Video Games CAN be a Money Trap

The first time I was ever introduced to video games was when my family got an Sega Dreamcast. We absolutely loved it. I got super addicted to it very fast. But I was young and didn't have much money back then. Over the years, our family got new game systems starting with N64, then PS2, X-Box, and so on till now. And over those years, I got games either through my birthday or through Christmas. No money spent for video games was awesome!

It wasn't till I hit the age of 16 where I got a job when I realized that video gaming can be a pretty fast money trap. I started spending as soon as I got my paycheck on the new games either for my iPod or the current game system that we had. It felt great to have that game as soon as you bought it and take it home, but it sucked knowing that you don't have much money left because of that big purchase. The consequences weren't too severe when I did this when I was young seeing that I didn't have to pay any bills or rent or much anything.

Through my Church mission, one of the things you learn is how to manage your money seeing that you get so much or your own money that you payed for your mission per month. It was really nice to get that idea and it help us in more months than not to manage our spending. But when I got home after, I had access to all of my money again and I hadn't really played any games during those 2 years while I was gone. "I had to catch up to gaming!" I kept telling myself and I just kept spending and spending money on games. Sometimes even peer pressure from friends who told me that I "NEEDED" to get this game or new system even worked. Again, that feeling of getting that game at first felt great! But after a time, I started to question why I even bought those games. I hardly played them. I just got them because either I was told I needed to or just jumped too fast to the purchase.

Now you notice that in the title it says "can" in all caps. Some people are very excellent of not falling into this trap and can manage their money very well and still buy games when they feel like it is right. But for others, we can jump on these purchases too fast and before we know it, our money is gone. Sure, there can be some deals that will be there, but we also have to be careful to not jump on too many of those as well or we lose track.

I still like playing video games today. But now, I research about the game to see whether or not if it is a game I would play quite a bit. Not just a game that seems very short and I can get it done in a day. But also I need to be careful that a game doesn't occupy all of my time. I want a game where it's something worth the money I spent on it, not just a $60 drop on something I will hardly even touch.

In today's gaming world, we see many times where you can buy a game, but if you want more you can buy these packs called DLC (Downloadable Content). You pay extra money for these and most of them are hit or miss.

This can also be applied to many other things, but I found this certain experience the one that I have to deal with every day. I sometimes got to GameStop or the electronic section in a store and it take a lot of will power to not purchase anything there. It is exceedingly difficult to see something that is the hit of video games and saying to yourself, "I don't need it". If you ever go into video gaming, just be very careful with your money.

I just needed to get this off my chest. I have seen many people who use all the money they earn and it is gone the next day and they have to work to get it all back to do the same thing again. Video gaming can be so much fun and even better with your friends. But it isn't worth the sacrifice of hundreds of dollars that you spend on games you don't need.

It is DEFINITELY the Most Wonderful Time of The Year

I am one of those people who freaks out about Christmas, but not really till around of after Thanksgiving time. I am a big fan of holidays, but I don't really show it that much, except Christmas! I absolutely love Christmas. Just the spirit of it is so heartwarming and being with those that you do love is amazing! Being gone for two years for my Church mission, I missed two Christmases with my family, but had the opportunity to share it with other families. I am very grateful for these families for welcoming us in during this busy time and making the best Christmas they could give us.

But this year, I am now back from my mission and I will be able to spend it with all of my family. It has been a long 2 years of not being with my family. But this holiday season, I am so grateful for the chance to be with them.

It is also a time where we are reminded of the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ and why he was born. Although I wish that this was the circumstance was like this no matter what, I still do like the process of remembering the Savior's birth. Remembering the beginning of his life on this earth and what he was sent down here to do brings comfort to me.

I do have a weakness though when it comes to this time of the season. I give way too much! Is that a problem? Well, to others, no because they are receiving the gifts and really appreciate it. For me, although it does bring me great joy in giving others gifts that I believe would make them really happy, I tend to spend too much money during this time. And especially at this time where I am in college and need to save my own money that I will need to be careful during this time. I am sure when I get a stable job and save enough money I may go back to my habit of giving gifts like crazy, but for now, I need to think smart during these times.

I love Christmas! I just love it so much! The feeling, the sights, the sounds, the music, the everything is amazing and I hope that you may find your peaceful Christmas as well. Merry Christmas to everyone during this time of year!

