Monday Sketchbook: Unstoppable...almost!

If you haven't yet had a chance to watch the General Women's Conference from this weekend, take the time to do so. It was an awesome meeting -- great music and great speakers!

One of my favorite quotes was from Sis. Wixom: "As individuals we are strong. Together, with God, we are unstoppable!"

Another highlight was the montage of "I Am A Child of God" sung around the world in several different languages. Check it out on the Church website. It's well worth watching!

Mind your manners

Sis. Kerry Jo has a new companion! They're learning to get along.

I have to throw in a note here: most Koreans are very nice and very polite. That said, many of Sis. Kerry Jo's adventures are based on real-life experiences.

Saturday night's all right

It does make it tough!

Sweet Sixteen

I'm so glad ours is a house of boys and we don't have to worry about things like that!

What makes a good sister great?

We have a Sis. Anderson serving in our ward right now. She's awesome! 

#didyouthinktopray

There's a social media campaign under way right now that was started by Al Fox Carraway (aka, the Tattooed Mormon) and the Mormon Channel: Did you think to pray? It asks people to hold a sign that completes the sentence, "I pray when..." and then post it to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #didyouthinktopray. 

There are some very interesting results, and it's very inspirational to see how many people have faith in the power of prayer.

A few of the folks around here heard about the campaign and wanted to add their two cents. Here's what Sis. Kerry Jo and her companion, Sis. Clabby had to say. We also heard from the folks at Zarahemla Times.

There's a lot of prayer going on! What about you? When do you pray?

Labors in the field

In our mission, it was our tradition to welcome new elders to the area with some kind of impossible chore. For example, in one area we usually had the new elders clean the garbage chute for our floor of the apartment complex.

It was kind of a nasty job.

The new missionaries hated it, but the neighbors were thankful.


OK, we'd usually stop them before they got too into it, but still...

Monday Sketchbook: Final Four

When I was working on my missionary papers, I went to see my dentist for the required checkup. I felt a little awkward sitting in the dental chair because I had a great big cast on my leg.

The dentist came in and asked me, "What happened to your leg?"

"I got hurt playing church basketball," I replied.

He then showed me his right arm, which was also covered with a cast.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"Me?" he said. "I got hurt playing church basketball."

Ghost in the machine

Rite of spring

I can't be the only one who experiences a little bit of sadness when the shovel goes back into the shed for the year!

It's everywhere you go

Glitter: the gift that keeps on giving.

Post up

I swear I've never had so many people invite me to watch a ballgame with them here in Oregon as with BYU going against the Ducks in the NCAA playoffs!

Go Cougs!

Celebrating some numbers

It's been about six months since I last ran this, my cartoon milestone marker. It's appropriate that this runs just after the Geek Week series, since the milestone is some behind-the-scenes geeky web analytics numbers that probably don't even bear mentioning here -- it's just numbers. But some bigger ones than I expected, and sooner, too. So, cool!

Don't wear the good shoes

I'd never seen them before serving as a missionary in Korea, but it seems like those cheap, blue plastic umbrellas are all over the place! I've seen them crop up during rainstorms in Paris and Washington, DC, and even here in Oregon. Are they everywhere?

The thing about them is, they aren't worth a darn! All it takes is a few drops of rain and a little bit of wind and they crumple.

Monday Sketchbook: St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! In keeping with the Geek Week theme, and continuing with the math jokes (at least it's not another pi gag!), we move into the world of geometry! Blame my son.

Hey, if you have a minute, can you try this link for me? It's supposed to allow you to download a sampler ebook of some of my cartoons called, "Cubs, Scouts and Zombies." Let me know if/how it works for you. Thanks!

Sharing the fruits of the labors

I promise this is the last Pi Day joke...this year.

Of course, that means I have another year to think up more!

More Geek Week

I couldn't fit all the Pi Day cartoons into one day (that would just be wrong!), so here's another as we continue our celebration of Geek Week.

This one has a slight "think about it" pause. I'm sorry!

Pi Day!

Yes, it's Geek Week once again! Geek Week corresponds (more or less) with Pi Day, or 3.14 as some prefer to call it. (It may just be me, but does anyone else find it an unnerving coincidence that Geek Week follows hot on the trail of the bullying series from Zarahemla Times?)

Be that as it me, let's kick off our celebration of Geek Week with our first nerdy cartoon!

So, what is Fibonacci? Find out here.

Be kind to your sibs

I remember a lesson once when the teacher said, "We often sing the song I Am A Child of God. But what would happen if we started treating people like we really believed it was true?"

Just desserts

The Law of Karma always has its way. Be careful!

Every little bit helps

There's an additional video that addresses the subject of bullying, this one aimed at a younger audience: http://youtu.be/9nGUUdHflY4

Monday Sketchbook: The times, they are a changin'

I overheard this very conversation at work the other day.

Yep, Daylight Savings Time: an excuse to be obnoxious!

Liken them unto us

I've found that more than a few people are emboldened by the idea that Nephi -- who was no slouch by any means! -- was bullied. 

Scriptural example

Sometimes it's really hard to be an adult, especially when someone is hitting your kids.

Keep turning

Yeah, I know. It's one of those punchlines I never grow tired of.

Erasure

Pres. Uchtdorf said: "We must recognize that we are all imperfect -- that we are beggars before God. "Haven't we all, at one time or another, meekly approached the mercy seat and pleaded for grace Haven't we wished with all the energy of our souls for mercy -- to be forgiven for the mistakes we have made and the sins we have committed?"

All in the family

There seems to be an attitude that's become more prevalent in society: you can do whatever you want as long as it's funny.

Funny, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. And if you're the the butt of the joke, it ain't funny.

There's a game we've played in some classes I've taught. It's called "Talking behind your back." Usually that phrase is used to describe gossip. But in this game, the person turns his or her back to the class, and then the class says good things about the person. It's great to see the change come over the person as he or she hears those positive statements. It's an exercise that always ends up in smiles!

Stop it.

There's a Mormon Message that's making the rounds on social media. It's based on Pres. Uchtodorf's message of "Stop it!"

As I watched the video, I was reminded of a series I did in Zarahemla Times a couple of years ago that's about the same subject. I felt impressed that I should run the series here as well.

In the video, the kid who is doing the harassment in school is later shown at a church service project, where he behaves like an angel. His justification for his meanness was that it was funny -- to him. But to the one on the receiving end, it was very hurtful. If you haven't yet seen the video, I highly recommend that you watch it.

It's often a fine line between the two. I do my best to steer clear of hurtful humor in my cartoons, but still there are those who find offense. My goal is to have humor that is uplifting; I think that my cartoons are one way to share my testimony of the gospel and of Jesus Christ.

For the next few days I'll be running this series. It's meaningful to me. I hope you join me for the ride.

Monday Sketchbook: Fill your lamps!

Yesterday we had stake conference. The stake president's talk was themed on the parable of the ten virgins.

The message was great. However, it occurred to me that the metaphor may have been lost on some of the younger members of the audience.

Warning: Don't try this at home!

Common core requirements

As I drew this, I began to wonder if I could recite any of the begats!

Beta test

What kind of apps do you think missionaries should have?