World Cup Format - Fair or is there Something Better?

As we head into the final stretch with the group Draw for the World Cup many times fairness.

They even asked on the Fifa.com website if they should change the number of teams involved in the final tournament.  So yes people think things should change or change is in the air.

As far as I understand the 32 team format for the final tournament has been around for at leas the last 4-5 world cups.  Interestingly, it seems so natural to have this number of teams in the tournament while in the near past it was a lot less and in the early days it was even as low as only 18 teams.



Some think that due to the maturing of Futebol around the world that locations like Africa or Asia should have more teams but, how do you do this without throwing in more from Europe where football is very mature.  However, are we trying to be fair or are we looking for simply the best play from teams around the world.   Is football so mature in Oceania or Asia?



The most interesting method would be to come up with the world rankings and then simply pick the top 32 teams.  Ye, this would leave out Asia or Africa many times and locations like North America would also be short on representation.  How in reality would you come up with enough games in a format that works to have some form of ranking?  Keep the games in the different confederation, or just do a huge random draw of everyone that can play and have a certain number of games?  You'd have a bunch of teams killing the weak and less mature say like Germany playing a Burma.  Or Brazil with a Maldives islands.   This would make thing a little different.



Under the current system several higher ranked teams from Europe for example have been left out since you find they did not make it out of the second round (playoffs).  This because you find you have representation from all confederations.

Going with the recently released world ranking you find a mix of teams from around the world but, mostly European.

FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking

Last Updated 28 Nov 2013

Nov 2013

	Rnk	Team	Pts	+/- Pos
	1	Spain	1507	0
	2	Germany	1318	0
	3	Argentina	1251	0
	4	Colombia	1200	0
	5	Portugal	1172	9
	6	Uruguay	1132	0
	7	Italy	1120	1
	8	Switzerland	1113	-1
	9	Netherlands	1106	-1
	10	Brazil	1102	1
	11	Belgium	1098	-6
	12	Greece	1055	3
	13	England	1041	-3
	14	USA	1019	-1
	15	Chile	1014	-3
	16	Croatia	971	2
	17	Côte d'Ivoire	918	0
	18	Ukraine	907	2
	19	France	893	2
	20	Mexico	892	4
	21	Bosnia-Herzegovina	886	-5
	22	Russia	870	-3
	23	Ecuador	852	-1
	24	Ghana	849	-1
	25	Denmark	831	1
	26	Algeria	800	6
	27	Sweden	793	-2
	28	Czech Republic	766	-1
	29	Slovenia	762	1
	30	Serbia	752	-2

	31	Costa Rica	738	0
	32	Romania	734	-3

If you use this list as a base you find that several teams on this list have not made it to the 2014 competition; Teams like Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia etc.  You also would see no representation from Asia and Africa is really almost an after thought.  So this could be an interesting way to come up with the 32 teams for the final tournament..... but, if you want to continue to have a world wide representation with the best teams unfortunately, you have to leave a few from Europe out and include a few from the far flung parts of the world.

The current format seems to be working very well.  The last time they expanded things it was to include a couple more from North America, Asia and Africa.

Also the group play format if wonderful.  You have a method to eliminate the bottom half of the teams but, still allow them to play a fair number of games.  Think each group has play 3 games (6 in each group) and ties become really important.  This provides for interesting football and lets the better 2 teams pass out of group stage.  Then you start doing the single elimination.

I've run many a rain gutter regatta or pinewood derby with the Cub scouts.  I've seen what happens when your numbers get too big if you decide to do Round robin or even double elimination.
See my post on double elimination.
Many like double elimination due to the fact you have each player go twice.  This keeps people from feeling they got cheated especially if they get to change lanes or gutters.  Round robin is another interesting animal.  Since you complete against everyone it can take a long time.
An 18 team  round robin competition would require about 153 games or so.  Even if you have them going on constantly you are looking at like 15 games for each of 10 locations.  You'd still have the near month long competition if you want to include some rest days.  It would be double that for the 32 teams so round robin is not practical or even fair in some respects.  You technically could have a couple of teams that end up with the same number of wins, draws and loses.  You don't want to have to do some lottery draw to decide who is best.  And an additional penalty kick event could be a bit much.
The group play stage is like the first of the 2 double eliminations or both for that matter.  They make sure to have each team playing several games.  Then you simply kill of the loser.  Not that bad of a system.

