Comments on: Church whisperers http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/ Truth Will Prevail Thu, 24 May 2012 19:37:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Andrew Hall http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-221772 Andrew Hall Mon, 16 Apr 2007 04:45:33 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-221772 2006 Association for Mormon Letters Award for Essay Winner: John Bennion, “Like the Lilies of the Field,” in Dialogue 39:4 (Winter 2006). Honorable Mention: Wilfried Decoo, <a href="http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3024">“The Unspeakable,” </a>Times and Seasons, March 28, 2006. Honorable Mention: Patricia Karamesines, “The Birds of Summer,” A Motley Vision, September 19, 2006. 2006 Association for Mormon Letters Award for Essay

Winner: John Bennion, “Like the Lilies of the Field,” in Dialogue 39:4 (Winter 2006).

Honorable Mention: Wilfried Decoo, “The Unspeakable,” Times and Seasons, March 28, 2006.

Honorable Mention: Patricia Karamesines, “The Birds of Summer,” A Motley Vision, September 19, 2006.

]]> By: Norbert http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-218092 Norbert Fri, 16 Feb 2007 21:05:26 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-218092 We had an interesting situation during the temple dedication here in Helsinki. The different sessions were broadcast in the languages of the temple district (5 in all) and English, and you could go to the English broadcast or, say the Finnish one. Of course, the actual dedication was bilingual -- as most of the speakers spoke English and there was a translator there for the people in the celestial room, and the other way around. But for our English broadcast, they didn't broadcast what came over the Finnish mike, and I imagine the same was true for the Finnish (although I don't know). I needed to go to the English session, of course, and my wife (who is Finnish and fluent in English) came with me. But her sister also came, and her English isn't stellar, and so it was a bit messy. My wife whispered what she needed, and all was well. But it was quite odd that they went with a monolingual presentation of an event that was already bilingual. Will everyone be angry if I say the lack of awareness of bilingual families and communities is typically American? We had an interesting situation during the temple dedication here in Helsinki. The different sessions were broadcast in the languages of the temple district (5 in all) and English, and you could go to the English broadcast or, say the Finnish one. Of course, the actual dedication was bilingual — as most of the speakers spoke English and there was a translator there for the people in the celestial room, and the other way around. But for our English broadcast, they didn’t broadcast what came over the Finnish mike, and I imagine the same was true for the Finnish (although I don’t know). I needed to go to the English session, of course, and my wife (who is Finnish and fluent in English) came with me. But her sister also came, and her English isn’t stellar, and so it was a bit messy. My wife whispered what she needed, and all was well. But it was quite odd that they went with a monolingual presentation of an event that was already bilingual. Will everyone be angry if I say the lack of awareness of bilingual families and communities is typically American?

]]> By: Wilfried http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-218090 Wilfried Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:08:46 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-218090 KyleM (17), I see Erica answered already. Indeed, sometimes very difficult to get materials to members in such countries, though I wonder if there is no central "all the rest of the world"-president in SLC or somewhere. When I lived in Central Africa in the 1970s the Swiss mission president was president over "all the rest of the world" (meaning where there was no organized church). He sent us material when we requested. I can't imagine that Church HQ would not be sensitive to the needs of these people, even if there are only one or two. And sending material through special delivery would be possible, not? Well, maybe not always, I know of situations in Congo today. The more reason to get a selfhelp-system to work. (19) LOL about Elder Laman and Elder Lemuel, Alison! Thanks! Welcome to the thread and the site, Handy (20)! Tell us more about yourself (but don't tease the Russians or we'll have endless comments... Ever seen a thread where Americans and Canadians get going? ha! ) By the way, how is the Church doing in Ukraine? KyleM (17), I see Erica answered already. Indeed, sometimes very difficult to get materials to members in such countries, though I wonder if there is no central “all the rest of the world”-president in SLC or somewhere. When I lived in Central Africa in the 1970s the Swiss mission president was president over “all the rest of the world” (meaning where there was no organized church). He sent us material when we requested. I can’t imagine that Church HQ would not be sensitive to the needs of these people, even if there are only one or two. And sending material through special delivery would be possible, not? Well, maybe not always, I know of situations in Congo today. The more reason to get a selfhelp-system to work.

