Mom and Dad dropped Elder Christensen off at the Albuquerque Airport at 5:00 am this morning.
Ready to go. Let's do this.
Made it to Salt Lake City his Utah siblings picked him up for breakfast.
Here is the play by play from Danielle, Westley and Stasia. Thanks guys! love having the memory, makes me feel like we were all there. Love!
Ahhh What a bitter sweet day!! So sad to say good-bye, but so excited for him. We had the wonderful privilege of waking up super duper early to drive to the airport to greet the new missionary. On the way there, there were about 10 million car accidents which made us all really concerned about what was wrong with all the drivers and also anxious about getting to the airport before cooper got to his bags. We ended up making it just in time to see him come down the escalator which is when Danielle had to make sure it was ok for her to hug him. He was so nervous, he looked like a deer in head lights. he couldn't stop yawning. We decided where we were going to breakfast and were on our way, which Anton was able to meet us for. We spent most of the drive hearing exciting stories from Westley's mission to get cooper pumped for the next 2 years. Cooper said he was not going to eat much cause he was so anxious...but ended up eating most of the plate...his hunger overtook his nerves I guess. During the drive he talked about how awkward goodbyes are so we decided to do all the picture taking while we were at Denny's so that we didn't drag out the goodbyes at the mtc. Cooper was his usual charming self about pictures but was a good sport for everyone that stood there with him. He said good bye to Anton and we were on our way to Provo! After a quick stop at the Christensen house to pick up some last books we started the longest drive across Provo to the mtc. At 10 am we dropped him off...I think he just wanted to be there...no need to hang out and wait around for 12:30. We were let through the gate and pulled up in front of the mtc office. It was kind of an odd scene since no one else was there but I don't think cooper even noticed. I (westley) did have to laugh though cause when we went to get his bags out of the back we both reached for the handle and touched hands. Instantly I wanted to make a romance movie comment or a lady and the tramp reference but it didn't seem very appropriate given the situation. We weren't sure how to go about the next step until an older brother came through the door and said hi. The awkward part was when he just grabbed one of the bags started walking into the building but he didn't say anything nor did he look behind him to make sure that cooper was behind him. This awkward situation quickly let to three very fast hugs and a pat on the back. He seemed shaky as we hugged...Coop might have cried but he was all smiles, he turned and walked in...We creeply waited around looking at him through the window. It looked like he was probably the first one to be dropped off. Didn't hit me how much I miss him until I drove to work....sure do love that kid. He will do a great job and we are very proud to call him our brother
Love,Westley, Stasia, Danielle, & Anton
No comments:
Post a Comment