(Picture is from the show "K-On")

Review of Gaokoa.Love.100 Days (Visual Novel)

I started to get into the visual novel genre of video games (if you count visual novels video games) when I came back from my two year church service mission. The first one getting me into this interest was "If My Heart Had Wings". This game was beautiful and it just got me into the story at a early start. The art is beautiful, the characters are very memorable, and there are moments that stick out to me. This game was pretty dang long too and there were multiple endings. Just 5 endings, most of them good.

However, that is for another story on my complete thoughts on that game. For now, I am going to be talking about the second visual novel game I played and I am currently playing as well. This game is called "Gaokao.Love.100 Days". What caught my interest in this game is from the hugely overwhelmingly positive reviews I read on steam or just the internet in general. It claims to have 52 endings. 52 ENDINGS!!! That is way more than 5! But is this just a normal visual novel where I just read and click every once in forever to change my path? Although that is sometimes the case for this one, there are more added features that make this game super intense!!

Here is the basic story: You are a high school student in China who is about to take this test called the Gaokao in three months. I really don't know how to say it, but the point is it is a very important test. However, at the very beginning of the game it shows you asking a extremely lovable character named Muxin to be your girlfriend. She is amazed by this and agrees to do so. Later on you get introduced to other characters with different quirks. They add to your story as you are to prepare for the Gaokao and/or build your relationship with Muxin.

Sounds like a good start out to a game? I thought so. Then they introduce another part of the game other than just choosing a certain choice in this game. The study times! Here is what it looks like:

The numbers on the left are your subjects and your scores. If you want to get good scores, you review a certain subject and it will increase. While you need to pay attention to your health and stress because if your health starts to get close to zero or stress gets too high, your performance may be effected and it can trigger some nasty effects in your story that you wish you can undo. This is where the fun and also the killer stress kicks in. The choice is up to you. Do you want to ignore, though sometimes improve your scores and increase your relationship with Muxin, your new girlfriend, or do you want to focus on just studying. It can be hard to choose at times, because trust me, your choices early on have HUGE impact. But I won't spoil much of the story.

I remember my first play through. I thought I was on the right track trying to balance out my relationship with Muxin and my scores. Then my first mock test, I got a terrible result. Then one thing led to another and I kept making hard decisions that I continuously kept regretting.  I got really frustrated and, I'll admit, took a break from the game because I couldn't take it. But later on, I kept going and my first ending wasn't....terrible, but wasn't good at all. I can say I have played through this multiple times and have grown more attached to this game. It may take over my #1 favorite visual novel, "If My Heart Had Wings".

Are there any faults in this game? Well, being a game that comes from China and being translated from Chinese, there are a couple weird translations. It isn't enough to ruin the game, but they can be a bit noticeable. You may have noticed up in the picture, there is an items button. When you go through this game for the first time, you don't have much items at all that really help you. You can find other items to help you as you go more throughout the game. But you may get a little frustrated seeing that your scores are not improving as much as you want. Especially when you see others play the game and they do tremendously well and you can't seem to do so. Other than those, I don't really find much fault in the game.

Although I consider this game to be more clean than other visual novels I have explored or played, there are quite a bit of swears. But unlike other visual novel games, this one does not have a big emphasis on sex with each other. This is a pretty clean high school relationship game. If you want to start easing your way into visual novels, then cleanliness wise, I would point you to this game.

I really like this game and there are still a couple times where I sneak in a play here and there. The replay ability is there especially if you don't like your ending. I will say that the ones where you do get in a relationship with Muxin or others is really satisfying. If you are interested, it is on Steam for $9.99.

P.S.: I forgot to talk about the music in this game. I love it! It really captures the atmosphere of what you are in. There are some serious songs, but when there is a goofy moment, the song does not disappoint. I do have quite a bit of the songs on my phone and I do listen to them. The theme is really relaxing as well. Although I don't know the lyrics seeing that they are sung in a different language, it doesn't take away the relaxation at the ending of the game where you can rest from all your decisions. Go have a listen if you want!

