Last week we saw some friendly faces from home.  Steve and Gayle Hilliard were in Germany and stopped in Frankfurt for a day trip down the Rhine river with us.  It was so fun to catch up and reminisce about our friends in Corcoran Branch.  Steve joined the church shortly after leaving Corcoran and they have 5 children and now live in Springville.

We went to our first YSA Conference outside of Munich.  It was held in a beautiful countryside conference center with about 450 attending.  It was so well planned and offered workshops, had a great day of service in local communities, sports days and dances.  It was great to feel their enthusiasm, energy and beautiful spirits.  One dance was "Hollywood"--interesting theme for Germany.  But they were dressed so cute and having so much fun.

On our way to the conference we stopped in Munich for the afternoon at the Olympic Park and the BMW plant and museum.  Both were so interesting and different. This was the Olympic village.

Allan's new "Beamer"!!

After the conference we drove on to Saltzburg Austria which is through the alps.  It was so beautiful and green with rolling hills, mountains and chalet homes dotting the countryside.  We expected Julie Andrews to burst into song at any moment.  We drove on to Vienna to meet a new Center couple and do training.  Vienna is an amazing city; so many old and beautifully designed buildings. They are big into statues and they adorn the corners, tops and sides of many buildings.  We met the Center couple and spent the afternoon in their beautiful Center and gave training and stayed for the evening activities which was "waffle night".

One of the most beautiful sights in Vienna was the Vienna Opera House.  It was mostly destroyed during the war but they rebuilt it in 11 years.  The opera was on summer break but they perform 7 days a week for 10 months.

We were able to see several amazing palaces, churches and restored buildings.  The architechure of the buildings on every street was breathtaking.

It is always a bit dangerous to come back to the office after being out for a week.  The computers are "spewing" emails and problems fill the day and "special assignments" are around every corner.  We just got 2 new BIGGIES that we will share later.  This mission is  busy, fun, stressful, rewarding, and never dull.