Hi Everyone --

Today was the biggest day we had all week. We went to church in Mumbai since the mission president and his wife were visiting there. Then, on the way home, we stopped at one of our Pune home group members and made dinner. We got home at 7:30 p.m. That's a long day that started at 8:30 a.m. It was a good meeting and President Nichols told us about the vision of the church in India. It was very enlightening and informative. He encouraged us to share the gospel with everyone -- especially those that speak English, since the gospel is taught here in English. There are not more missionaries here because India won't give visas for them. The vision is that the church is on the edge of exploding here in India. I can see that happening easily, but there needs to be some time for leadership training, experience, building, etc. For the time being, however, no missionaries will be in Mumbai or Pune. So we will just carry on.

We had to get Hannah a swimsuit this week. That was an experience! They sell swimsuits in lingerie stores here. So there were plenty of strange and kinky things to look at. The shops were a step or two below Victoria's Secret, but there were plenty of pink walls and subdued lighting. When we asked for swimsuits, they took out huge blue plastic bags and started piling them on the counter for us to see. One shop insisted all would fit Hannah because they were stretchy. The second shop was a little better and they at least found the proper size for her to try. She did find one that worked for 650 rupees (about $17.50). I hope it will work for her in Thailand.

We are getting excited about our trip. We talked to a family today at church that just got back from there, and they have lots of good travel tips and suggestions for us. We have a few more loose ends to tie up before we leave. Our plane leaves at 6 a.m. on Saturday. So, do we drive to Mumbai (4 hours) at 5 p.m. Friday, 10 p.m. Friday, 3 a.m. Saturday ? . ? . . ? We still need to get that worked out, but it doesn't look very comfortable any way we look at it.

We have the pottery pictures to post on the blog -- they are so interesting. The kids with the pink things on the sticks are selling cotton candy it little bags. I don't have any idea where they make it or what they make it out of, but the kids wanted to sell us some. The kids were coming home from school and stopped to get their picture taken, but ended up to be too shy and ran away.

Grandma Wright had eye surgery for 1 cataract this week. She is doing fine and plans to be up and about doing regular things on Monday. She was brave and did a great job. She told me her next eye surgery is scheduled for November 13. She plans to show up for that.

We are hoping to keep in touch when we get to Thailand -- by using an Internet cafe. That should be fun and exciting! I think we are in for a big adventure.

Have a good week!
Love, Lucinda