EXHIBIT 23

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

To the Board of Directors
First Midwest Financial, Inc.
Storm Lake, Iowa

We consent to the incorporation by reference in the First Midwest Financial,
Inc. Registration Statements on Form S-8 of First Midwest Financial, Inc.,
pertaining to the First Midwest Financial, Inc. 1995 Stock Option and Incentive
Plan and the First Midwest Financial, Inc. 2002 Omnibus Incentive Plan, of our
report dated October 23, 2003, which appears in the annual report on Form 10-K
of First Midwest Financial, Inc. and subsidiaries for the year ended September
30, 2003.


                                            /s/ McGladrey & Pullen, LLP
                                            ---------------------------
                                            McGladrey & Pullen, LLP

Des Moines, Iowa
December 26, 2003