assigned to . . . VIENNA, AUSTRIA !

On July 23rd Katie left the MTC to travel to the Mission Home of the

Alpine-German Speaking Mission which is in Munich, Germany.

Mission President Richard Miles and his wife Brenda welcomed this big group

of new missionaries at the Munich airport on the 24th.  They are from Bountiful Utah and 

Sister Miles is a daughter of Russell M. Nelson. 

We were excited to get an email tonight from

Sister Miles letting us know that Katie's first area

where she will be serving is -

VIENNA, AUSTRIA

Since her mission covers four countries (Germany, Switzerland, Austria and

Liechtenstein) we were really curious to learn where she would be serving. 

German is spoken very differently in different regions of each of these countries

so she'll be learning a "Viennese" brand of German to start.  

          Here's the email we got .....

Dear family of Sister Lewis-

We are delighted to tell you that Sister Lewis arrived safely in Munich this morning.  She is tucked away in bed now after a long day of orientation. 

We thought you might enjoy these pictures from this evening. Her new companion is Sister Judd, and they will be serving in Vienna, Austria. 

We are thrilled that she is here and are very impressed with her preparation and enthusiasm.  She will be a great missionary.  Thank you for all you have done to help her become the fine young sister she is today.  We love her already, and we will do all we can to help her grow as a missionary and have a successful mission.  Your daughter's preparation day is on Mondays and that is when she will be emailing you home each week. If you would like her apartment address where she will be serving - please email her before and ask her to give it to you in her first email. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.  May the Lord bless you and your family at this wonderful time of missionary service.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Miles

Alpine German-speaking Mission

(I think it's kind of unfair to take a girl's picture after
she's been on an airplane all day and all night.)

FYI - "Preparation Day" (also known as P-Day), is the day when the regular
missionary daily  schedule changes.  This is a day to do your laundry, go grocery shopping,
maybe even take a nap,  do some non-missionary fun activities in the area you
are serving, write letters etc. So that means we can expect to get an email from
Katie on Mondays.  Vienna is 8 hours ahead of us, so I will be checking my
email first thing when I get up on Monday mornings! 

Another picture of the new group of missionaries.
What do you think I should make out of Katie
being right next to Sister Miles in both the group pictures?

FYI - in the LDS church, adult members of the congregation refer to each other
as "Brother" and "Sister".  I guess that is mostly true when you are speaking to or about
someone who isn't one of your good friends or are speaking in the 3rd person, and
it is also how children address adults.  This reflects the fact that we are all children of
our Heavenly Father who loves each of equally.