Cold week - sweatshirts for walking/biking, sweaters and long sleeved shirts. House full for FHE this week - Branch Presidency wives and I gave demo on easy, inexpensive, and nutritous meals the YSAs can fix (focus on eating more veggies). Next day I fixed a large pot full of cheese tortillini soup - with spinach, zucchini, carrots, onions, and tomatoes in it. Great! Had enough for 16 and only 8 students came for lunch so Elder Mumford and I ate soup for the next 3 days (love having left overs!) We had 35 students here for Institute on Thursday night (including 3 nonmembers) and 14 for lunch and lesson on Friday (with one investigator).

Zone meeting this week. Lots of Elders came during transfers last week. One is Elder Wise from Bountiful! Our zone is exercising faith that miracles will occur and more solid investigators will be found. Three investigators were at church today - and all three have baptismal dates - two before the end of the month! Those will be the first baptisms, in our Branch, since May 15th. With all the YSAs who will be leaving early on missions in the next 4 months, after the conference announcement, we need to replenish the Branch!

I spent most of 3 days preparing for the Institute lesson I taught this week while Gary worked ahead on lessons to come. Nothing on here in Muncie this weekend so we went to West Lafayette and watched Bryson play in a baseball game, attended Purdue homecoming activities, watched the BYU football game on TV (3 quarters were enjoyble) and played games and hung out with our kids and grandkids. We enjoyed watching a restored P-51 Mustang airplane fly and seeing the educational film on the Tuskegee Airmen "Redtails" who flew these planes during WWII.

Gary only has one sweatshirt here - so you see it in every photo! At least he had a Purdue hat to the wear to the homecoming carnival. Today our newest granddaughter is five weeks old and today is her actual due date! She is progressing well and only needs the oxygen on when she is asleep. Our thoughts today are with the family of Brenda's uncle, whose funeral is today in Idaho. He died of cancer at age 77 just 9 months after his wife's passing. How blessed we are to know that our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness means that this mortal separation is only temporary. The gospel brings peace and perspective.

Maybe most universities are like this but it is shocking how many beer and liquor bottles, plastic cups, and other trash items are left about after weekends here in Muncie. Once a week we take garbage bags and disposable gloves on our morning walk and collect half a garbage can full of trash in a half hour! If those partiers only knew that real and lasting happiness is readily available to them right here! (Ask the missionaries - they will help you!)

Hope you all have a great week!