Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley (wife of President Gordon B. Hinckley) once said, "A sense of humor keeps life interesting." On another occasion she said, "The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."
I've found that humor keep us grounded but it also keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously especially when we laugh at ourselves. Clive & Iva loved a good joke, and Iva loved to pull pranks in her youth. Both had a great sense of humor which they passed on to their children and descendants.
When a family friend was serving a mission in Connecticut, he and I started sharing funny stories and pictures with each other - which led to my creating a clean humor sheet that I could send to him each week. Thus, Morning Breaks was born. Since those humble beginnings in 2004 I have sent the weekly two-sided sheet to friends, neighbors, nephews, neices, and grandkids who are laboring as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At first I sent them every week, but as the numbers grew so did the cost of postage (at one point most postings were going overseas and interenational postage rates nearly broke me. (LOL!) I had to modify my schedule to sending a monthly letter with all the Morning Breaks for the previous month.
I have contnued to create the monthly issues. I must admit there were a few months when time just wouldn't permit. But below are the monthly PDF versions of the Morning Breaks from 2004 to the present. Feel free to browse, download and send to anyone you feel impressed needs their spirits raised a bit. All the jokes came from emails I received or some great stuff I came across on social media accounts I have. There are some repeats, but that's okay. A mission only lasts two years after all, and some things bear repeating from time to time, right? Enjoy!