Returned With Honor!

March 15, 2012 was a much anticipated happy day!!  Ammon came home from his mission after having served the people of Brazil for two years.  I still remember the day we dropped him off at the Portland airport.  It seems so long ago, yet the time seemed to go by so fast...if that makes any sense at all.  Meeting him at the airport was such a wonderful event.

Bishop Ennis (a.k.a President Ennis) and McKay checking to see if the flight would arrive on time.

 

Hyrum, the official sign holder, was practicing his important duties.

The family securing their place in the airport to have the best view of his arrival.

McKay looks on in anticipation.

Dad was the first to spot him as he reached the top of the escalator.

Okay, I can't lie, the emotions really kicked in at this point and I couldn't hold back the tears.  Even looking at this picture, the emotions all come flooding back.  I love the look on everyone's faces as they spot Elder Luke.

He looks great, especially coming home all tan from the Brazilian sun.

Ready to high five Hyrum.

There was much discussion as to who would get the first hug.  (Hyrum thought he should since he "really likes Ammon a lot.")  But, Dad pulled rank and made the decision for Mom to have the honor.  Although, if you look closely, there is a small arm around the back of Ammon...so I guess technically it was a group hug!

After patiently waiting, Dad gets his turn.

Then there were hugs all around!  

Moroni...

McKay...

 Corinne...

Kara...

Bishop/President Ennis...

Brother Dan Walker...

Cory Polier...

Mom...one more time...

 After 24 hours of traveling...thumbs up to being home.

The happy family.

Welcome home, Ammon, we are so very proud of you!

Serving in Brazil

Ammon was able to get on the blog the other day and told me we were past due for a post on him....and he's right!  I always figured that since I forward his weekly emails to a group of people, that everyone knows how he's doing.  But then I realized that not everyone gets the emails, so here goes....

He just passed his year mark, I can't believe how fast the time is going!

As goes tradition, he burned a shirt.

He has spent time as a district leader and a trainer....

working his companion hard, uh, maybe too hard!

He spends A LOT of time walking....no bikes or cars on this mission!

He loves getting mail and packages!

The Brazilians are "crazy for pancakes,"
so he cooks for them whenever he can.

He has endured all kinds of weather...it's pretty unpredictable.

And, he's getting pretty good at speaking Portuguese!

Mission Life, Part 2

Apparently, Ammon sent some pictures to us, and some pictures to Becca. (Not enough internet time to send all to both.) So, we have exchanged pictures and now we have him doing his laundry. Looks like fun!

Wash cycle.

Rinse cycle.

Prep for the dry cycle. Just a note: He lives in a second story apartment.

Where are the guardrails?!!

Dry cycle...as long as it doesn't rain.

Alternate dry cycle...when it does rain!

Successfully clean!

Mission Life

We were excited to get actual pictures from Ammon in the mission field. In case you didn't know, Ammon is serving in Brazil in the Porto Alegre North Mission. He is loving the experience and learning the Portuguese language. We are so thankful that he has chosen to serve a mission and we, as a family, enjoy the blessings as a result of that choice. He is keeping a positive attitude and has set a goal to never discouraged while he is on his mission. Right now he is in a small town called Montenegro. The ward is small and they don't really have a youth group, but he and his companion are working on changing that.

Not sure what the green stuff is....we'll have to ask him about it.

He and his companion were making some kind of dessert.

Elder Cummock from Tennessee. He is at the end of his mission,

and Ammon is the first American companion he has had.

I like how they made the dessert in a plastic shoe box container.

Missionary creativity!

Are these good looking guys or what?!

Ever since Jesse changed his name to Moroni, I've been wanting to take pictures of Dad and the boys and add these scriptures to them. Finally, on the day before Ammon was leaving, and only about 30 minutes before he was to be set apart as a missionary, we snapped a bunch of pictures...very quickly! It was quite the trick to get Hyrum to cooperate. He loves to close his eyes in pictures, but we got a few.

"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Monty, yea, and even the other sons of Monty, yea, McKay and Hyrum, for they were all men of God." Alma 48:17-18

"Now these sons of Monty had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God." Alma 17:2-3

Ammon at the Temple

When Ammon went to the temple for the first time in December, it was an eventful day. It just so happened to snow on the way up to Portland unexpectedly. We made it just fine since we had to get up there early. But, unfortunately, everyone else got caught in the snow (and horrible traffic.) Grandma and Grandpa Thompson decided early on not to even attempt the drive. Kim, Danny, Kara, and (nursing) baby Olivia had to turn around and head home. Bishop and Sister Ennis persevered and finally made it safely to the temple. What was supposed to be a 4:00 session turned into an 8:00 session. It was a long day, but well worth it. You would think that with waiting four hours, we would have taken some pictures, but sadly, no. So the following picture is of Ammon and us on our last time with Ammon at the temple before his mission.

He's at the MTC!

Ammon arrived at the Brazil MTC this past Wednesday. We are so excited to have a missionary in the field again! We know it will be a great blessing to him, our family, and to those that will receive the gospel through him. It was so hard to say goodbye at the airport, knowing that it would be two years before we would see him again. He flew straight to Brazil. It was comforting to receive the following letter:

Dear Parents,

We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time. We promise to take good care of your missionary.

They now have companions and are settled into their rooms. They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study. The branch presidents and their wives, will soon give them a second greeting. These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.

The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs. He is assisted by his able wife. We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple. This will be either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on individual assignments.

Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”

Please accept our love,

President Donald L Clark and Sister Zaza Clark

Ammon's Band Concert

This is Ammon's latest, and last, high school band concert. This featured four drummers on four different drums, hence the name "Four for Four." It was a university level piece and I think they did an excellent job! Eli and Isaac should enjoy it, as its over five minutes of pure drumming!

The Annual Christmas Parade

This is for Shailey, Eli, and Isaac. See if you can spot Uncle Ammon on the drums. I'll give you a hint: he carries four drums!

The Pumpkin Patch

Last night was combined FHE with Brad's family. We went to Herrick's farm and rode the tractor-pulled wagon out to the pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun and it was such a nice fall day. We bought 63 lbs. of pumpkins which we will carve later.

Ammon chasing Hyrum through the hay maze...can you

spot Hyrum's head?

The hay ride

Ammon just chillin' on the hay ride

Mom and Dad enjoying the ride

Now this is what we came here for!

Band Concerts

"The Drumline"

The boys just had their spring concerts. McKay likes playing the bass guitar, but I think he would like more "jazzy" parts. If you really want to hear his musical abilities, check out McKay's original music to the left. (He actually had a recording studio check out his myspace profile and contact him as an "artist of interest" in looking for new talent to sign!) Ammon and Jesse are in drumline and band. Ammon also does jazz band. This video is of the drumline. I was excited to get both boys in the picture at the same time so that I didn't have to go back and forth and miss either one of their parts. Jesse does a great job on the mallets and drums (even a snazzy little hand clapping) and Ammon has some pretty sweet flicks of the drum stick!

"I Got Rhythm"