Matthew Home Again

At the end of his senior year, Matthew was called to serve a mission to Sydney, Australia. He had so much excitement to serve and we were all excited for him to share the gospel in the same country where my Dad served his mission. When it was time for Matthew to leave, Australia's borders still closed from the COVID pandemic. They were one of the last countries to open up. Matthew received a temporary call to the Charlotte North Carolina mission. Again it was special call since my parents served their senior mission in the same mission. He spent about 8 months in North Carolina and then flew to Sydney. Both experiences were a tremendous growing experience for Matthew in the gospel and also as an individual. It has been so great having him home. He has been working and then spending his nights trying to plan his future. He says that his mission taught him to plan his days, months and lifelong goals. I loved his last letter that he sent to his family and friends before his return home. Here are his words and testimony:

“This is my last week as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The most humbling experience I have had in my lifetime and I am eternally grateful. Serving a mission is not an easy thing, and people know that, but the thing that I wish i could help youth in the church understand is that serving a mission changes the course and perspective of life. You go from being focused on what you are and where you are going in high school to, how can I help every person I talk to today feel the light of christ in their lives. It's all about serving the people around you and seeing their progression! Missions are a daunting thing!! But if I'm being honest as I've realized in the last couple weeks, life is even more daunting!! And what better way to give ourselves a head start in life than serving Jesus Christ fully. Not being worried about yourself but those around you.”

The originals: Matthew, Catherine, Kirsten, Julie, David, Sarah. Camille, and Spencer

Our growing family: Caleb, Catherine, Matthew, Spencer, Adelyn, Kirsten, Sarah, Poppy, Lottie, Julie, David, Camille, Lincoln, Heidi and Jonathan. (Missing Ben, William and Eleanor)

More family who attended: Sara Jane, Mary, Anna, Scott, Clara,  Grandma and Grandpa Thompson and in the front Hannah and Peter.

At Idaho Falls Airport

Friends who welcomed Matthew home: Landon Drake, Dylan Lewis, Mike, Julie and Tanner Severn

School Begins 2023

School started at Madison this week. Dave is on his 29th year of teaching. We have been at Madison for about 24 years and after all that time we finally have all the music filed away in a very orderly manner. It took two weeks of sorting and purging but we finished the day before Dave had a faculty meeting in his room. Dave made a big pile of music to discard or as the district says “put it in surplus”, we emptied all of the files then reorganized them, and we put away many, many pieces of music. It was a huge project and at times it felt as if we would never finish. The efforts we made will make a big difference for Dave. He will spend much less time looking for music. Things will be much easier to find because there is significant less clutter. It’s a big improvement! 

Lincoln started 1st grade on Monday. When Camille talked to his teacher today, she said Lincoln has so much imagination. It’s true, he does like to find opportunity to put himself in an adventure, or pretend to be an animal or get lost in time. He has yet to understand the concept of being late. Camille is trying to teach him that it is to everyone’s benefit when he arrives on time to school. 

I have been doing yoga each morning. I started after I visited the doctor about my back. Each morning I would wake up to a lot of back pain. He suggested either doing exercises or getting an MRI. I chose the first and it has made a huge difference!