January 25
TRAVEL UPDATE
Sam called us Monday afternoon from the Salt Lake Airport. They had left the MTC at 8:30 am to take the Front Runner train to the airport for a 2:30 pm Delta flight. As we were talking, we pulled up the flight information and found there was a one-hour delay - which would cause them to miss their connection to Buenos Aires in Atlanta. Sam said there were 40 to 50 Argentina-bound missionaries on that flight.
We later called the church travel office and learned that the plane departing Salt Lake had to be swapped out with a smaller plane. There would be 30 fewer seats than tickets sold. They said some missionaries would make the flight and others would fly out on a redeye flight and join the group in Atlanta. They weren't sure which group Sam would be in.
Sam called us again Monday night from the Salt Lake airport. His group of 11 stayed behind to take the redeye flight. The other group went to Atlanta. We later learned that group was able to make a connecting flight to Buenos Aires, so they are 24 hours ahead of Sam's group now.
About 11:30 last night, we received a text message from a stranger at the Salt Lake Airport with this picture:
She was a missionary mom herself and knew how much a picture would mean. She said they were very tired and hoping to sleep on the plane.
PHONE CALL
With so much time to kill, Sam was able to talk on the phone with us for over an hour. Here are a few interesting things we learned:
- They were happy to eat at Cafe Rio one last time at the airport
- He mailed home one of the SD cards from his camera, so we'll be getting MTC pics soon!
- Elder Horton from Simi Valley is his companion right now while they travel (see photo above)
- They were able to do some contacting at the airport, but it was hard because they had so much carry on baggage
- There is a sister traveling with their group who was on the native track, so she didn't study with them, but she is going to serve in Posadas with them
- He made a lot of good friends with missionaries serving in other missions - even one who is headed to my favorite place - Hong Kong!
- He hasn't been very homesick (YAY! - he isn't like his mother!)
January 26
TRAVEL UPDATE
We agreed we wouldn't be talking again today, but I did hear from Elder Horton's father today, who said they will be on the 9 pm flight to Buenos Aires. They were scheduled to take a 14-hour bus ride to Posadas, but it now looks like they may get to take a 2-hour flight instead. Most importantly, Delta checked them into a hotel when they arrived early this morning, so they all got to take a nap.
They all got on the flight to Buenos Aires without incident but it was delayed about 40 minutes before they got to take off.
January 27
TRAVEL UPDATE
We got a quick e-mail from Sam today saying they had arrived in Posadas. They arrived in Buenos Aires this morning and had a two hour flight from there to Posadas. They are all safely on the ground and in-country. Sam says it is beautiful and very red.
We hope to get full details from his travels on his new P-Day, which is Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment