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Have you watched the Church\u2019s Christmas film The Christ Child<\/em>, yet?\u00a0 Somehow, I missed it last year when (I think) it first came out.\u00a0 I watched it a few days ago, though, and loved it.\u00a0 It gets the \u201cfeel\u201d just right, in my judgment, including its use of original-language dialogue.\u00a0 To my surprise, unemotional Scandinavian that I am and understated though it is, I found it very moving.\u00a0 (Perhaps I found it so moving precisely because<\/em> it\u2019s understated, not attempting to sentimentalize or manipulate.)\u00a0 It runs just slightly less than eighteen minutes in length, and I recommend it to you as strongly as I\u2019m able:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Christ Child: A Nativity Story<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Nelson Expresses Appreciation for All Who Answered Call to Give Thanks: Continue to show gratitude during the Christmas season through \u201cby loving and serving others, one by one,\u201d\u00a0he added\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> issued its annual Christmas message for this year back on 27 November 2020.\u00a0 You can read it here, if you haven\u2019t done so already:<\/p>\n \u201cFirst Presidency Releases 2020 Christmas Message\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I enjoyed this Christmas concert from Temple Square on Sunday night:<\/p>\n \u201cChristmas on Temple Square Kicks off With Virtual Concert and Tour of the Lights\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n I have admit that, as a certified (or certifiable) language nut, I particularly enjoyed hearing various Church leaders read from the Nativity story in Luke 2 in various languages.\u00a0 Elder\u00a0Gerrit W. Gong<\/a>\u00a0and Elder\u00a0Ulisses Soares<\/a>\u00a0of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, for example, read in Mandarin and Portuguese, respectively, and Presiding Bishop\u00a0G\u00e9rald Causs\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0read in French. Young Men General President\u00a0Steven J. Lund<\/a>\u00a0read in Dutch, Elder\u00a0Michael T. Ringwood<\/a>\u00a0of the Seventy in Korean, and Sister\u00a0Sharon Eubank<\/a>, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, in Finnish. Other General Authorities and general officers participated.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This year\u2019s First Presidency Christmas devotional will be held on Sunday evening at 6 PM, Utah time.\u00a0 For details and information on how to watch it, see here:<\/p>\n \u201c2020 First Presidency Christmas Devotional\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Some of you might enjoy this short piece, from the indispensable and seemingly indefatigable\u00a0Jeff Lindsay<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFour Types of Chiasmus in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah, with Implications for the Book of Mormon\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are some of the latest items to have appeared on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve shared any materials from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>, so here are a couple of items that you might find worthwhile:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cChurch Leaders\u00a0Raise Hunger Awareness\u00a0in Virtual Walks\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 (This one features Sister Sharon Eubank, who has written for Interpreter<\/em>.)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLatter-day Saint Charities Provides Grants to US Refugee Agencies\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, I share a few brief notes on certain fundraising efforts by the Interpreter Foundation:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Just in case you\u2019re unaware of it, my year-end Facebook fundraiser for the Interpreter Foundation is now up.\u00a0 You can find it at<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/daniel.peterson.3701<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Alternatively, if you want to give but would prefer to give through my wife \u2014 neither of us, by the way, will derive so much as a penny from this effort \u2014 you can find her fundraiser at<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/deborah.peterson.900<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And please don\u2019t forget that you can enlist Amazon.com to donate Amazon\u2019s money (not yours!) to the Interpreter Foundation (or to some other cause of your choice).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Please note that, although we do pay for some services, the Interpreter Foundation has no regular salaried employees.\u00a0 The Foundation\u2019s board of directors, for example, are authorized by our by-laws to draw up to $500 each per year in compensation, but none has ever taken even the tiniest fraction of that money.\u00a0 My wife and I are actually donors.\u00a0 We have, for instance \u2014 not to boast, but merely to illustrate my point \u2014 already donated through this year\u2019s Giving Tuesday program, just as we\u2019ve done in prior years (and just as we\u2019ve donated in other ways on multiple occasions).\u00a0 I don\u2019t want anybody to imagine that donations made to Interpreter will go toward feathering our own nests.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Signing up with AmazonSmile is especially important right now, at this time of the year.\u00a0 More and more people are doing their holiday shopping online \u2014 especially in these days of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0 If you shop on Amazon.com, please consider doing so through AmazonSmile, which works just the same way and offers precisely the same products at exactly the same prices.\u00a0 There is absolutely no reason not sign up with AmazonSmile.\u00a0 It\u2019s simple to do, and it will cost you absolutely nothing.\u00a0 Even if you do, the Interpreter Foundation won\u2019t derive a huge<\/em> windfall from it \u2014 Amazon donates just a half of one percent of what you spend \u2014 but, to coin a phrase, every little bit helps.\u00a0 And there is no reason at all not to do it.\u00a0 But it should be done soon, while your Christmas shopping is still ahead of you.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHow to use Amazon Smile to Make Donations\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n
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