Again a nice warm week, so much so that I was able to get outside in shirtsleeve weather and do some work on the cars that are here at the mission office in the parking lot. This was nothing heavy duty or involving greasy parts, just putting on windshield wiper blades, replacing some burned out signal and headlight bulbs, and other simple repairs including replacing a rear taillight assembly on one of the pickup trucks. Also, in anticipation of the upcoming full scale inspection of all 90 cars in the fleet, I went to a couple of auto part suppliers to get restock parts for some of the simpler repairs we do at the inspections. We keep small repair parts bins at the mission office to make simple repairs when the cars happen to come to the office and need something and we have antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, blake fluid, etc. to top off fluids. This saves the Church considerable money for when we send the work out to repair facilities, the charge is more for labor than the parts.  These repair bins go with us to the areas where Zone Conferences are held. This is done quarterly and the Zone Conferences begin this week and extend into next week so restocking was needed. When the missionaries arrive for Zone Conference they are directed to specific parking spaces where they back their cars in, raise the hoods and trunk lids, turn their wheels all the way to the left, and remove the contents of their glove compartments to ensure all the required documents are present. These are placed on the front car seat along with their car keys. We then go car by car and do a full inspection using documents that I prepare from the individual computerized car file we have in a systems called "CARS". The items needing repair or attention are listed and a copy is left with each car. The drivers then contact me and we arrange for the work to be done in their particular area where we are not able to correct some things on the spot. The whole business of lining up the cars reminds me of standing at attention for military inspections, except in this case it is the cars that are at attention. I will hope to include a picture of the line of cars ready for inspection.

In addition to the inspections, I am given 30 minutes to teach some aspect of car safety at the Zone Conference. This is done at the end of the conference. During the inspection we grade each car as to cleanliness and maintenance and award a Subway gift card to the top car in each of the zones. This is announced at the end of the Zone Conference. This safety presentation this time will involve a video presentation on parking lot safety and using one's companion to assist in backing up. Parking lot incidents were a big problem for us during the winter time and, from the reports I receive, this was true with missionary cars pretty much everywhere.

We made our usual trip to the temple on Friday with one of the couples with whom we serve in the office. Afterwards we stopped at a local steakhouse with a good reputation, known as 'Montana'. I will include a picture of a picture taken of Kathy and I standing under the head of one of the trophy heads mounted on the walls. Incidentally, the food was good and we will look forward to returning some day soon.

Kathy and I had been asked to help with food preparation and serving for the annual Relief Society Birthday Celebration which was held yesterday. I will include a picture or two from that as well. As you can see from the pictures, it was for a large group of women. It was well attended and the food was great. Incidentally, as you can see, the Calgary Stake Center has a full size basketball court, which is not common in the Church anymore.

Today was the first day for Daylight Savings Time.........Yes, they follow this ridiculous tradition here in Canada as well.

On Friday Kathy and I will head for Sandy, Utah, for the birth of a granddaughter. We plan to be there for two weeks and will return to Canada around April 1st; therefore, there may not be a blog entry for the next two weeks depending on whether or not I can find an internet connection to tap into. Ours was disconnected when we left in December. We will look forward to seeing many of your while we are there. To all...........have a great week.