![\"Presidents](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/01\/Kimball_First_Presidency.jpg\")
<\/a>Wikimedia Commons public domain photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Here are two items that were newly posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation earlier today:<\/p>\n
Interpreter Foundation Come, Follow Me<\/em> Podcast, December 8-14, 2025: \u201cWe Believe\u201d: The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2:<\/a><\/p>\n For the 20 November 2025 Come, Follow Me<\/em> segment of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast, Martin Tanner, Kris Frederickson, and Bruce Webster discussed the Come, Follow Me<\/em> Doctrine and Covenants lesson for December 8 \u2013 14 covering the Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2. \u00a0The Discussion segment of the 20 November 2025 podcast can be accessed at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreter-podcast-november-20-2025<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Come, Follow Me \u2014\u00a0<\/em>D&C Study and Teachings Helps (2025): The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2, December 8-14: \u201cWe Believe\u201d:<\/a><\/p>\n Articles of Faith Background and Introduction: The Articles of Faith were written in 1842 by the Prophet Joseph Smith in response to a request from John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat newspaper, who wanted information concerning the history and beliefs of the Church. Joseph responded by writing what came to be known as \u201cthe [\u2026]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And I should probably also mention that, it being the last month of the year and \u2014 given the rules of the Internal Revenue Service here in the United States of America \u2014 the very peak month of charitable giving for the entire year, I\u2019ve set up a small fundraising site on my Facebook page for the Interpreter Foundation.<\/p>\n Let me make it clear that the organization is overwhelmingly staffed by unpaid volunteers. \u00a0That includes your\u2019s truly. \u00a0So you need not worry about your money going to pay my exorbitant salary as an apologist, since I earn none. \u00a0Because \u2014 with just two or three exceptions \u2014 our officers and authors and other workers volunteer their time and energy, our expenses are relatively low. \u00a0But they aren\u2019t zero, and, thus, we\u2019re obliged to raise money. \u00a0I wish it weren\u2019t so, but it is, and there you have it. \u00a0So, if you\u2019ve enjoyed or liked or benefited from anything that we\u2019ve done, I hope that you\u2019ll consider pitching just a bit your hard-earned cash toward the Interpreter Foundation. \u00a0We will use if efficiently and well.<\/p>\n And, of course, nothing requires that you give through my Facebook page. \u00a0Here are some other avenues for giving: \u00a0Donate to the Cause<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Czech and English playwright Sir Tom Stoppard<\/a> (born Tom\u00e1\u0161 Str\u00e4ussler) died on 29 November 2025. \u00a0In his tribute to Stoppard, King Charles III cited a line that evidently comes from one of Stoppard\u2019s plays and that I like very much, as it expresses part of my own view of death:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLook on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Incidentally, the 2o25 Giving Machines initiative<\/a> is under witheringly negative attack in at least one malignant corner of darkest apostate anti-Mormonism \u2014 maybe more widely, but that\u2019s the only corner of Mordor to which I pay any real attention \u2014 which seems to me conclusive evidence that it\u2019s a good effort and worthy of wide support.<\/p>\n \u201cDirector Jon M. Chu brings \u2018Wicked\u2019 magic to the Giving Machines with a generous donation: \u2018Wicked\u2019 director Jon M. Chu and his daughter quietly made a donation to the Light the World Giving Machine at The Grove on Los Angeles\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLight the World Giving Machine Kiosks Come to BYU:\u00a0The yearly holiday initiative gives students in Provo an easy opportunity to serve others, just as Jesus Christ would\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In this seven-minute video<\/a>, the all-male a cappella<\/em> vocal group Chanticleer performs what I, at least, rank among the most achingly, exquisitely beautiful pieces of music ever composed, Franz Biebl\u2019s 1964 setting of \u201cAve Maria\u201d:<\/p>\n Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mari\u00e6.<\/span> Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.<\/span><\/p>\n Maria dixit: Ecce Ancilla Domini.<\/span> Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.<\/span><\/p>\n Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostr\u00e6. Amen.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here is my uninspired translation of the text, which, of course, derives from St. Jerome\u2019s Latin Vulgate rendition of Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42:<\/p>\n The angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary,<\/span> \u201cHail, Mary, full of grace. \u00a0The Lord is with thee. \u00a0Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mary said, \u201cBehold the handmaiden of the Lord.<\/span> \u201cHail, Mary, full of grace. \u00a0The Lord is with thee. \u00a0Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. \u00a0Amen.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Our world is marred by horrifying evil, hatred, suffering, sorrow, and ugliness. \u00a0It is darkened by death and by the fear and the reality of devastating loss. \u00a0But it also presents great goodness and beauty. \u00a0This exquisite piece of music offers a glimpse and a reminder of that goodness and that beauty. \u00a0In fact, at certain moments in Biebl\u2019s Ave Maria<\/em>, I find it almost impossible to understand how anybody can doubt that God exists. \u00a0Such loveliness seems utterly superfluous to the survival of the fittest, to a world of mere nature that is red in tooth and claw, in which life is dominated by the mindless imperative to transmit genetic material.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>
\nEt concepit de Spiritu Sancto.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nFiat mihi secundum Verbum tuum.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nAnd she conceived of the Holy Spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nLet it be unto me according to thy word.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>