, including the joy, pleasure, pain, and love that we feel when we experience any other type of event.

5 This gift, the birth of Jesus Christ, and his subsequent atonement in its truest sense also encompasses the crucifixion, and the following resurrection.  And really, encompasses the entire life and mission of Jesus Christ since his coming to earth was in order to complete the atonement and make salvation possible through repentance and obedience to his gospel.

6 There has obviously been several videos, movies, clips, etc. made to depict the birth of Christ, but my point here is the actual (live) event was not recorded and is not available to be viewed in the way we think when we ‘watch movies’.

7 Several prophets were shown the birth in vision in order to prophesy of his coming/birth.  There are too many to mention by name – so I will not make an attempt.  For a complete list and explanation of all of them, see “The Promised Messiah” by Bruce R. McConkie.