THIS..AND THAT..AND MORE

Wow, what a busy and fun month this has been.  We have had so many visits from dear Indian friends the past while.  Three young women have come to the Provo MTC to begin their training and one fine couple have come to begin their studies at BYU Idaho.  It is so great to be in a location where we can "meet and  greet" and renew friendships and learn about our common friends in India.
First meet Pinto and Saritha.  They were married in Bangalore shortly after we began our mission and we became instant friends as they taught Seminary and served in the Branch there.  They set the example for all the members with their priority to quickly travel to Hong Kong to be sealed.  They both worked extremely hard to be accepted at BYUI , raise the money and earn scholarships.  We are so proud of them.  And they were quite the "celebrities" when they went to church with us.

Next arrived Shyamala who is going to the Philippines.  She and her sister were great friends in Bangalore 1st Branch and we had such memorable experiences with these 2 faithful young women.   Here is another example of great sacrifice and desire to make this mission a reality.  Shyamala arrived early enough to spend the afternoon on Temple Square where our "daughter" Sister Sundaram, who was overjoyed to see her Branch friend and gave us a grand tour!

It is such a blessing for us to be able to "relive" some of our fondest moments from India with these amazing young Indian saints.

Last weekend we had a pretty incredible experience as we went with Karli to support Chris in his Lotoja ride.  If you think 200 miles is a long ride in a car, try to imagine doing it on a bike in 1 day through some very steep mountains!  Each feed stop we were so excited to see Chris ride in to offer him encouragement and a array of rather disgusting energy foods.  He accomplished an amazing feat to reach the finish line in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Saturday night.  One TREMENDOUS CONGRATULATIONS to you Chris!!!

And Allan and I "TRY" to keep up with some of the fun going on with the family and grand kids.  The past week we got to see Mr. Bullet Ryan play soccer, celebrate Ame's 8th birthday at her "Fashion Party" and watch Jake play incredible football.  How we relish all these fun times with our family.