As one

I served in Busan, South Korea. My brother served in Seoul. Our missionary service overlapped by a couple of months. About six months after my brother went home, our missionaries went up to a conference in Seoul. There were so many members from Seoul who were convinced that I was my brother! They thought I was lying when I said I was from Busan rather than Seoul.

But for some reason, they never mistook me for Korean. Hmm.
 

Sketchbook: You were my brother!

I was reading a Baby Blues collection the other day, and I noticed that Hammie, the little brother, reminded me an awful lot of some of my missionary companions. Sometimes it seems that they're like little brothers!
 

Sketchbook: A little political sidenote

It's been all over the news: Black Lives Matter. It stirs up a lot of emotions and uncomfortable conversations.

One metaphor that I liked was this one: a lifeguard's job is to make sure everyone at the swimming pool is safe. If someone is in trouble, that's where the attention goes.

Right now, a lot of blacks feel like not only are they in trouble in the pool, the lifeguard is helping to hold them under water.

This ought not to be.

For me, one of my goals is that people can see themselves in my cartoons. I make a conscious effort to include different ethnicities, different hair colors and different skin tones in my characters (like Sunday included black, white and green!). I promise to do a better job of that. It's not a huge thing, but it's something I can do. Another thing that we can all do is listen — and act on what we hear.

There are lots of experiences I could share that have brought home the importance of this to me. And yes, everyone matters. But right now we have a group of our spiritual siblings who are asking for help. We can't ignore them.

My bottom line: I believe that we're all children of our Heavenly Father, and we'd all be better off if we treated each other like it!

Older and wiser

Even so, I think there's always that tiny bit of panic.

Changing roles

Fitting into the ward family

Sisters can always tell you exactly where you fit in.

That's what little brothers are for!

It's my brother's birthday, and while I don't recall him ever saying anything like this, I wouldn't put it past him!

Happy birthday, bro!

Sunday doubleheader!

Where fiction and reality meet

So last week we took one of my sons down to Provo to start his mission. When he got dressed in the morning, somehow the suit he had on seemed too small.

Here's why:

Which meant, of course, the larger suit was still at home.

Thanks to the US Postal Service, that should all be remedied by now. Whew!