Did you know that Pres Uchtdorf spoke recently at the Salt Lake City Inner City Mission, and the transcript of his address is now available online?  “To put it simply, having charity and caring for one another is not simply a good idea. It is not simply one more item in a seemingly infinite list of things we ought to consider doing. It is at the core of the gospel—an indispensable, essential, foundational element.”

Did you know that in Queensland, Australia, it’s illegal to have rabbits as pets?  This video clip of sleepy baby bunnies is a very cute balm to that (admittedly sensible) law.

Do you suspect (hope?) that things happen inside bookstores at night? You’re right!

What did people say when electricity was connected to their towns? “When the people of this small mountain town got their first dose of electrical lighting in late 1924, they were appalled. “Old people swore that reading or living by so fierce a light was impossible,” wrote the local historian Alf Evers.” For half the world the Winter Solstice just happened, and while dark doesn’t mean what it used to, this piece considers the good of some time spent in the dark side.

What do you think of or feel when you think “fear”?  This post considers the angels’ message at Christmas that is relevant year round.

Want to write some more, or better? Here’s twenty pieces of writing advice taken from The Atlantic’s ‘By Heart’ podcast on many different approaches, components and by many authors.

Would you rather take a tune than a tablet?  Read about how Bob Marley saying “One good thing about music, is when it hits you, you feel no pain” is backed up by science, health benefits, medicine and your favourite playlist.

When is a missionary Mom/Mum more than? When many of them ensure that every Filipino missionary receives a gift for Christmas.

What have you done with your life so far?  A huge amount, actually, in surprising ways, measurements and comparisons.

This week’s First Draft Poetry is by Teresa TL Bruce, inspired in part by President Uchtdorf’s address, and the Winter Solstice piece.

“Mission”

daily service hand in hand
alongside my man—my future plan—
(with children grown)
to leave near ones and home,
go far and wide

across earth (or nation)
lifting feeble hands,
holding up Light to blinded, seeking minds,
lightening loads for the burdened,
binding the bruised,
the broken-hearted

pattern, path, and promises clear
for the willing and able—
to give Gospel Light
where dire the need
regardless of creed

Prophets promise. Life does not.

Night fell.
(came the dark)
alteration, revision
recharting myself, not as half but as halved
trusting in Light
(’though unseen in the dark)
compromises …
I improvise …
desperate for Gilead’s salve

No shared service away—not tomorrow, not today.

but Charity begins
(sometimes keeps one)
at home
another pattern crosses
an unplanned path
with promises unclear
yet dear