I asked a couple people “in-the-know” and they hadn’t heard anything, so I grabbed my shovel and dug a little deeper…

..and by “shovel” I mean my TV, and by “dug” I mean I watched conference on it.

Did you watch conference? I think the only thing that would indicate trouble in President Monson brainland is that he didn’t quote a song or poem this time. Other than that, he seared my soul with the scorching heat of awesome inspiration and subtle revelation that, whether or not there is any grain of truth to the rumors, it was apparent to me that God is upholding His prophet and my life is better for hearing him.

Conclusion:

Unless President Monson is behind the pulpit singing scat and using the mic as a gear shifter, I’m not giving heed to any more stupid rumors. 

I always found it fun that Ammon was such an awesome guy that he could go from being tied up ready to be killed for being a Nephite, to having the King offer his own daughter up for marriage. I would imagine being a son-in-law would have its advantages toward converting the king to the Gospel, but then I thought, we don’t know much about King Lamoni’s daughter – the offer may not have been that appealing. Apparently the idea of being Lamoni’s servant was a preferable option.

Although, I’m sure she had a sweet spirit.

For those of you who don’t get it, read Mosiah 12:1 carefully…

 And it came to pass that after the space of two years that Abinadi came among them in disguise, that they knew him not, and began to prophesy among them, saying: Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying—Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this my people, for they have hardened their hearts against my words; they have repented not of their evil doings; therefore, I will visitthem in my anger, yea, in my fierce anger will I visit them in their iniquities and abominations.

If you still don’t get it, then don’t hurt yourself, find a different comic to read.

Disclaimer: This is not historically accurate. Sorry to ruin that for you. But, if The Work and The Glory could get away with historical fiction, so can I. Truth be told, according to George Reynolds in “The Jaredites” (1 May 1882), Joseph was walking by this guy’s house named Reynolds Cahoon when Reynolds beckoned the Prophet in to give his newborn son a name and blessing. When Joseph blessed the baby, he gave him the name of Mahonri Moriancumer, and then told Reynolds that he just learned that this was the name of the Brother of Jared. This was the word of mouth account, at least. I’d like to think that Joseph really knew Mahonri’s name as they were translating Ether, and the cartoon I just made is what happened. Why? Because it’s much funnier.

PS – What ever happened to the Mahonri Moriancumer that Joseph blessed? Did he stick with that name? Do we have any history on the guy?

Did you enjoy this? Share it with others by clicking the “Share” button on the bar across the bottom of this page – or “Like” it. Or “Tweet” it. Or download it for your iPhone and other devices here.

I have already heard many of our General Authorities, especially Elder Bednar, talk about how often times we pray for the missionaries to find those who would like to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet it is the members’ duty to find those who are ready for the Gospel and the Missionary’s job to teach. We are the ones who are setting the examples and can build relationships of trust with our friends and neighbors – yet how often do we bury our heads in our computers, televisions and phones? Are we building relationships and inviting our friends, or are we leaving it all up to the Missionaries?

Remember, when praying for the missionaries, pray for yourselves to find those who the Lord is preparing – then go find them!

October 2010 General Conference prediction checklist

Brought to you by sticksofjoseph.com

Print this out and check things off as they occur. Let’s see how accurate our predictions are. Report back on what you found.

• President Monson will make you laugh and cry in the same talk. Possibly even the ‘welcome’ talk.
• President Uchdorf will give a clever anecdote relating to aviation.
• President Eyring will get a little choked up.
• One of the sisters will smile their entire talk.
• Elder Oaks will lay down the law.
• Elder Holland will be bold.
• Elder Scott will stare straight at the camera and right into your soul
• Elder Bednar’s hair will be perfect as usual
• Someone will wear a daringly bright striped or dotted tie
• At one point you say, “Who are the new apostles again?”
• When hearing the number of members, stakes, wards and temples worldwide, you’ll say, “wow”
• You may have a brief nap during a talk
• Someone will tell you that the best talk was the one you fell asleep to
• A general authority with a thick accent will say a prayer.
• The MoTab men will be dressed in black suits and the women will be dressed in a plain colored, questionably fashionable dress.
• (men) You go out to eat after the Priesthood session
• (women) You hear about how cool the Priesthood session was.
• Before exiting, President Monson will wave goodbye to the crowd and make them laugh somehow.
• In the closing remarks President Monson will encourage you to be courteous driving home.
• A temple (or more) will be announced.
• Whomever is announcing the new general authorities will pronounce their names with impeccable annunciation.
• You’ll stand up to sing the “rest hymn” and say, “Didn’t we sing this last time?”

Conference Topic Game.

Brought to you by sticksofjoseph.com

Mark one point for each time the word is said and 5 points if the talk centers on the topic. (not including prayers) For every 20 points you get, yell, “The Church is True!” (singular words for plurals are fine and vice versa)

• Jesus Christ
  
• The Book of Mormon
  
• Families
  
• Love
  
• Joseph Smith
  
• Temples / Temple Work
  
• Chastity
  
• Word of Wisdom
  
• Hope
  
• Charity
  
• Faith

Back by popular demand is an updated version of an old Sticks of Joseph classic – Ammon defends the sheep!

Ammon was an awesome missionary in the Book of Mormon, and I wonder if, in a modern context, if we would have the guts and the dedication to do the same. So, lets explore this idea…

Say you wanted to preach the Gospel REAL bad. The only thing on earth that you wanted to do is introduce the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who haven’t heard it, but beyond that, take it to our enemies – say… Al Qaeda. So, you take a trip to Afghanistan and walk into an Al Qaeda camp and get locked in handcuffs and taken to whoever is in charge of Al Qaeda at the time.  This guy asks what you are doing, and you simply told him that you just wanted to be their servant, even if it was until the end of your days. Can you imagine?? Would you be considered un-patriotic? A traitor?

After a lengthy conversation, this Al Qaeda leader likes you so much that he offers you his daughter for marriage. Nice offer, but you decline – after all, you’re on a mission. So you go and tend to the flocks, but they are getting scattered and stolen by a rival Afghani sect. So, you end up gunning the robbers down, and shooting off their arms. After that, you go tend to the horses while Al Qaeda big man’s chin hits the floor hearing how awesome of a servant you are. He brings you in, thinking you could be a God, but you take the opportunity to preach the Gospel, which leads to many branches of Al Qaeda to become members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Pretty awesome thought, eh? Well, that’s basically the story of Ammon in a modern context.

If you want this movie for your iPhone or other compatible devices… download it here!

(choose a size below, right-click the image that comes up and ‘Save Image As…’)

These have the image on the right so that if your icons are on the left, like most windows users, these are perfect.

640×480 itty bitty.
800×600
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1600×1200 Huge!
1900×1200 More Huge!

And for my Mac-using friends with large screens, here’s a special one with the image on the left for right-aligned icons. And this image is huge.
1920×1200 Massive Huge!

*Although Captain Moroni and Sticks of Joseph has combined to bring cool to your desktop in unimaginable ways, we don’t claim that you’ll be protected from computer viruses, malware, spyware or Windows crashes. You will, however, be protected from a dull desktop background.