Making plans

It's all about priorities.

The reason for the season

Best wishes and a Merry Christmas to all!

In the forecast

Ever wonder if the Nephites had weathermen? They were careful observers of the stars and the planets and times and seasons. So why not weather forecasting? I can only imagine some sort of primitive doppler system that they may have used. Hmm.

For the love of nature

It's such a blessing to have a sibling help you with your chores!

Give thanks in all things!

What's in a word?

Onomatopoeia, words that make the sound they represent, are awesome. In my middle school English class, we were asked to make a list of sound words. My teacher made the mistake of telling us the record for her class was 50 words. I went home and went straight to my B.C. cartoon collection -- Johnny Hart was a master of onomatopoeia. My teacher told me to stop when I got to 250 words; that was good enough for an A.

Count your many billows

One of my favorite quotes from Bill Cosby is his response when people asked why he and his wife had five kids: "Because we don't want six!"

The broken bow

On being resourceful

I get a kick out of how many of these gags are based on real life experiences!

Scratching the surface

Better than I expected

This happened to me several years ago during one of Elder Scott's talks. The talk itself was good, but the lessons I learned were awesome!

For your ears only

Have you ever had that experience when a conference talk resonates with you? Sometimes it's a personal thing, other times it's an experience shared by many.

Remember, you can review all the talks from General Conference (or listen for the first time) on the Church website. There may be one that speaks to you!

Try it

Conference starts tomorrow! Listen in and see what messages might be there for you!

Wondering why

This is something I hear more about stake conference rather than General Conference. 

Questions

Not sure where this is going, but it'll be interesting to see...

Be it ever so humble

Sometimes the best thing about going on vacation is coming home again!

Just one more thing before we go

Ever notice how they always put the gift shops right by the exits?

Fruits of the labor

Food. It's a great motivator.

With a little help

There are always those willing to go to the rescue. In this case, the rescuer is making a cameo appearance from Good Heavens. It's a service project!

Letting go

Which is worse -- getting lost or losing somebody?

Hold on tight

I hate it when I lose stuff!

Get a grip

Having recently reread Lehi's vision, it kind of seems like an obstacle course on a major scale. It's good to have a handrail!

Choose ye this day

It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

Somebody I used to know

Heh, heh!

Everybody has a dream

OK, so I borrowed a bit from Shakespeare here.  Hope you don't mind!

Sometimes I have to remind myself why I share these cartoons. Certainly it's not for money or fame (although I did run into somebody once who recognized my name from this strip!).  I do it to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon, if only in a small way. I feel like placing a strip in this setting is kind of like following Nephi's admonition to liken the scriptures unto ourselves.

Whatever the reason you're here, I'm glad you stopped by. Maybe it helps you visualize the scriptures, or look at them in a different light. Maybe it gives you a smile or roll your eyes. To me, it's gratifying to see that people from all over the world check in from time to time. That's cool. Keep coming back!

Thanks!

It soon will be tomorrow

It seems like it's the parents who get more excited about theme park vacations than the kids do!

The way we were

Hit the road

The hardest part of any vacation is getting out the door.

It keeps on giving

I had a boss who used to say, "That project cost more than we expected it would, but then we expected it would!"

A few good men

There are many times when I wish that the Book of Mormon included more named women. That's a thought that was seconded by my aunt, Isabel.

This place sounds familiar...

Hey, kids!

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of the summer season.  We're still working on our vacation plans, but what could be better than a theme park with the family, right?

Hidden treasures

I remember one day when one of my kids was washing the dishes -- a chore that often took hours -- he suddenly realized that if he did them quickly, he'd have extra time to do the things he wanted to!

Mother's Day edition!

Remember your mother this Mother's Day. And Happy Mother's Day from all of us here at Zarahemla Times!

Looking for answers

I feel this way every time I read about the exchange between Amulek and Zeezrom. There's gotta be something to solve for at the end of the description of Nephite money.

But the part I feel most guilty about is reading the parable of the vineyard in Jacob 5. I can't help but think of Dr. Seuss whenever he says, "It grieveth me to lose this tree."

It's all about family

My kids don't like this concept either!

When all else fails

Church at home!

There's a church around the corner from here that offers drive-in services, so you don't really need to get dressed up, you can bring the pets, have breakfast or whatever all within the comfort of your own automobile. It meets the needs of a certain niche audience, I suppose.

Conference season

You know how in Ecclesiastes where it says "to everything there is a season"? When you're in the moment, sometimes as a parent it's hard to remember that it's a different season.

What hath spring wrought?

I think the deal is that Kib just doesn't understand plants.

All write

It does mention in the scriptures that it was awkward for them to write, right?

Lift where you stand

Time for a change

I remember traveling overseas one year just as the time changed, so not only did we have to deal with jet lag, we also had to deal with the time change. That means everyone, both guests and hosts, was grumpy!

Simple reminder

We've got some of the best chili makers around: Tracy's white chicken; Don's bacon and steak; Mike's 12 alarm. But my favorite has to be Ben's candy chili -- it's usually the first to sell out!

Come, join the ranks

Pretty exciting news about the Church adding 58 new missions, including one right here!

Proving a point

Some folks just have a knack...

Voice of an angel

Ammon style!

Most missionaries nowadays can't use the same techniques that Ammon used to start a gospel conversation. That's probably a good thing!

A father's wisdom

I know, right? If you're the parent of a teenager, you know exactly what he's talking about. Which is why I choose to do a preemptive strike and explain to my kids that I'm not telling them these things because I'm stupid, I'm telling them because it's in my job description.

Family ties

There are times when I think it must have been horrible to have Laman and Lemuel as older brothers. But then I try looking at things from their point of view -- I don't know if I could stand having a little brother who was always calling me to repentance, nagging me to read the scriptures and making me help build some stupid boat.