Hi Everyone --

It has been a busy week. We had another John Deere wife here and she has wanted to see the town. Naturally, we were able to help her out and take her to all the great shopping places and enjoy helping her get her shopping done. These are nice women that come with their husbands and are happy to go with us.

We were out on Laxmi Road one day this week and we were standing at the corner toy store to purchase some toy rickshaws, when my friend Debi said, "You'll never believe this, but there is a 5-legged cow coming down the road." How could I not believe her. But somehow, my head just couldn't believe it. Sure enough, there was a woman leading a cow with this thing flung over its back coming toward us. Heather went to take a picture, but the woman put out her hand for a fee. We stared and tired to make sense of what we were seeing. First it looked like a dead animal slung over the back of the cow. Then it looked like a cow leg slung over the back of a cow. Then we got a view of the other side, and sure enough, there was something growing out of the back of the cow -- a 5th leg. We just stared and gawked like crazy. The Hindus were rushing to give her rupees and get blessings from such a holy creature. Heather took out her camera and got a couple shots when the woman crossed the street. We knew no one would believe a story like this one! I tried to explain it to Doug and Hannah, and they were just speechless and couldn't even comprehend what I was saying. You look at the pictures and decide for yourself. Doug is a skeptic. I was just glad I could see it -- unbelievable! The perfect start to the Diwali season!

We have been trying to get our Diwali shopping done and everything ready for the biggest holiday in India. We are expected to get each of our employees a box of Indian candy, 1 month of pay in cash, and clothing to wear. That's quite a bit and it's well over $500 US. I am trying to have a good attitude, but it's not coming yet. Usually, our employees are on their best behavior just before Diwali. Imagine that! It's like the children waiting patiently for Christmas. Our Christian help prefers their gifts at Diwali because this is the time of great sales all over town. Usually, there are no sales in India, but now everything is on sale.

Hannah is working hard on her classes. We found out that Heather will be leaving for the US on Dec. 12, so Hannah needs to have all her classes done, and exams ordered by the last week of November. It will be tight, but she can make it. She is doing very well so far. Her Geometry tutor left for the US to attend her son's wedding. She will be back next weekend. Hannah's physics tutor is very patient and knowledgeable. They work every night on physics! Her tutor is Doug!

We had 5 at church today. We got a call that another family (Indian) was moving to Pune. We expected them today, but they didn't make it. Next week should be a big week with the missionaries here and branch presidency member and family.

We are looking forward to our Italy trip (Oct. 30-Nov. 8). We still need hotels, but Doug is hoping the prices will go down because it is the slow season and because world economics are falling. We'll see this week what we get.

It looks like we will be heading to the US around the end of the year/first of the year to get our new Indian visas. We haven't come up with dates yet, but we should be able to get them worked out as soon as we figure out the shut-down schedule for Deere Waterloo. We will fly into Waterloo, and Doug will spend a week working at PEC. I don't think winter is the best vacation schedule for me. We don't even have winter coats!

That's all for this week. Take care! We love you!
Lucinda