There is also the issue of seeding for the world cup.  You have 4 teams in each of the 8 groups so you have a total of 4 pots to pull from.  They want to make sure that not to many come from each confederation in each group.  Does no good to have a group of Africa teams with say Belgium or mainly South America with say just Australia.  The play by confederation has already occurred and we don't need a repeat of that.   That make it almost a guarantee that each pot has some Europeans but not to many.  As of right now only 9 teams are left from Europe to be seeded.  That makes 3 per remaining pot.  Though that does give you the possibility of 3 or more teams from Europe in a group.  You'd likely want to increase the numbers of euro teams in a pot.  Throwing all the Asia team in a pot or all the North American team also makes sense if you want to guarantee they do not play each other.

Come Friday December 6th this will all be resolved  for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
Then we can find out if there will be an iron group of power house teams.  With countries like Italy, Netherlands, France, Portugal, and Russia not being in the first pot anything could happen.  It could be just one of those times getting out of group play will be a pain.





Buaidh - NO - Bas

Fairness and the World Cup

I've had some rather spirited discussions lately on the "fairness" of the teams going to the World Cup with a colleague recently.

You see if you go strictly by the numbers it does not seem fair how they decide the number of teams that will advance to the World Cup by continent.  The best example is to compare Europe and Africa.  Both have almost the same number of teams overall - 53 and 52 respectively.  But, the big difference comes in the number of teams each continent will provide to the big event.  Europe will send on 13 teams and Africa only 5.  So by the numbers this seems so unfair.  But, is it really?

It all depends on what you are trying to achieve.  In this case how many people will try and watch let alone attend in person a game if you have a bunch of so-so teams no one has ever heard of?
European teams have a long history within the footballing sport.  For that matter Football was invented in England.  Some African teams have just a few years history and little or no governmental support or infrastructure.  Add that up and it is clear why FIFA chooses to send the number of teams that it does from each continent.  The one with the highest percentage of teams attending is South America.  It's in the 45 percent range.  Oceania has the lowest with a mere 4.5%.  Europe has a 25% ratio, Asia 10-11 percent and North America 10% and Africa about 10%.
Statically, and numerically this is not fair but, it provides for a quality tournament worth watching.



Let's examine why this works better then going by pure numbers in a bit more detail.  The easiest way to do this is to see a list of those that made the final since the World Cup began and the champions.

National team	Finalists	Winners	Runners-up
Brazil	7	5	2
Italy	6	4	2
Germany	7	3	4
Argentina	4	2	2
Uruguay	2	2	0
France	2	1	1
England	1	1	0
Spain	1	1	0
Netherlands	3	0	3
Czechoslovakia	2	0	2
Hungary	2	0	2
Sweden	1	0	1

It is very easy to see where the teams that win come from.  Europe and South America.
I'm not even sure how many times teams from Asia or Africa have even made it into the semi-finals.  The USA for example has begun to consistently make it out of group play to the round of 16.  They have been improving and down the road there may be a chance at making it to the final.  For the time being they become one of the many wild card teams that may play that perfect game and really give a contender for the cup a run for their money.

So there is that trade off.  Do you want to be fair numerically or do you want to have a quality game?

The quality of the game is more important to the world Cup then to say some other sporting events or activities.  For the World Cup you are looking for the very best teams the world over.  You don't want the best proportion of teams the world over, but, the best teams of the world.

In younger youth sports that do not have a financial incentive attached things change.  You might require fairness in the games played at school or by those still in primary grades.  This keeps things positive and helps get away from the "win at any cost" issue.

