Hi Everyone --

Sorry there was no letter last week. Our computer has been down with a virus, a bad internet connection and various other problems that Doug has had to patiently figure out and fix. It seems that things are someone better, but not perfect. He will keep working on it.

The sad thing is that there isn't much going on -- last week or this week -- to write about. The weather is the same every day -- sunny and warm. The traffic is the same. The shopping is the same. The house-help is the same. We are in auto-pilot zone.

We did see two movies these last two weeks: "The Golden Compass" (which I understand there has been a great uproar in the US) and "National Treasure II". We really liked National Treasure and it made us homesick -- Doug for the Univ. of Maryland, me for the Black Hills in South Dakota. There were no movies here for us to see for a long time last fall. I think we are finally getting the before Christmas batch of good movies.

We went to Mumbai for church today. It's still a long way. There were 38 people there. That's a lot. Apparently, on Dec. 30 there were 4. I guess there's a lot of fluxuation still. The missionaries and mission president will come in two weeks (Jan. 26-27) to teach all the people who are interested in the gospel, and then we'll have a big baptism in the Arabian Sea. That sounds interesting! We will be going back that weekend to play in Mumbai with our friends and go to Hard Rock Cafe and stay for church the next day. We will also be able to get our temple recommends renewed. That will be a good thing.

So now is our chance to be flaky. We had been talking about coming to the US in March/April. Well, we've had a better offer. Our friends from Mumbai are former residents of Israel/Jerusalem and invited us to go with them for 10 days. He had been giving historical site tours in Israel and knows his stuff and where everything is. This just seems too good to pass up -- besides Hannah is learning the New Testament in Seminary next year and could use some great field trip experience. Don't worry, this is not a done deal yet.

Hannah will start her BYU home study classes this week. We need to order them from the internet, but that is all. She will be able to take Am. Htg. 100, Eng. 115, Bio. 100, Math 110, etc. and get BYU credit for all of them plus the high school credit. What a great opportunity to catch up and go forward.

That's all for now. We hope everyone is doing well. We love you and miss you!'
Love, Lucinda