With a family of six boys, we have become all too familiar with the complaint: "I'm bored!" We've worked hard to get our boys away from screens and doing things that make them get outside, get sweaty and get creative.  

So, it was a bit disheartening when we heard our 9 year old say, "Do we have to do Come Follow me, again?  I don't really understand anything.  It's so boring!" - our 9 year old son.

It was a bit disheartening to hear, but not totally unexpected.  We had worked so hard to make our CFM time meaningful for all, but a tween is too old for silly cartoons and too young for deeper conversations his older brothers enjoy. 

So, I got to thinking what in the Book of Mormon would actually hold a 9-12 year old boy's attention and interest?  I started observing what my son naturally was interested in.  It was swords, battles and, frankly, violence.  Well, the Book of Mormon has tons of violence!  This should be the book he's most interested in!  

So, I listed all the great battles of the Book of Mormon to my son. But he said the words they use in the Book of Mormon are hard for him to understand and I get that.  So, I rewrote the stories as if I were telling a bedtime story of, say, the battle of Moroni vs. Zarahemna.  Once I had the script, I decided it would be fun to record it with battle sounds and an epic musical score.  I used my training as a former broadcast journalist to edit everything together.

It worked.  My sons really enjoyed it and wondered when I would make another one.  So, I wrote another and another.  Eventually I identified six epic battles of the Book of Mormon and decided to record them all with cinematic soundtracks and high-quality sound effects.  I Decided not to hold back on the sounds of gore and pain and torture that occur in the Book of Mormon.  Some mothers may be a bit uncomfortable with their younger sons hearing sounds of tearing flesh, etc.  So, we will eventually offer a PG version of the official PG-13 episodes that we will initially release.  

My sons really seem to enjoy them.  I hope your sons enjoy them, too.