Now some start to say there should be fairness in hiring practices, school admissions, and other societal things.  But, what are you really achieving?  What is your aim in forcing things to be fair by some predefined criteria?

Brazil has begun to implement affirmative action when it comes to university admissions.  Federal university is free in Brazil (tuition at least) if you can make it in.  Thus there is a big process each year to see who can gain one of the few slots available for a specific area of study.  Many people take training courses there much like the ACT or GMAT trainings/testing here in the USA just so they have a change at passing Vestibular.   Now, what ends up happening is that the more well off families can afford to pay for such courses.  Poor families are highly under represented.  That does not mean poor people are not taking the test to see if they can get into university.  Thus they are starting to implement affirmative action.
A very large portion of the population in Brazil are of mix-race.  And the majority have some African blood.  Negros are highly under represented at university and then it goes down from there.... the more Caucasian you are the more you are likely to go to university. Not a guarantee but, statically the reality.
So with affirmative action you basically declare we have to have 10% of college applications, or students say be Amer-Indian or negro. Now this creates a different problem of fairness.  Are you being fair by saying if your race is X percent of the population therefore you automatically get X percent of the college admissions slots?


This leads to some people that might wonder - 'Did I get into this school simply because I'm ______ race?'
Now your not getting into school based on merits but, race.  And do you use merits after race since you will always have a limited number of slots?
One small problem you begin to find in Brazil is the number of people claiming they are negro to take advantage of the affirmative action but, at the same time looking white as heck.  They may have some African blood in them but, when do you cut it off and say you have to be at least 30% African blood or 45% Amer-Indian blood?  Is that provable blood or not?  Some people may look dark as heck and could qualify as Amer-Indian possibly but, can not prove one way or another their background.

These and many other issues arise when you begin to get involved in correcting social injustices by way of quotes and the like.  Abuse of the system will exist.  It could also do some good and right some wrong however, is their a better way to handle this.

It appears no one has found it yet since, places like Brazil are now trying affirmative action just like the United States did over 35 years ago.



Have you ever thought how it would be to have a color blind job interview?  One were the interviewer and interviewee don't even really see one another.  Where the voice and/or face are distorted or blurred.   Imagine how this changes the make up of a company.  because now a days you can't judge someone just by their name.
There are Garcias that don't seem Latino at all and McDaniels that are so Black their appear blue.  You can't judge a person just by their name.......



So we have to be careful with how fair we want to be!
For we can go to far to the other side in trying to right past wrongs or making up for racial injustice perpetrated hundreds if not thousands of years ago.  You might just say the Holocaust is an example of over stepping ones bounds to right a perceived wrong carried out years earlier.

We must guard against be fair for all the wrong reasons



Buaidh - NO - Bas

Minha Experiencia de Avião no Brasil

Na recente viagem ao Fortaleza, Ceará para visitar parente a gente usou GOL Linha Aerea por dentro do Brasil.

No passado somente temos usado TAM.   Então nem sabia que esperar com GOL.   Muito tem mudado nas nuvems desde de que eu fui prá missão 20 anos atrais.  Naquela epoca tinha VASP, Varig, Transbrasil, TABA e outros.  Maioria destas nem existam mais.  No lugar deles vem companhias Aereas como GOL, Azul, TAM, e os demais que só vi no aeroporto como Aviança, e Webjet.

 No passado que a gente usou TAM tinha comida incluido no vôo de São Paulo para Fortaleza.  Bom por uma viagem de pouco mais de 3 horas.  Nos EUA um vôo como este teria comida para comprar e algo para beber oferecido.  Então, comido e bebida incluido é bom de mais.   Sem conhecer o GOL nem sabia que esperar.   Bom para nós que tivemos lanche conosco que era para comer no aeroporto de Guarulhos SP.