(From left to right: Xiaohan, Muxin)

The Ministry of Christ to the Nephites

We have heard many times throughout the Church that the biggest highlight of the Book of Mormon is when Jesus Christ comes and administers to the Nephites. What better way to learn of Jesus Christ gospel than to hear it from himself? Many wonderful things happened while Jesus visited the Nephites. But I am going to talk about one of my favorite moments of that whole ministry that can be applied to us in our needs.

This particular moment happens in 3 Nephi chapter 17 where Jesus is teaching the Nephites many things and he sees that the Nephites can't comprehend all of his teachings and tells him that he is going to depart so that they can study out in their mind. Does Jesus sometimes do this to us? Although we hear multiple times that he never leaves us, do we feel like Jesus leaves us for a bit so that we can understand his teachings? There were many times in my mission where this was the case. We were told many things both by members and non-members of the gospel that were pretty deep. But it just took some time thinking about it and going back to the basics so that we could find out for ourselves if what they said was true.

But that isn't the part that I wanted to focus on. It is the part after this moment that really hits me. In verse 5 we read, "And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them." I am sure we all feel this feeling. We wish that we can feel the love of God all the time in our lives, but there can be distractions that pull us away from that or draw our minds somewhere else. 

Listen to what Jesus says in the next two verses:
6. And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.

 7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.

This is a personal invitation from the Savior for us to bring others or ourselves to him so that we may be healed. But you may say, "I am not lame, or blind, or halt, maimed, leprous or death. So this invitation is not really directed towards me". To these people, I say they have forgotten one thing that Jesus said in that verse. He invites those who "are afflicted in any manner. What fits into that category? I would say everything! Whether it be depression, addictions, or anything that we are having a hard time going through, that category covers it. So not only was Jesus healing the Nephites physically here, he was also healing them mentally and spiritually. And this invitation is to all.

Patrick Kearon of the Seventy reaffirms this in his General Conference talk in October saying, "The invitation given to the Nephites, when He ministered to them as the resurrected Christ, is still in force for you and for me: “Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them.” ^.

In closing I would like to read one more scripture, Alma 7: 12 "...and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." May we be able to continue to come to Him and have him be able to heal us.

A Crucial Step People Tend to Overlook When dealing with Addictions.

           We know that there are some addictions out there that can take control of a persons life. There are some that are easily denied where the opposite is also there. I believe that we all have our weaknesses and some of us may have identified very crucial ones throughout our lives. It may be as simple as someone "needing" a certain substance in the morning to wake them up or always using certain electronics for most of the day. It also may be something big in our eyes like misuse of drugs, pornography, spending money, etc.
       
           We also have been told many other ways to deal with these kind. Some of us have also been taught that we need some spiritual help in order to help deal with these addictions. You have have heard of the 12 step program. In this, it shows a 12 step process to help us control with our various different addictions. The twelve steps are the following:

1. Honesty

2. Hope

3. Trust in God

4. Truth

5. Confession

6. Change of Heart

7. Humility

8. Seeking Forgiveness

9. Restitution and Reconciliation

10. Daily Accountability

11. Personal Revelation

12. Service

          I will put the link down at the end of this blog that will direct you to the website that explains these 12 steps in more detail.

          Now, these 12 steps are great! Many others have tried this and it can work! Some others have and have struggled, but they know they have progressed more than where they had been previous. Some others can't even get past the first step! But the important thing is that they did put in some effort for dealing with their addiction.

         Now, this is not the crucial step I am going to talk about. There have been some who have been fighting their addiction for a very long time and feel like their hasn't been any process with it. Or others may notice that they have progressed a ton since they decided to do something about their addiction, but feel that they are stuck, or that they cannot overcome their addiction. Now, in my opinion, overcoming an addiction most of the time takes a while. Perhaps maybe even years. Addictions may be with us for quite some time.

        Now, this is where I believe one of the big steps of overcoming an addiction can come into play. There are too many people who think, "If I just declare that I don't want to do my addiction anymore, that I won't go back to it.". They may find however that they tend to go right back to the habit that they so declared they would never do again. That is a very tough feeling to go through and it sucks! One thing I have found helps a ton to help us keep our mind off of our addiction is to DO something else. Just sitting there and telling yourself, "No, I am not going back." rarely solves it. Once we go out of our way and do something else, we can be able to keep our mind occupied on other things.

