Wanna buy a car? We have several .............

Blog for October 2, 2016.

Kathy caught this sunrise with her iPhone this week.

Calgary Autumn sunrise

 This has been a very busy week for me in my mission role as the fleet manager. I have been trying to get caught up with all that is involved with car inspections. The inspections (all 101 cars) happened a couple of weeks ago but now all of the information has to be entered into the data base, so the inspections are only the beginning. The purpose of car inspections, of course, is to identify what maintenance items are needed for each of the cars in the mission in order to keep them in good repair and safe to operate. The data entry for each car can be done in a couple of minutes but that is only the beginning; each identified maintenance item must be addressed and the service arranged, first with the missionaries to discuss what needs to be done, then to call the particular service provider in the missionaries’ area and set it up, then a call or text back to the missionaries to provide the time and location for the service, and then back into the electronic file to document what is arranged. To put a little more urgency into the equation, the man who oversees the Church fleet for all of North America, technically my boss, is coming on Tuesday for a visit, and new missionaries are also arriving on the same day. It will be a busy week!

As mentioned last week, we received a number of new Nissan Rogues. I have placed all but two of them with missionaries, mostly in the south part of the mission, and have brought the cars they replaced here to Calgary to sell. Most have dings and dents and other paint issues that need to be touched up, and some are hail damaged; all this has to be repaired and the cars detailed before I can take pictures and get them priced. I mention this as we pretty much keep one body and fender repair place here in Calgary in business. The owner, Tom, and I are becoming “best friends” and we spent time this week going over each car to decide what was essential to get them ready for sale. I keep a spreadsheet listing everyone who has called with interest in purchasing a mission car. Currently there are about 25 people on the list. In preparation for the actual sale, I email a list of the cars that we will have, but, of course, the most essential piece of information is, what is the asking price for each? This will have to wait for another week or two; the Church fleet people in Salt Lake make this call, but only after the prep work is completed after which I send them the required pictures of the car when it is ready. Two cars are ready for pricing so, in the midst of everything else that is going on, I will be playing the role of a used car dealer again this week and for the next few weeks. With this much interest, hopefully it will go quickly and smoothly. This is one of the cars ready to go and all set for a buyer.

2013 Chevy Trax - driven only 80,000 km by kind and loving missionaries!

 This week saw the arrival of another senior couple in our mission, Elder and Sister Anderson. They will be working with the Native Americans (they are called First Nations here in Canada) in the Siksika Branch. The Andersons insisted on taking the entire office staff to lunch during the week and we enjoyed getting to know them.

In that same vein, the couple we replaced here in the mission office, the Birches, returned to Calgary for a visit and likewise insisted on hosting the entire office staff for dinner this weekend.

Dinner with the Burches and the mission office couples

We have also attended a couple of baptisms during the week, one in each of the Spanish wards here in Calgary. The first was a 93 year-old woman; she required help getting down into the water as her legs are quite weak and there was some concern about keeping her safe and comfortable while in the font. The solution used was quite unique; the font was filled higher than usual and once she had been helped down in the water she was seated on a chair, then after the baptismal prayer, she was just tipped back in the water in that same seated position and the immersion was complete and brief. Pretty clever. I will include pictures taken at both baptisms.

Mama Lola in wheelchair

New family, Pres. & Sis. Miles, Kathy and I

We are having to say goodbye to a couple of our favorite missionaries (actually all of them are favorites!) Elder Sanchez is leaving for his home in Uruguay, and Sis. Ratliff to Victorville, California. 

Elder Sanchez, Sister Ratliff

This has been General Conference weekend and has been most enjoyable. We get the Conference on local television so we remained at home to watch. The talks were wonderful as usual. Oh, how I wish we could have the caliber of leadership in the nations of the world that we have in the General Authorities of the Church. I bear testimony of their divine callings and the inspiration and revelation by which the Church is lead.

Life is good. Our Canadian Fall weather has been great. It is hard to believe that we are well over half way through our mission. We are loving it! We send our best wishes out to you.