Reading does a body good

When I was in middle school, I had a book report due for my English class. I hadn't finished reading any books, but I had read Alma — so I did my report on that. Hey! It was a chapter book, right?!

Our kids were always super excited for the summer reading program at our local library. They offered weekly prizes, and culminated with the coveted free pizza coupons for participants.

I don't remember what grade or feedback I got on my Alma report, but I wish I had kept it. Dang.
 

New and improved

And then they discovered advertising!
 

For good measure

Every time I read those chapters in Alma, I have flashbacks of elementary school math class!
 

C'mon down!

Never go down part way.

When I asked my family what color Amalickiah's phone would be, nobody batted an eye. They answered and kept on eating. Do other families have that kind of scripture conversation around the dinner table?

Gone to seed

We were just reading in Alma as a family, and for some reason this old Zarahemla Times cartoon came to mind. 

New. Improved.

Can't you just see the competing congregations? My Rameumptom is better than your Rameumptom!

Sketchbook: Making amends

There was a period between Alma the Younger's conversion and their missionary labors. The scriptures say they spend their time trying to cure the ills that they had done. How did they go about doing that?

Sketchbook: When temptation calls

Our family has recently been reading in Alma, where Alma is counseling his sons. It occurred to me that we only have Alma's side of the conversations. I can imagine Corianton saying something like this.

Subtlety

Parents of teenage boys, am I right?

Sketchbook: Many meetings

When Alma met the sons of Mosiah on the road between Gideon and Zarahemla, they met with joy. But remember, these were guys...

The Land of Desolation

For one of my sons, it's a clean room when we can see a patch of the carpet.

Sketchbook: Taking Alma's advice

Let's just see what beginneth to grow...

Virtue of the word

Times like this remind me of what it says in Alma: "And now,as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just — yea, it had a more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them — therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God."

Trust that Higher Authority!

Sketchbook: Fatherly advice

It's Father's Day week, so I've been thinking of good father figures from the scriptures. One of those is Alma, who took on one of the toughest jobs that a father has: telling his kid that he messed up. Good ol' Alma didn't stop there, though — he got down to the root of the problem. And Corianton became an awesome guy afterward!

Monday Sketchbook: Wicked good

There are several reasons why this stayed in the sketchbook.

• One, Alma's quote, "wickedness never was happiness" came as he was chastising his son about pursuing carnal pleasures — and bacon could easily fall into that category;
• Two, during this time frame they were still living under the Mosaic law, which classifies pigs — and therefore bacon — as unclean; and
• Three, developing this idea past the sketchbook stage would involve too much time involving me thinking about bacon. Mmm! Bacon...

It's strong with this one

You've gotta wonder where George Lucas came up with some of his ideas.

Well, except for Jar Jar Binks. I, for one, don't want to know where that came from!

Sneak preview

• Editor's note: OK, this is scheduled to run over on Zarahemla Times in a couple of weeks or so. So when it does, act all surprised like you've never seen it before. Thanks!

With BYU basketball and the university's Honor Code in the news all over the place, I can't help but think of the parallels between this incident and Alma's son Corianton. Both involved some pretty good individuals who made up a good team, and both had one guy who messed up -- which caused some problems for the rest of the team as well.

I like what Alma did. He pulled Corianton off the team for a while and gave him a little talking to. But later, Corianton was back on the team and doin' his job. He would have been in line to be entrusted with the records if he hadn't gone off on a supply ship to the north.

It's kind of the same thing with Brandon Davies. He messed up. With any luck, he'll be back on the team in the future. He's got a lot of potential.

But what I like even more is that when Alma talked to Corianton, we got a whole lot of pretty cool doctrine. And with Mr. Davies, we've got a lot of discussion going on about standards, values and honor. That's a pretty good thing.

Did it mess up BYU's chances in the conference tournament and the NCAAs? We'll see. But the conversation on character, I think, is more important than winning a few ball games. After all, the scripture doesn't say, "how great shall be your joy if you bring many championship trophies unto me," right?

Hang in there, Davies. We're with you. And go Cougs!