A show of support

Time to revisit a story arc from Good Heavens.

Monday Sketchbook: Growing a foot

Our current deacon's quorum president is about four-foot eight. The previous deacon's quorum president, when he left the quorum for the teachers, was six-foot one. That's a lot of growth!

Strong in the faith

As Samuel L. Jackson (aka Nick Fury) could probably tell you, it's hard to keep the Avengers under control. It would be even more tough to be their mission president!

I didn't realize it when I first drew this cartoon, but this is apparently a sequel to one drawn by Arie Van De Graaff at Mormon Cartoonist.

Almost an announcement

OK, so today's cartoon isn't a cartoon. It's an illustration from our upcoming book, "The Tale of Abubu." We're just finalizing the files for print, so I'll be sure to let you know when the book is available. Woot!

Busy day

There's a bright crown in store

There's an almost magical transformation that happens to missionaries once they get in uniform...

For such a time as this

Ah, the magical age where young men and young women can attend stake dances!

What, me worry?

Nothing can slow you down like a DMV, right?

Monday Sketchbook: Two for Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! Take the planet out to lunch.

Best companion ever?

I've taken my kids or my wife on visits with me when I couldn't get my schedule to match with that of my home teaching companion. It's had mixed results. It would be a disaster if I ever took my dog -- although I'm certain he'd love it!

The exception to the rule

This is a reworking of one that ran in the New Era many years ago. I no longer have the original, so I recreated it.

Go where you're told

Don't panic, it's not a new strip! It's just that this gag worked best in four panels. I could easily see this happening with several of the kids I coached in Little League!

It keeps you running

One of the hardest things about the bombing at the Boston Marathon is that there's not a lot that we can do as individuals. I think about the best we can do is keep those affected in our thoughts and in our prayers.

This is a sneak peek at Sunday's Good Heavens.

Sorry, Doctor...

I'm not sure where this came from, but it kind of frightens me!

Resource center

Not only can you keep up on Kerry Jo and her mission over on her mission blog, you can also follow her on Pinterest. Isn't that scary?

Monday Sketchbook: Smile when you say that

My dentist just got called to be bishop. I guess that means I'll have to be careful what I say when I'm under anesthesia...

Flashback: The early days

I always feel like I should be in trouble for drawing this one, but it makes me laugh (see Article of Faith No. 6).

Flashback: Play ball!

I usually do at least a few baseball-themed cartoons every season, many of them based on my experiences as a coach in Little League. This one is a favorite.

Flashback: Doubleheader under the sea!

I drew this after a game of Trivial Pursuit in which I drew a card that asked about the internal anatomy of a cephalopod. I missed the answer once, but never again!

Flashback: One more river to cross

The Zen cartoons are some of my favorite. They're very minimalist, and occasionally they make you think. This is one that I'm particularly fond of.

Flashback: Best ever!

When this cartoon ran in the New Era, the son of the Den Leader in question ran downstairs yelling, "Mom! Mom! You're in the New Era!"

I hope by now she's forgiven me!

Happy Anniversary!

This marks my fifth year of doing this blog! Some of the gags have been good; some of the gags have been, well, less good -- but they've all come at the same low price!

As usual, I mark this significant milestone with a rerun of the cartoon that started it all -- my first published cartoon that ran in the New Era when I was still in high school.

In celebration of five years, I'm going to rerun some of my favorite cartoons during this week. I hope you like them, too. Thank you for joining me!

Monday Sketchbook: Notes from General Conference!

It's time for the Conference edition of the Monday Sketchbook! These are from my notes taken during General Conference. It was a great conference, and there's so much to digest! I'm glad the Church has the resources to make it easy to read, watch or listen to the messages again!

Conference Enhancement Tips

There are so many ways to participate in Conference! There are also so many ways to participate that participating could be a distraction. For example, a few years ago I was following the feed on Twitter. It was awesome to see that Conference was trending, and fun to see the reaction to the talks and announcements. But soon I found that I was paying more attention to Twitter than I was to the speakers!

It may just be me; if it works for you, great. Just remember to listen with the Spirit.

See you tomorrow with the Sketchbook review of General Conference!

Conference Tips

One of my favorite conference quotes is from Elder Holland: “If we (the speakers at Conference) teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you.”

I can tell you that exact thing happened to me. During the Saturday Morning session about five years ago, there was a talk that was given that blew me away. The topic of the talk was inspiring, yes, and I learned more than I expected. But the real learnings came from what the Spirit taught me during that talk. I learned on multiple levels simultaneously, answering not only the questions that I had, but also answering questions that I didn't know I had!

Do as Elder Holland says: listen!

I'll answer for you

Now before you go running to the atlas or Google Maps to find Lauputania, I have to warn you that it's a fictional country in Europe that's populated with missionaries. Specifically, missionaries serving under Arie Van De Graaff (aka, the Mormon Cartoonist). I have to put a plug in for him here, because it is time for General Conference, and Bro. Arie publishes a General Conference Activity Packet at Sugar Doodle.

I also want to invite you to be sure to come back on Monday and check out the General Conference Recap edition of the Monday Sketchbook.

One more thing. Kerry Jo started a mission blog: kerryjosmission.blogspot.com. This could be interesting!

Sharing the call

The mail mixup idea is based on personal experience. The New Era sends its cartoonists a copy of the magazine when one of their cartoons is published. One time instead of a magazine, like the invoice said, they accidentally sent me a copy of the Book of Mormon. I called them and asked if I should return it, because somewhere out there is a person who requested a Book of Mormon and instead got a New Era. They told me not to worry about it; I could keep the copy of the Book of Mormon... or give it away!

Green thumb take down

I asked one of my coworkers what she did this weekend. This was her answer.

There is an hour

I remember telling myself, as we went through this phase, that to everything there is a time and a season. This, too, will soon pass -- and they'll go in to Nursery!

Monday Sketchbook: Play Ball!

 It's hard to play baseball in the snow, especially fielding grounders!

Happy opening day!