A fim indo para Fortaleza todo os serviço de comida e bebida era para comprar.  Nada nem, água foi incluido.  Vem saber que isto está acontecendo faz tempo.   Sorte nosso que tivemos biscoitos na bolsa.   Um homem no vôo reclamou em frente dos commissario de bordo (Aerea-Moça) que a comida parecia um xerox.   Ele comprou por parencia café e um sandwichezinho de peru (R$15.00 ~ $7.50).   Nem olhamos no menu achando tudo isto sem graça.   Acustomado com TAM e aquele jeito fique supreso.  Maioria das linhas Aereas podem ter mudado para este novo formato.   Mais sobre isto na frente.

 Estes novos linhas aereas aparecem "Budget" ou "Low-Cost Airline"  Mas, parece que foi um pouco de mais.  Salvar um Real e no processo nem oferecer água é de mais.  No minimo mantenham isto nos EUA.


Agora GOL pegou a fama de nao oferecer na gratis no vôo e tudo mundo sabe disto.   Posso dizer que parece isto mudo no final do mês de Agosto.  No começo de Agosto todo mundo tinha que comprar comida e bebida.  No final de Agosto estava oferecendo bebdia e biscoito gratis.  Bem diferente.   Mas, por que?  Nem sei.    Talvez suficiente pessoal reclamou e forçou a mudança.

Minha opinião de viagems aereas mudou desta vez.  A opinião de que serviço no Brasil era superior mudou.  Pode estar devido uma nova linha aerea.  Pode estar que nao.  Nem sei.   O mundo está mudando, e Brasil vai com ele.

Falando do aeroporto de Guarulhos.  Está um pouco melhor ali.  Mas, a comida ainda está bem caro.  R$6.00 por refrigerante e o mesmo preço por uma coxinha. E é difícil achar coisas ali.  No minimo foi melhor passando alfandage.  Passei um pouco mais rapido do que minha familia esta vez.  Tinha mais brasileiros no vôo desta vez.   

Mais brasileiros estão viajando.  Especialmente, por avião em vez de ônibus.  Mas, a infrastratura nem tem melhorado muito.  Guarulhos necessita em novo terminal.  Tem tão poucos portões que desci pessoal na pista e leva por ônibus para o terminal.   Isto é sistema velha.  Tem que mudar isto ante do Cupo do Mundo e os Olimpídas.

Muito no Brasil necessita mudar antes o Copo do Mundo.  Transito está ruim em muito lugar.  Hoteis nem estâo perto do estadios etc.   Oh vai estar interesante na epoca.   E os homem vão ganhar; não os meninos mal trainado.  O calor e clima de locais como Fortaleza comparado com Porto Alegre é grande.   Ficamos doente devido o calor os primeiros dias.  Pensa nos atletos e trainadores!

Para uma outra vez de falar sobre a economia etc.

Buaidh - NO - Bas

Trip to Brazil

I recently returned from a 3 week long trip to Fortaleza Ceará Brazil to visit with some relatives.

Many things have changed since we had visited 4 years prior.  For one the slow down in the world economy had occurred, and thus the repercussions were being felt everywhere.  However, from everything I've been able to read it seems like Brazil was one a roll starting back then and has been buffeted a bit from the over all slow down.  They did not have a house crash like the in the USA.  They don't have a massive debt debacle hanging over their head like Greece.  In fact they were having 6-7% growth as late as two years before.  It has markedly dropped off recently.

What seems to have changed so much in part is how expense things have become.   We found that toys in general are nearly double the price.  Oddly it includes products from Brazilian companies as well as brand names more familiar to us in the US.
Also we found that there has been an increase in car ownership.  Motorcycles for that matter too.  Thus an increase in the over all traffic in the area.  Since most commerce happens downtown it sure has made a mess of things.   The light at the end of the tunnel is the fact that more shopping centers are being built further out from the city center, and more super markets are being built.

Unfortunately, it is apparent that the infrastructure has not been keeping up with the changes.  The amount of additional traffic on the street where we stayed was just amazing.  Tons of people walking, or jogging early in the morning or just before dark to beat the heat.   Tons of extra cars, and the noise.  Lots of extra noise.

