Savannah Guthrie is officially set to return to Today following her unexpected two-month absence — a time marked by emotional strain as she focused on the search for her mother, Nancy Guthrie.

Savannah Guthrie will return to her seat at the Today show anchor desk after a two-month absence.

On Friday, March 26, Hoda Kotb announced Guthrie will be back on Monday, April 6. “We cannot wait to welcome her back with open arms here in Studio 1A,” said her co-anchor Craig Melvin on air.

Moments before the date was announced, the second part of Guthrie’s interview with Kotb aired, in which she explained her decision to come back on air.

“It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness and I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not,” Guthrie said of returning to Today. “But I can’t not come back because it’s my family. I think it’s part of my purpose right now. I want to smile. And when I do, it will be real. And my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful. And when it’s not, I’ll say so. I have been so grateful to have this family. I consider this my family, my greater family, and when times are hard, you want to be with your family. And I want to be with my family.”

She admitted, “I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore, but I would like to try. I would like to try. I’m not gonna be the same, but maybe it’s like that old poem, more beautiful in the broken places.”

Guthrie has not been on air since her mother Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson, Ariz. home on Feb. 1.

Earlier this month, on March 5, Savannah first visited Today‘s Studio 1A in New York City “to be with and thank her Today colleagues,” a Today spokesperson told PEOPLE at the time.

“While she plans to return to the show on air, she remains focused right now supporting her family and working to help bring Nancy home,” the statement concluded.

PEOPLE also learned that Savannah thanked the entire staff and crew for all of their love, prayers and support and for “caring about my mom as much as I do.”

At the time, Savannah said in part, “I wanted you to know that I’m still standing, and I still have hope, and I’m still me. And I don’t know what version of me that will be, but it will be. I’m holding onto my faith. I still believe. And as my mom would say, ‘where else would I go?’”

“I have every intention of coming back. I don’t know how to come back, but I don’t know how not to. You’re my family. And, I would like to try,” she added.

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During Savannah’s absence, Kobt, her former colleague, stepped in to fill her seat at the anchor desk, as did fourth hour co-host Sheinelle Jones.

“We always talk about our show as a family. We are a family,” Kotb, 61, told Melvin on the Monday, Feb. 9 broadcast. “I’m part of the family. I’m happy to be with you because we show up for each other.”

Nancy was last seen going into her garage at 9:50 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31. She was reported missing by her family at 12:03 p.m. local time on Feb. 1 when she failed to join friends to watch a virtual church service.

The FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office later released surveillance footage and images from Nancy’s Nest doorbell camera, which show a masked intruder walking up to the front door of her home the night of her abduction.

The camera was disconnected at 1:47 a.m., local time. At 2:12 a.m., a person was detected by the camera, and 16 minutes later, at 2:28 a.m., Nancy’s pacemaker was disconnected from the pacemaker app on her cellphone, authorities previously revealed.

Prior to her March visit to Studio 1A, Savannah had been in Arizona with her siblings, Annie and Camron Guthrie, since the investigation began. The family continues to publicly advocate for their mother’s safe return through social media videos.

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Savannah announced that the family was offering a reward of up to $1 million for any information leading to Nancy’s recovery. The FBI’s reward of $100,000 also remains active. No suspects have been identified in the case.

Savannah also shared that the family donated $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.