Yesterday was the day Nathan left the MTC and flew to Texas. He was traveling alone, but was so, so excited to get out into the mission field. We expected some kind of message to let us know he had arrived safely, but when nothing arrived, I suspected things were in disarray down there. Nathan sent me a brief message this morning saying he had, in fact, arrived safely. (Which I had assumed. If he had died in a fiery plane crash, I’m pretty sure we would have been notified.) He was the only missionary that arrived yesterday and it is a week before transfers, so not a normal day for incoming missionaries to arrive. As such, the routine was a bit skiwampus. The mission president had a meeting with the senior missionaries (all of whom Nathan got to meet) and was unable to pick Nathan up at the airport, so the AP’s (the assistants to the president for those of you who may not be up to date on all the missionary lingo) met him as he arrived in Texas.
On Monday there was some concern about whether or not he would be able to travel as scheduled. There were severe storms with hail and tornados happening in Texas on Monday and several companionships that were slated to enter the field that day had to return to the MTC when their flights were cancelled. (One set will fly later this week and the other has to wait two more weeks because of flight availability.) But the storms passed in plenty of time for Nathan’s flight. I’m working on the assumption that Nathan was terribly relieved that he won’t need to spend two more weeks in the classroom. When we talked to him on Monday, he was very clearly more than ready to get out into the world and start working.
I suspect there will be much more info about his travel and arrival in the Lone Star State when we talk to him on his next P-day. This is only the second time he’s ever flown and it is definitely the first time he has flown alone, so there are bound to be some stories. But he’s officially in the field doing the Lord’s work!
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