Another main thing that has changed is the perceived and real crime that is occurring daily.  It may not be as bad as some would lead you to believe, but, with just a few reports on TV about it you never know.  It has gotten so bad that some people will leave their cell phone home if they are going to certain parts of town which might include downtown.

Many people who want to take advantage of the beach do so at locations outside of town due to this phenomena.  The local beaches have been left to the unsuspecting tourist.  A said state of affairs though I'm not sure it is any worse then being in certain parts of Los Angeles or New York City.


There has also been an increase in the number of people traveling within Brazil.  This is in part due to the fact that there are now several budget air lines within the country.  Sadly, by all reports many of the airports have not been updated to handle the increased traffic.  In some cities that have gone off and built a new airport.  Then one of the budget companies will use the old one to help keep the airfare down.  This appears to be the case with AZUL, that was founded by the former head of Jetblue.
We happened to fly on GOL inside of Brazil and had a mixed experience.  These companies have helped to change the way things are done int he airline business in Brazil.  Both are less then 15 years old.  They are new millennium companies.  Thus taking people from using buses as the main mode of transportation between cities and changing it to flying.


Brazil is without a doubt a country in development.  It can not longer be called a 3rd world country.  It's been 2nd world country for quite some time.  it still has a long way to go and hopefully due to the World Cup in 2012 and the Olympics in Rio in 2016 things will change for the better.

Eles defitivamente estão um País em disenvolvemento.  Nâo pode mais dizer que estão do triceiro mundo.   O gigante finalmente acordo.   Infelizmente acordo com certas dores de cabeça.

Viva Brasil!  

Buaidh - NO - Bas

Things are changing for Brasil (Nossa viagem no Consulado)

Ontem tivemos a necessidade de ir no Consulado Brasileiro em Los Angeles. Quatro anos atrais a experiencia foi bem diferente. Esta vez muito mais da applicação de passaporte é electronica, e o consulado em si mudo muito também.

Brasil e consulado está fazendo tudo para que pode entre como parte do Primeiro Mundo. Com uma economia que está crescendo quando Europa está morrendo, oportundidades que não tem em outro lugar algo tinha que mudar.

O consulado em Los Angeles é a face do Brasil para o exterior na maioria dos estados oeste do Rocky Mountains. No passado a gente sentiu que ninguém importou e tudo era difícil de fazer. Eles fizeram tudo para estar mais trabalhoso. Bem diferente agora. Os cores nas paredes, a sala de espera, as janelas de atengimento, a sistema de espera, e os funcionários mesmo fez com que a gente sentiu que Brasil chegou no primeiro Mundo. Os passaportes e vistos estão mais caro agora do que no passado mas, também estão Biometrico que inclui pegando as marcas dos dedos nas duas maos.

Vamos ver se pegarimos os documentos, passaporte, e tudo em menos de 20 dias.

Para que quer saber -

• Para passaporte de menores tem que fazer um novo documento autorizando viagems. Ombros os pais tem que assinar e autorizar que a criança pode viajar. Eu tinha que fazer minha assinatura no notário devido que estou estrangeiro. Brasileiros assinim papelado no consulado em frente do funcionário. 

• Todos os pagamentos agora tem estar em MONEY ORDER os correio EUA. Nemhuma forma de pagamento estaria aceita. Bem diferente do passado. 

•  Applicações por passaporte etc estao feito electronica e só tem que entregar um papel com barcodes e o foto. Bem simplificado.

No consulado mesmo usa um kiosk para pegar um numero de espera. Bem mais organizado, e a sala tem melhorada muita também.

Em tudo a experiencia melhorou bastante desde que fomos ali no última vez.

Para Bems Brasil - Entrando no Primeiro Mundo.




Yesterday we had the need to go to the Brazilian Consulate in Los Angeles. Four years ago the experiences was very different. This time around more of the application for the passport was electronic, and the consulate itself is also very different.

