Activity recording of email list sent

I am playing with sending emails from the Contact List View.  I noticed that when the email is logged as an activity on the Contact record that it shows the template without the merge fields filled in.  So for example, it shows

   {!Contact.Account_MSS_Prior_Year_Gifts__c}  instead of $500.00 which is the value of that field for that Contact Record.  The actual email I received is filled in perfectly ($500). The note at the top of the Activity image reads  "This is a preview of the email. Merge fields were resolved when the List Email was sent."  Is this normal for the Activity to not record the actual completed email sent and only show the template fields? 

Thanks!