Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Getting closer

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Post-holiday letdown

All the big stores start pushing school supplies at the end of July. Most places don't start school until the end of August or first of September. Corporate America is out to destroy summer vacation!

Monday, July 29, 2013

Monday Sketchbook: One last pioneer gag

You can roll your eyes at this. I won't be offended!

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Hot in here

I think that there are people who come to church in the summer just for the air conditioning. Thank goodness we have it!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Welcome wagon!

It seems strange to me that the crickets are the ones that wound up with the "Mormon" name. The seagulls were the ones that were on the side of the pioneers!*

HAPPY PIONEER DAY!

*Thanks for the thought, Arie!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The road ahead

Bits and pieces of the Oregon Trail are visible from the highway as you drive across eastern Oregon. Sometimes the juxtaposition of modern highway signs and the Old Oregon Trail create an interesting combination.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Monday Sketchbook: The price of fame

Crickets are the bad boys of Mormon history, so much so that they earned their own scientific classification. And once those bad boys became famous, they hit the talk show circuit (above), picked up a couple of product endorsements (example one - example two), even a backup band, and soon they began to deny their roots.

It's a sad tale of destruction, one we hope doesn't get repeated any time soon.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

The full meal deal

I think there's a reason they never ask me to go on the pioneer treks...

Friday, July 19, 2013

Protection

Bishops hear all kinds of excuses...some that almost seem plausible!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Our heritage

There are certain youth in our area who are convinced that we do our pioneer treks because our stake president wants to see them suffer. That's not the case, I'm sure. But I know there are those who would like to explore other aspects of their heritage!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Scales


I was looking through some old Good Heavens cartoons the other day and ran across this one. I thought it was worth sharing.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

With songs of praise

Our ward struggles with finding someone to play for Priesthood opening exercises, even though we have the programmed pianos that will provide accompaniment with the touch of a button. Maybe we should start recruiting people who play other instruments...?

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Where are we now?

I think almost all missionaries get that feeling when they get to their first area.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

The heat is on. Always on.

I don't normally do sequels, but this is a follow up to Thursday's cartoon. Our Arizona elder said that there were times when it was 100 degrees even at night!

Friday, July 12, 2013

That's on the FTP site



A while back there was a news story about the First Presidency and members of the Quorum of the Twelve having a presence on social media, including Facebook and Google+. There's a lot of good potential there. But what about the flip side? I did a cartoon a couple of years ago about being unfriended by Santa...Wouldn't it just feel awful to be unfriended by the Prophet?

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Lost in translation

Missionaries run into all kinds of people. Sometimes it's hard to tell if they're interested in the message, or interested in something else.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Always welcome

We have one home teaching family that's like a box of chocolates -- we never know what we're going to get when we knock on their door...but it's always something interesting! One time the door opened and my companion got shot with a Nerf gun; another time one of the kids opened the door and said, "excuse me, I'm going to go throw up" and did.

Home teaching. It's not just a job -- it's an adventure!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Monday Sketchbook: Into the wild

Missionaries, in general, aren't really a wild bunch, especially nowadays, and more especially in the MTC. These guys are focused! It's like they are, well, men (and women) on a mission! Pointing to the wrong area on the map is about as crazy as it gets!

Apologies for the Eurasia side of the map, but hey -- it is just a sketchbook, right?

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Poking the hearts

Have you tried the new Family Search website? It's pretty awesome. Some people's eyes glaze over when you talk about family history because they think it's all digging up names and dates. Other people think that it's all been done because some distant aunt or grandmother filled out all those forms.

But there's way more to it than that, as this updated website shows.

It lets you post photos of your ancestors and share some of their stories. That takes them from being names and dates to being real people.

We found one of our ancestors, John Niels Beckstrom, was a rather dapper looking gentleman with a top hat and fancy mustache. As an early settler of the Salt Lake Valley, another ancestor described the sounds and the smell of the crickets during the cricket and seagull incident. That's something I never thought of, and makes it more vivid, more real. We also discovered that one side of our family is descended from none other than Thor...and Mrs. Thor. Instead of family reunions, we assemble.

Check out the site; check out your heritage. It's probably pretty cool. You could be descended from a superhero, too!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Dinner time

I think I can safely say that I had some of the most interesting food that I've ever eaten while I was on my mission.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Have it your way

Every now and then I like to throw in a gag that makes readers think a just a little bit. Not too much, mind you -- just a little.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Monday, July 1, 2013

Monday Sketchbook: With glowing hearts

Yes, today is the day we celebrate Canada, eh! This is a little bit more than I usually do for a Monday Sketchbook, but, hey! It's Canada Day!