        We know that addictions are super hard to go through alone. Thankfully, we don't have to go through it alone. We have a Savior who knows what it is like and to point us the way to help overcome it. I firmly believe that usually addictions take a while to fully overcome. Many of us are still going through our addictions. But if we look back at the progress that we have made to where we began this addiction to where we are now, we can see we have made so much progress. Sure, our addictions are not fully healed as we want them to be, but we need to recognize that we have become so much more doing so. Isn't that what life is about? Finding out who we are and also what we can become? Addictions may hold us down at times, but overtime it can be a big stepping stone for us in life.

LDS 12 step Addiction Recovery: http://addictionrecovery.lds.org/steps/1?lang=eng


         

My Thoughts on Anime (Use & Misuse of Art)

Let's talk about anime here. Now when you hear the word "anime", what is usually the first thing that comes to your mind? I can definitely say that many will think of this creepy type of art that seems to be "messed up". I wouldn't blame you for thinking that because that is probably what I mostly thought of as well when it came in anime in general. I find usually that whenever people hear about anime, their thoughts either go: "Oh, you mean what Dragonball Z is?" or of an anime character with some type of half-human half animal type that just makes you think "What the heck is this?". This, again, I don't blame you for because this is usually what I felt as well.

We all heard of famous anime tv-shows like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragonball Z, and perhaps Avatar: The Last Airbender if you classify it as an anime. Yes, anime is not new. It has been around for quite some time. It started around 1950s, but wasn't really accepted in mainstream till the 1980s. Since then, we have gotten many different types of varieties of anime.

My history of anime has been...meh. Of course as a kid I watch Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh when I was allowed to watch TV. Then there was this huge break of TV I had where I didn't watch a lot of shows. Somewhere in high school I started watching a bit of Dragonball Z Kai, which in short is Dragonball Z with less dialogue and more fighting. But after graduating high school I really didn't get back into it that much. I guess you can also count Sonic as a type of anime as well. I don't really since I focused more on the games rather than the shows. It wasn't really until on my mission, thanks to a couple of members, I thought that anime was interesting.

Now I am not saying I am one of those people who go out and dress as their favorite anime character and speak Japanese as much as they can or however creepy you think people who do this are. I don't do that. I just watch the show and then move on. That has been kinda the overall reaction of me watching any type of show. I either like it and it's on my mind for a day or two or I simply think, "Eh, that was alright." and go on to the next show.

My thoughts on anime is that the art is simply amazing! I love how beautiful the scenery with a specific character in the picture can simply make we wish every time I can draw that good. I can imagine the time and effort for each picture or frame in a TV show the amount of work it takes for that. I find it to be a beautiful piece of art.

However, there are quite of bit of anime art and shows that can be really disturbing and not really attractive to the eye. It can either be a pornographic image, or a pretty violent one, or whatever. You can just compare it to any other form of art like other TV shows, movies, pictures, etc. This is where you need to be super careful! For you see, there are a lot of good anime TV shows out there and I believe that many of them do share some deep messages. If you want to see one of my thoughts about one show I recently watch, here is the link:
http://parooka.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-mini-review-of-message-of-nagi-no.html

Clearly, anime is not for everyone. Also, many forms of art can have that same claim. There is good forms of it and bad forms of it. How that is determined is mostly by us and what we look for. I tend to look for types of art, whether it be a picture, film, or TV show that makes me feel positive, laugh, and perhaps at some times, even cry, and I am sure that this may be the many views of others. I wouldn't really recommend anime with every person I see. However, I still think, if used right, like other types of art forms, it can speak to us.

To close this topic off, I am going to show you my favorite piece of art that is in anime form. You may notice that this is also my background. This picture, I believe, is colorful and bright and just positive looking. Thanks for listening to my thoughts. Take care!

This image is from the game "If My Heart Had Wings: Flight Diary".

The Strengthening and Enabling Power of the Atonement

There are many who tend to forget what the Atonement does for all of us. Sure, it satisfies the demands of justice and helps us be able to repent of the wrong that we do, but it does so much more than that. But I must admit, we, even myself, don't usually think of the Atonement of Jesus Christ as something to help something else than just our sins. 

