First Email from Preston!

I still haven't decided how often I'll post Savannah's letters here.  I'm not sure I want to make this a missionary blog, but I also don't want to manage two different blogs.  And she is a pretty dang big part of my life, so we'll see...

But this first email was pretty awesome to get, so I wanted to immortalize it on the blog.  

I got this Thursday morning after a long night of checking and rechecking Flight Tracker to make sure Savannah made it safely to Manchester, England.  

It's a weird feeling to watch your daughter fly over the Atlantic Ocean.  Oh, how I wish someone would come up with Missionary Tracker so I could follow her every move for the next 18 months...no, that probably wouldn't be a good idea, would it?  

What a happy surprise to find this email when I woke up...

Hi mommy! 

I don't have much time, but im here at the mtc!! I love it here. its sooo pretty and i got my nametag finally! theres also a giant swan in the front in a pond, we named her odette. so our flight was delayed a little so we got in at like 6:50am uk time, and then we went through customs, which took like an hour because the line was so long, and then we got our bags and found the nice brittish man waiting for us with the mtc sign! the flight was super long, and pretty painful. and im running on like 5 hours of sleep in the past two days, but im excited! we have our room assignments, and im not in sister hancocks room so i probably wont be companions with her :( but we dont get our official companions till tonight so we are unofficial companions for the day! :) today we are just doing interviews, and unpacking, and finding our way around and getting settled. then tonight we have a big meeting with everyone who came into the mtc today. so yesterday was when the whole group of other mishs left the mtc, and until we got here there were only 10 mishs here! thats cuz theyre learning greek!!! so crazy! theyre here for 9 weeks, and i guess there is a mission in greece! im charging my camera so i will be able to take more pictures, but all the other sisters and i exchanged emails so they will all email their pics to me later. my pday will be on wednesdays, so thats when you'll hear from me next!! there were about 20 of us on the flight over here, and over double that coming in either from england or just different flights to the uk. so all of us who were on that flight are all super close now! okay well im gonna try and write alex an email back now, and maybe a general email but probably not. love you! i had alot more to tell you but i cant think of anything haha so ill just write it down for next time. oh and the mtc president is president preston haha which is funny cuz we are in the preston mtc. okay love you!

Sister Thunell

What is it about that girl and naming animals?  Isn't she the goofiest thing?  

Hopefully in the weeks and months that follow she'll be able to take a breath between sentences, and add things like punctuation and capital letters to her emails, but who even cares about that stuff when she's so happy and excited to be in England.  

I think it's miraculous and amazing how the Spirit gives you exactly what you need.  I knew Savannah was safe because I could see that her flight had landed.  But I was totally in awe on Thursday morning after not expecting anything, that I had received not only a phone call from Newark the previous day, but also an email filled with all the details that I personally needed to know she was not just safe, but excited and happy.  

Super grateful today for missionary emails, for an enthusiastic daughter, and for the Spirit that provides every single thing we need...even the things we don't dare ask for.