Brazil and consulate is doing everything to show it is part of the First World. With an economy that is growing while Europe is dying, and opportunities that exist no where else something had to change.

The consulate in Los Angeles is the face of Brazil for the outside world in the majority of the states West of the Rocky Mountains. In the past the people felt that nobody mattered and everything was difficult to get done. They did everything by the more laborious means. Very different now. The colors on the walls, the waiting room, the service windows, to the system of wait prioritizing, and the way the workers dealt with that the people made you feel that Brazil has arrived in the first World. The passport and visa are more costly now then in the past but, also they are Biometric which included getting finger prints of the fingers on the two hands.

We are going to see if we receive the documents, passport, and everything in less of 20 days.

For those that want to know -
For passport for minors you should fill out a new document authorizing travel.  Both the parents should sign and authorize that the child can travel. I had that do my signature in the notary because I am a foreigner. Brazilians sign paperwork in the consulate in front of the member of staff.

All of the payments now must be in USPS MONEY ORDER. NO other forms of payment will be accepted. Much different then the past.

Applications for passport etc now are made electronicly and you only have to deliver a paper with barcodes and the picture.  Really simplified.

In the consulate you even use a kiosk to sign in and get a number to wait your turn. Much more organized, and the room has improved a lot also.

In everything the experience improved significantly since we were there the last time.

Congratulations Brazil - Entering in the First World.


If you want to know where the best beaches in the world are look no further. Brasil and especially the Northeast has them. Fresher fruit - look there as well. Want to experience fruits you have never heard of? head to the North or Northeast..... they make them into some of the most amazing ice cream and many are wonder as whole fruit or in juice form.



  The ConsulateBrasil Consulate - Los Angeles    Buaidh - NO - Bas

Manaus Temple Open House

The public open house of the Manaus Brazil Temple begins tomorrow and continues through Saturday, June 2. Please follow the link below for additional information and to preview the interior. MANAUS BRAZIL TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/manaus-brazil-temple-open-house-dedication-dates-ann ounced-May-June

Warmest regards,
Rick Satterfield
LDSChurchTemples.com


So why would I want to include something about the open house in Manaus?  It's not anywhere close to where I live and doesn't on the face of it appear to have anything to do with ancestors or the current topics I seem to be discussing here. Well let me explain.

I served my mission back in the early to mid 90's in Northern Brazil. I started out on the east coast (Fortaleza - Ceará)  and then slowly made my way across to eventual end up serving literally in the Amazon rain forest. The city was basically accessible by boat only. I heard of a bus that went to another nearby city  but again from there you took a boat to any other city worth talking about. And the nearest big city was accessible again by boat but we went in by airplane for about  1 1/2 hours flight from mission headquarters in Belém Do Pará. This region is just full of jungle and forest and waterways all over the place.  Travel can be time consuming and some people don't go more then a few miles from home their  entire life.
Secondly, this Temple is significant in that it is going to make things easier for thousands of people to attend. Previously members in this region were taking trips to far flung locations such as São Paulo, Brazil, Recife, Brazil or Caracas Venezuela. Any one of these trips would take days to get there and then days to return. Only the few well off members that could afford a plane ticket would be able to make the trip be less then a week.     Many members due to financial circumstances would have to save up for years to be able to afford the trip. So getting to the temple once in your lifetime would be a big deal. I even heard of one family that sold their small home to help finance the trip. Now that is living by  faith.

