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Pres. Nelson on Instagram (in Spanish)


smac97

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Here:

Quote

President Nelson is first senior church leader to launch Spanish-only social media account
By Trent Toone  Sep 15, 2021, 12:28pm MDT

President Russell M. Nelson set a new precedent Wednesday.

The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has now become the first senior church leader to launch a Spanish-only Instagram account, according to a news release.

President Nelson opened his new account — @russellmnelson.esp — in timing with the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs this year from Wednesday, Sept. 15, until Oct. 15. His objective is to better reach Spanish-speaking members and friends worldwide.

“Years ago, I had the desire to learn the language of my Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters,” President Nelson said in his first Instagram Reel. “Although my Spanish is not perfect, I desire to speak with you in your own language.”

Latter-day Saints who speak Spanish or are from Spanish-speaking countries account for the global faith’s second-largest language group, the news release said.

Very cool.  I have never been on Instagram.  

Thanks,

-Smac

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9 hours ago, MiserereNobis said:

The pope tweets in Latin. Couple hundred thousand followers. 

Are you trying to one-up us?! :angry: :aggressive: 

;) :D :friends: 

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11 minutes ago, rpn said:

So does President Nelson SPEAK spanish fluently?   If not, then this is a gimmick.  (If so, does anyone know what flavor of Spanish and how he became and stays fluent?)

I believe they have staffers who do this. The First Presidency Twitter accounts are used very sporadically, and the content is always generic staffer-style stuff. 

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22 minutes ago, rpn said:

So does President Nelson SPEAK spanish fluently?   If not, then this is a gimmick.  (If so, does anyone know what flavor of Spanish and how he became and stays fluent?)

Given your failure to do (or at least share) any research in answering your first question, this post is a gimmick.

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13 minutes ago, rongo said:

I believe they have staffers who do this. The First Presidency Twitter accounts are used very sporadically, and the content is always generic staffer-style stuff. 

https://mormonlifehacker.com/habla-espanol-yes-president-russel-m-nelson-does-speak-spanish/

Evidently he does speak Spanish, but I'm sure he isn't hunched over his phone generating content himself.

Edited by CV75
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5 minutes ago, CV75 said:

https://mormonlifehacker.com/habla-espanol-yes-president-russel-m-nelson-does-speak-spanish/

Evidently he does speak Spanish, but I'm sure he isn't hunched over his phone generating content himself.

Can he converse, or did he memorize a talk portion for his talk in Lima? Can he conduct a Q&A when visiting somewhere? There is a big difference between the two. I don't believe that he could carry on an extended conversation or conduct a Q&A in Mandarin, either, despite how much his studying Mandarin has been touted. 

Some of the Brethren have known prodiciency (Elder Anderson and French, Elder Uchtdorf and German (and maybe still Russian?), Elder Renlund and Swedish, etc.)

I agree that even if and when the Brethren are conversant, they aren't the actual ones posting to their social media accounts. I'm sure COB staffers do it for them. 

Edited by rongo
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22 minutes ago, MiserereNobis said:

I'm sure there's a few nerds that do :) 

The ATMs in Vatican City have Latin as a language choice. There is also a Latin Wikipedia. Here's the link to the page about the LDS church:

https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesia_Iesu_Christi_Diebus_Ultimis_Sanctorum

It even has your "creed" translated (yes, I'm trolling by using creed, ha)

Here's the beginning of the Book of Mormon:

Enjoy!

I am having a schizoid attack, seeing that in Latin! 

Clash of two worlds!

VERY strange sensation!  🤯😱

Edited by mfbukowski
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46 minutes ago, rongo said:

Can he converse, or did he memorize a talk portion for his talk in Lima? Can he conduct a Q&A when visiting somewhere? There is a big difference between the two. I don't believe that he could carry on an extended conversation or conduct a Q&A in Mandarin, either, despite how much his studying Mandarin has been touted. 

Some of the Brethren have known prodiciency (Elder Anderson and French, Elder Uchtdorf and German (and maybe still Russian?), Elder Renlund and Swedish, etc.)

I agree that even if and when the Brethren are conversant, they aren't the actual ones posting to their social media accounts. I'm sure COB staffers do it for them. 