(19) LOL about Elder Laman and Elder Lemuel, Alison! Thanks!

Welcome to the thread and the site, Handy (20)! Tell us more about yourself (but don’t tease the Russians or we’ll have endless comments… Ever seen a thread where Americans and Canadians get going? ha! ) By the way, how is the Church doing in Ukraine?

]]> By: Handy http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-218076 Handy Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:15:34 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-218076 Coming to Kiev, Ukraine for Russian study is a good choice. Ukraine is more friendly, open-minded and treats foreigners better than Russia where you will start to have problems even with visa... Come! :) We are a good people. Handy. Kiev, Ukraine Coming to Kiev, Ukraine for Russian study is a good choice.
Ukraine is more friendly, open-minded and treats foreigners better than Russia where you will start to have problems even with visa…
Come! :)
We are a good people.

Handy.
Kiev, Ukraine

]]> By: Alison Moore Smith http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-218075 Alison Moore Smith Fri, 16 Feb 2007 07:08:29 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-218075 Thanks for the memories! At one time our Florida ward had four translations at every meeting. We had English lessons and sermons, translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French-Creole, and the non-whispering ASL translators. It made for an interesting meeting...particularly when the translator (often one of the ten full-time missionaries assigned just to our ward) was one of those guys who just can't whisper. Then we had the Church Murmurers. (We should have called them Elder Laman and Elder Lemuel.) Thanks for the memories!

At one time our Florida ward had four translations at every meeting. We had English lessons and sermons, translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French-Creole, and the non-whispering ASL translators.

It made for an interesting meeting…particularly when the translator (often one of the ten full-time missionaries assigned just to our ward) was one of those guys who just can’t whisper. Then we had the Church Murmurers. (We should have called them Elder Laman and Elder Lemuel.)

]]> By: Erica Merrell http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-218072 Erica Merrell Fri, 16 Feb 2007 05:44:06 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-218072 The trouble comes when there is no presiding authority in a country. There is no one to get the materials to the members in places without a formal church organization, like Kyrgyzstan. There is no one there to get the materials to the members. The trouble comes when there is no presiding authority in a country. There is no one to get the materials to the members in places without a formal church organization, like Kyrgyzstan. There is no one there to get the materials to the members.

]]> By: KyleM http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-218062 KyleM Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:18:54 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-218062 Wilfried, Just out of curiousity, what prevents the people from getting the materials through "normal" channels? Are traditional shipping methods unavailable? Is it just naive of me to believe that the presiding authority of each unit should be responsible for getting basic materials to the members within the units boundries, whether that unit's area is a few blocks in Utah, or a small country in Europe? Is the workaround more important, or fixing the problem? Wilfried,

Just out of curiousity, what prevents the people from getting the materials through “normal” channels? Are traditional shipping methods unavailable? Is it just naive of me to believe that the presiding authority of each unit should be responsible for getting basic materials to the members within the units boundries, whether that unit’s area is a few blocks in Utah, or a small country in Europe? Is the workaround more important, or fixing the problem?

]]> By: Wilfried http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-218060 Wilfried Thu, 15 Feb 2007 22:24:36 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-218060 Thanks for your contribution, Sarah, and your willingness to help. We hope this will catch on, even among those who think international matters are <em>foreign </em>to them by definition. Thanks for your contribution, Sarah, and your willingness to help. We hope this will catch on, even among those who think international matters are foreign to them by definition.