Selling your most valuable possessions to finance a trip that will likely last a couple of weeks so you can attend the temple.
With in the last couple of conferences President Thomas S Monson specified that they wanted to  make the temples more accessible to the members and have them within about 400 miles (640 km)
See some of his comments at the following links:   http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-holy-temple-a-beacon-to-the-world?lang=eng   
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/as-we-meet-again?lang=eng

They even created a special fund much like the Perpetual Education Fund called the Temple Patrons Fund that will assist those in far flung locations to be able to attend the temple at least once in their lifetime if their financial outlook is very limited.   So why so much emphasis on the Temple one might ask. Why would a people in a church that was just a few years old work on building a Temple from day one knowing that might never see it's completion? (see D&C 109).
Those are the questions one should be asking. Temples are different from the normal meeting houses you find dotting the land and islands of the sea. In the normal meeting house or other such building being used for that purpose you find the regular  Sunday meetings which include the administration of the Sacrament. These buildings might also be used  for such things as social activities, youth program, and other such things that help to strengthen the members.  These buildings are open to member and non-member alike.   The Temple is literally a 'House of the Lord' "a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness." - Bible dictionary Temples

Some of the many types of ordinances that are performed in the Temple include but are not limited to - The endowment, Sealing of Families for the Eternities, and Proxy Baptisms. Many of these ordinances are performed for the living and some are performed exclusively for our deceased ancestors that we have found while doing our family history or genealogy work.
You might say that some people will be taken aback by the fact that we do proxy baptisms. But, why should someone feel that way. Would it be just for God to deny one entrance into  Heaven by the mere fact that they were not able to be baptized during their lifetime or for that matter even knew about Jesus Christ. We know that God not a respecter of persons. We know we are all literally spirit sons and daughters of God.   So is it right to punish some people for the circumstances beyond their control that they find  themselves in? Just because you were born in certain part of the world or to a certain kind  of parents? So that is why we do proxy baptisms, to provide the same opportunities to everyone that has lived on this earth. To allow them the same blessing and privileges that they would have had while in their moral existence had it been available. This is not a new concept at all. For it was spoken of  by early members of the Lord's Church -  "Else what shall they do which are ^abaptized ^bfor the dead,  if the dead ^crise not at all? why are they then baptized for the ^ddead?" I Corinthians 15:29

Actually, I used this type of example many a time in the mission field. And so that the people we were teaching would understand more easily we always talked about some long lost person out in the middle of the Amazon Rain forest. For there are tribes and others that are so far away from any population centers or that  are so isolated from the rest of world you really have no idea what that know about. They might not have ever heard about Jesus Christ. Therefore, should those people be condemned? Should they be sent to hell  simply because they grow up so isolated from the rest of the world? Heck NO!

And because ordinances are so sacred and special they can only be performed in the Temple. Those that attend are also instructed in the Plan of Salvation, and they take upon themselves sacred covenants. One of the outwardly signs of this is the use of the Temple Garments. These garments help the member dress modestly compared to the world as a whole. And they are a constant reminder of the covenants that one has made.
The Temple becomes a place of peace and a sanctuary from the daily hustle and bustle and noise that surrounds us so regularly. They are built to a higher standard and members that want to enter are also held to a higher standard.

In all attendance at the temple is the highest form of worship we as members can provide.  It is taking things one level up.  Though in reality we can have the same peace and comfort in our homes as we strive to follow the commandments and live the gospel to its fullest.

I'm going to include some pictures of the temples I have been inside.  They are all marvelous in their own ways.  each is unique but, after you have strolled the grounds and been inside you know that in fact they are "The House of the Lord".  A truely a light set o a hill that will be a beacon to the masses, and a sign of what is to come.

San Diego Temple

Los Angeles California

Sao Paulo Brazil

Provo Utah (The original)

Newport Beach California

Manti Utah (one of the few with live endowment)

Saint George Utah

Recife Brazil

Redlands California

I'm going to include also some pictures of the Manaus temple.
This show the quality level of the workmanship.  Only the best when possible for with such eternally significant covenants being made there it's no wonder.

Baptistry

Celestial Room

Sealing room - Note Mirrors on apposing walls

Reception/Waiting Room

If you feel like doing a little family history after reading why  not try one of the world's largest databases for free - http://www.familysearch.org
You can also find a family history center in your area where volunteers are waiting to help you find your ancestors.

Buaidh - NO - Bas