"We love Austria," said Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. "It is a romantic land, a land of music. We hope our Austrian visitors here for the Olympics will take home good memories."

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Addressing political and business dignitaries from Austria, as well as 750 returned missionaries and spouses, Elder Wirthlin, of the Quorum of the Twelve, wished Austrians "every success" during the Games.

The Austrian reception was held Feb. 9 in a well adorned warehouse of an Austrian company called Wintersteiger, which is located in Salt Lake City specializing in the construction of equipment used in making state-of-the-art snow skis. Flags representing the nine provinces of the country were draped around the podium.

Vice Chancellor Susanne Reiss-Passer acknowledged the warm welcome her country was receiving and commended the returned missionaries for being enthusiastsic ambassadors of her country.

The Governor of the Province of Salzburg, Franz Schausberger, drew a round of applause when he asked for support of his city's bid to host to the 2010 Olympic Games. Peter Moser, Austrian ambassador to the U.S. was also part of the 15-member Austrian delegation of dignitaries who attended the reception.

Recalling how he served in Austria as a young man and later in 1993 as mission president, Swen Swensen said, "There's not a day goes by that I don't think about Austria." While wearing an Olympic pin to show his support of the Salzburg Games, he told of an experience when he arrived in the then Swiss-Austrian Mission many years ago as a new missionary.

"The mission president sent me to Austria to learn good German and I ended up spending two years in the country," he said. He then offered an emotional expression of love and appreciation to the Austrians, prompting Governor Schausberger to thank him with a hug. President Swensen was noted for his volunteer service during the Olympics as a physician at the Medals Plaza.

The former missionaries and Austrian dignitaries lingered for nearly an hour while eating Austrian food and renewing acquaintances.

"The Austrian dignitaries were overwhelmed by the number of returned missionaries and the love they expressed for Austria," said Elisabeth Pietsch, director of Church public affairs in Austria. "They weren't aware there were so many who had such strong feelings for their country in the U.S. The vice chancellor expressed her appreciation for the missionary reception again later that day when she met President Hinckley.

"Such a reception would not be possible without the assistance of other Austrians living in Utah, like Markus Gappmaier who teaches at BYU."

"The Austrian VIPs were ebullient in their praise and appreciation for their warm welcome," said Franz Kolb, an Austrian member of the Church who now lives in Utah and works for the state Economic Development Office. "The reception was important enough for Austrian television ORF to record proceedings and rebroadcast during their news."

The Olympics are highly regarded in Austria. More than 300 hours of Olympic events will be broadcast during the Games. Prior to the Olympics, large media crews from Austria visited Salt Lake City and the Church's News Resource Center. One broadcast journalist prepared 28 segments lasting about five minutes each that featured aspects of Utah and the Church.

Also attending the reception were Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder Spencer J. Condie of the Seventy, as well as former mission presidents including Bryant Smith, Kenneth D. Reber and Ned Mangelson.