]]> By: Sarah http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-218027 Sarah Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:52:29 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-218027 I'm looking forward to going to Eastern Europe to study Russian in 2008 or 2009 (likely Kiev, St. Petersburg, or Moscow, but with travel to Poland and Lithuania if at all possible) and seeing as I intend to raid the bookstores in-country for every intermediate/low-advanced Russian book I can find, I wouldn't mind filling my luggage to the airline's weight limits with Russian or other-language texts and materials on the way in. I'm sure many other language students would feel similarly -- otherwise, we'd be bringing empty bags. I wonder, though: are scriptures (which are heavy and expensive, but more easily shared) more valuable, or would they rather get lesson manuals and other "curriculum" stuff (which takes a long time to get released even in the US, and which gets changed every year) instead. The stuff I enjoy most in Russian are things like "For the Strength of Youth" and the CES manuals, but I can get anything I want in English, so I have a rather different perspective than your average member in Belarus. On the other hand, anyone with an internet connection can read this year's "Teachings of the Presidents" manual in Russian, and I understand the Book of Mormon will be online sometime this year... Also, as far as developing vocabulary: Gospel Principles, True to the Faith, and Preach My Gospel are all good language resources, as they're pretty literal translations, and the first two have what amounts to vocabulary lists (True to the Faith IS a vocabulary list.) Same goes with the Bible dictionary. And the children's scripture stories books all have vocabulary/dictionary sections in the back; I use them for practice translating the short definitions, but a very introductory-level student could just learn to match the entry words. I also got the Dictionary of Sign Language Terms (31121), because it has a list that was designed for interpretation. I'm not sure why they haven't produced little booklets for all the different languages: just because you know Spanish doesn't mean you know the church-standard words for "priesthood" or "conducting." (there's also a thesis someone at BYU did on language learning at the MTC, that includes short and long key mission vocabulary lists in English. I used the lists for my own vocabulary work; the thesis is on the BYU <a href="http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd884.pdf" rel="nofollow">website</a>. There's also a list, translated into French, that's similar to the thesis list, on the unofficial Paris mission <a href="http://www.mission.net/france/paris/page.php?pg_id=4576" rel="nofollow">website</a>) I’m looking forward to going to Eastern Europe to study Russian in 2008 or 2009 (likely Kiev, St. Petersburg, or Moscow, but with travel to Poland and Lithuania if at all possible) and seeing as I intend to raid the bookstores in-country for every intermediate/low-advanced Russian book I can find, I wouldn’t mind filling my luggage to the airline’s weight limits with Russian or other-language texts and materials on the way in. I’m sure many other language students would feel similarly — otherwise, we’d be bringing empty bags. I wonder, though: are scriptures (which are heavy and expensive, but more easily shared) more valuable, or would they rather get lesson manuals and other “curriculum” stuff (which takes a long time to get released even in the US, and which gets changed every year) instead. The stuff I enjoy most in Russian are things like “For the Strength of Youth” and the CES manuals, but I can get anything I want in English, so I have a rather different perspective than your average member in Belarus. On the other hand, anyone with an internet connection can read this year’s “Teachings of the Presidents” manual in Russian, and I understand the Book of Mormon will be online sometime this year…

Also, as far as developing vocabulary: Gospel Principles, True to the Faith, and Preach My Gospel are all good language resources, as they’re pretty literal translations, and the first two have what amounts to vocabulary lists (True to the Faith IS a vocabulary list.) Same goes with the Bible dictionary. And the children’s scripture stories books all have vocabulary/dictionary sections in the back; I use them for practice translating the short definitions, but a very introductory-level student could just learn to match the entry words. I also got the Dictionary of Sign Language Terms (31121), because it has a list that was designed for interpretation. I’m not sure why they haven’t produced little booklets for all the different languages: just because you know Spanish doesn’t mean you know the church-standard words for “priesthood” or “conducting.”

(there’s also a thesis someone at BYU did on language learning at the MTC, that includes short and long key mission vocabulary lists in English. I used the lists for my own vocabulary work; the thesis is on the BYU website. There’s also a list, translated into French, that’s similar to the thesis list, on the unofficial Paris mission website)

]]> By: Wilfried http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2007/02/church-whisperers/#comment-217980 Wilfried Wed, 14 Feb 2007 05:40:57 +0000 http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3717#comment-217980 Yes, Erica, agreed! Now there could be a service project for the <a href="http://www.ldsinternationalsociety.org/isdb/">LDS International Society</a> ... Set up a system of travellers' alert: "I'm going to ... what Mormon material can I bring for you?" Or any of our bloggernacle computer specialists to set up a mormontraveller.org ? Yes, Erica, agreed! Now there could be a service project for the LDS International Society … Set up a system of travellers’ alert: “I’m going to … what Mormon material can I bring for you?” Or any of our bloggernacle computer specialists to set up a mormontraveller.org ?

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