Not so scary

Word on the street is that missionary housing has improved a lot since my day. With a couple of my missionary apartments, there was nowhere to go but up!
 

The Continuum

Don't look now, but I may have just invented another product for Deseret Book to "borrow." 
 

Any questions?

Doesn't it seem like either they don't have any questions or they just have one or two?
 

Sketchbook: A better talk

Wasn't that an amazing conference? There were so many good messages, and I took several notes of things I need to pay attention to. 

I loved Elder Farnes' story with Pres. Oaks: "That's what we do."

Elder Renlund: "You are not an asterisk."

Elder Kearon: "Live in spiritual lift."

Sis. Chibota's sawubona.

Pres. Eyring: "Of course it's hard! It's a test!"

Elder Kyungu: "Bury the language of contention."

Elder Gong: "Why did the temple workers cross the road?"

And so much more! What were some of your highlights?

 

Sketchbook: A new friend

Sometimes the things that wind up in the sketchbook don't make a lot of sense. But I liked the drawing of the alien ship.
 

Special ingredients

When you're out of Corn Flakes, I guess.
 

Courage

Brains, courage, heart. It takes a lot to be a good missionary!
 

Sketchbook: It's a tie

I don't remember how I came up with that number. Math was involved.

My dad would never untie his ties. Once a neckties of them was tied just right, he'd loosen it and slip it over his head to take if off or put it on. Anyone else do that?
 

How amazing are you?

You've probably seen those things on social media: "If you've been to 10 of these countries, you've traveled more than most people" or "If you've eaten half of these foods, you're a true foodie."

I wondered how that could apply to missionary work, and that led to this list — most are drawn from my own experience.

Sorry about the small print, but I had to include enough experiences to make it worthwhile.

How high did you score? Anything else that should be included on the list?
 

Each missionary in his time plays many parts

We recently had a missionary complete his mission. We had a fun discussion about how he could describe his experiences on his resumé when he got home.
 

Transfer time!

It's transfer time in our mission again! One of our elders is leaving after being here for "five Fast Sundays!"

We have a tradition that we give departing missionaries a copy of one of my books. The missionaries stopped by so Elder Childs (from Las Vegas, NV) could say goodbye and get his book. 

Then he said, "Do you want me to draw you a cartoon?" That's the first time I've had that happen! 

Without further ado, here's a special presentation by a guest artist: Bert and Big Bird as missionary companions assigned to Sesame Street!

Eyes on

Sometimes zone leaders get a bad rap. 
 

Sketchbook: Hold up there!

Another one that stayed in the sketchbook for obvious reasons.
 

Eyes up above

My mission president always knew what was happening with his missionaries. I don't know what technology he used, but it was amazing!

 

Sketchbook: Font choices

I wonder how many missionaries have encountered Bigfoot here in the Pacific Northwest?
 

A pocket full of memories

I think my parents were surprised at how much I brought home from my mission. But, hey — a person can accumulate a lot of stuff over two years!

 

Sketchbook: Everybody clean up, that's the thing to do

I had companions and companions who were a mess. It was a lot easier to deal with the clutter!
 

Caption contest results

What a lot of great entries in the caption contest! In fact, I'm going to directly steal an idea from the Ward Cartoonist and include all the entries in one mega cartoon!

To give credit where credit is due, these are the submitters:

• Drumming up support... Klinton
• A few minutes on this... Arie VDG
• Share our talents... Sonny
• This could really spice up the Primary... Sonny
• Music of the gospel... Sonny
• Sis. Reyes Quartet... Adam T 
• In-a-gadda-da-vida... Jim J
• Pioneer children... Mark B
• Checked the handbook... Adam T
• Drumming up interest... Kerry O
• Home MTC... Jim B
• Cymbalism... Jeff B
• I'm beat... Bob
• Honorable mention (but not included)... Ben B

Thank you for all the wonderful (and funny) submissions! DM me if you'd like a semi-valuable prize for your entry!

Sketchbook: Free kick

There's got to be some way to keep track of who's nice to the missionaries!
 

What?! A caption contest?!

Hey! It's been a few minutes since we've run a caption contest. After I drew this, I didn't think the caption I had was very good. But as long as I have the drawing, I might as well throw this out to the greater mind of you, brilliant reader!

Drop a caption suggestion in the comments, message or email me, tell me to my face — whatever works for you.

There's a prize for the winning suggestion, so enter early and often!