We are told multiple times throughout Sunday School, Church talks, and in General Conference stories of someone who recognized something they did wrong and finding Jesus Christ in their life and applying the Atonement in their life to fix the wrong they have done. This is a great example of the Atonement! We love to hear these stories like the Prodigal Son parable where someone goes astray in life and then recognizes that he has done wrong and came back into the fold. For me, these are a type of spiritual awakening for me as I pay attention to the things that I have done wrong and try to step foreword in doing right.

But is this all that the Atonement does? Of course not! There is so much more that the atonement does. How do we know this? Let us go to probably one of the favorites of scripture that talks about the atonement, Alma 7:11: 
"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people."

Notice how in this verse it doesn't say the word sin even once! Does that disqualify sin as something the atonement covers? Of course not! There are plenty of scriptures that say otherwise, but this scripture brings up a good point of the different things the atonement covers. It says, "pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind". EVERY KIND! So does the atonement cover that moment when you got your heart broken in elementary by a boy you liked? Sure does! Does the atonement cover when you are struggling through school work? Sure does! Does the atonement cover depression? I like to think so! Look at the scripture. That is what it says.

Now this isn't the end of the scripture segment I want to share. Let's go on to a specific part in the next verse: 
"...and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

Let us break down the scripture. First, it says that Jesus Christ will take upon himself our infirmities. He will take upon himself the justice of our sins if we take the gift that he has given us which is a chance to repent. Second, that his bowels may be filled with mercy. Why does Jesus Christ do this? What motivated him? What was the reason that He went and did this for us while suffering himself? Was it because he was getting a reward for doing so? Was it because He was expected to do it? That is a pretty good question. But in a book I read by Brad Wilcox, he explains all these motives and he found them that they were true, but that wasn't the main motive. Jesus Christ did it because His love for us. He did it because that was the right thing to do.

Now third is probably the most important part of the scripture when addressing this certain subject. So it says, "that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities". What does succor mean? According to the dictionary, succor in old times means, "run to help". So if we replace succor with run to help, we get, "that he may know according to the flesh how to run to help his people according to their infirmities". See that? Because He knows our troubles, our trials, our problems, our struggles or however you want to word it, He can run to help us when we need it. Pretty cool, right? 

But you are probably thinking, "I have had this problem or struggle a while and I haven't felt like it has been helped or that Jesus is running to me." Very good point! There are times where we feel like no one is there to help us. We don't feel like we have any kind of motivation. Does that mean that Jesus Christ isn't there for us? I don't think so. I think he is always there for us no matter what. I believe that in some situations, not always, we need to recognize or search for Jesus Christ's help in order to be ready to receive that help. We can't always just sit there and wait for us to recognize Jesus is there. We need to search for him and ask for His help when we are in need of him.

Dallin H, Oaks said, "Our Savior’s Atonement does more than assure us of immortality by a universal resurrection and give us the opportunity to be cleansed from sin by repentance and baptism. His Atonement also provides the opportunity to call upon Him who has experienced all of our mortal infirmities to give us the strength to bear the burdens of mortality. He knows of our anguish, and He is there for us. Like the good Samaritan, when He finds us wounded at the wayside, He will bind up our wounds and care for us. The healing and strengthening power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement is for all of us who will ask. I testify of that as I also testify of our Savior, who makes it all possible."

I love the way that Elder Oaks compares the Savior to the good Samaritan. He doesn't pass us by and lets us do this all by ourselves. He helps us up and points us to the right direction. He loves us! He truly does! He doesn't do everything for us, for we need to put in our effort as well, but He still is always there. 

In Alma 42:15 it says, 

And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.

I also know that without the atonement, mercy could not be extended towards us. There would be no mercy and life would just absolutely suck. But we don't have that! Because Jesus Christ went through with the atonement, we don't have to walk through this life completely alone. He is there for believers and non-believers. He is there for those who curse him and turn their back to Him. He is there no matter what. People may not realize it then, but they will later on see that the Lord never left their side. I know this to be true and we can all know this to be true by continuing to study more about him and continuing to search for Him in everything that we do. This is my invitation to all. I hope that you may see that you are never alone.

Scriptures: Alma 7:11-12, Alma 42:15

Talks: 

Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Dallin H. Oaks, Web, October 2015, November 6, 2015

Dictionary Definition: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/succor