I do not know whether he can converse or just read. But does the inability to converse render his effort a gimmick, whether in Peru, 2018 or on today's Instagram?

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11 hours ago, JustAnAustralian said:

How many of those actually understand Latin?

Every cleric in Catholicism, all the nuns, much of the faithful.

Really it is the one language all the clerics have been trained in, it is the universal language of that church.  Which covers the earth.

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1 hour ago, CV75 said:

I do not know whether he can converse or just read. But does the inability to converse render his effort a gimmick, whether in Peru, 2018 or on today's Instagram?

Kind of, in my view. Especially with social media if they are ghost-written or translated. Less so with memorized portions of talks. 

The Brethren's social media accounts have such sparse traffic, that it's kind of a moot point. 

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I'm just saying that if someone couldn't themselves produce the product that they put out under their name, making a big deal about what THEY are putting out is misleading.   And if Sis.  Nelson's description of her dh's habits are accurate, I could see that it could be President Nelson himself prepping the posts.

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6 hours ago, MiserereNobis said:

I'm sure there's a few nerds that do :) 

The ATMs in Vatican City have Latin as a language choice. There is also a Latin Wikipedia. Here's the link to the page about the LDS church:

https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesia_Iesu_Christi_Diebus_Ultimis_Sanctorum

It even has your "creed" translated (yes, I'm trolling by using creed, ha)

Here's the beginning of the Book of Mormon:

Enjoy!

Thank you, you have made my day. 

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Upon further reflection (and some followup review), I retract my two posts above.   It is important that those who don't read English, be able to access his words.  (I would have deleted them, but found that to be impossible.)

Edited by rpn
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On 9/16/2021 at 10:31 AM, CV75 said:

I do not know whether he can converse or just read. But does the inability to converse render his effort a gimmick, whether in Peru, 2018 or on today's Instagram?

But anyone who has studied a language knows that a "reading knowledge " of a language is one of the steps to fluency. Because of my training in philosophy I can read French and German pretty well, but not "speak" either one. I can "pronounce" German pretty well and could probably read a written address to an audience so they could understand me.

So there IS genuine communication happening in both directions. It is just slower and more labored than conversational fluency.

So I vote "no gimmick"

I am sure he is studying Spanish though. 

 Also learning a new language is a great memory exercise for older folks.

Edited by mfbukowski
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FWIW, when I was in the Brazil MTC in 1999, we were told that when Elder Nelson had dedicated the structure he had planned to do the dedicatory prayer in English but called an audible at the last minute and delivered it in flawless Portuguese.  Not sure if there’s any truth to that, or if it’s just another Mormon urban legend . . .

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23 minutes ago, mgy401 said:

FWIW, when I was in the Brazil MTC in 1999, we were told that when Elder Nelson had dedicated the structure he had planned to do the dedicatory prayer in English but called an audible at the last minute and delivered it in flawless Portuguese.  Not sure if there’s any truth to that, or if it’s just another Mormon urban legend . . .

He offered it in Portuguese, nothing said about the quality though or last minute change. 
 

https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/1997-06-14/new-brazil-mtc-capable-of-housing-750-missionaries-130381

Quote

After addressing the more than 1,000 people who attended the dedication of the Brazil Missionary Training Center in Sao Paulo, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of Twelve offered the dedicatory prayer in Portuguese.

He gave his talk in English, which could have led to the assumption he was planning on praying in English as well.  
 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1997/09/news-of-the-church/new-missionary-training-center-dedicated-in-brazil?lang=eng

Edited by Calm
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2 hours ago, Calm said:

He offered it in Portuguese, nothing said about the quality though or last minute change. 
 

https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/1997-06-14/new-brazil-mtc-capable-of-housing-750-missionaries-130381

He gave his talk in English, which could have led to the assumption he was planning on praying in English as well.  
 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1997/09/news-of-the-church/new-missionary-training-center-dedicated-in-brazil?lang=eng

Praying in a language you are in the process of learning can be highly hazardous.

I once tried a prayer in Spanish and heard muffled laughter though the congregation.  🤕

But afterwards, all I got were compliments.  ;)

Advice: if you are not fluent enough to be "guided by the spirit" in the language you are learning, don't even try!  Too much to be thinking about while you are supposed to be praying!!

 

Edited by mfbukowski
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