Sweet week

This week was sweet for a few reasons. Our second grandchild, Brittany, entered the MTC in Provo to begin her training to serve in the St. Louis Mission for 18 months. We are so excited for her. One of the great blessings we see from our service as missionaries is that our posterity is catching the vision and having a greater desire to do likewise. It was also sweet because we spent Wednesday at the Sweets & Snacks show at the McCormick Center. We have attended that show for many years, but this time was particularly sweet. I was able to walk the entire show floor and feel no stress or pressure as had always been the case previously. We were able to visit with many dear friends from the candy industry which gave me closure on the whole retirement thing. Many were surprised to see us and asked many questions about what we are doing here in Chicago. Plus we were able to go back to the office with lots of treats to share. Spending this time with my sweetheart was a sweet experience. Another sweet experience this week was being able to be in the temple with young missionaries we have grown to love and admire.

The fleet manager from Salt Lake was in town one day this week to do additional training and some follow-up. He left after only 4 hours saying that I should be the trainer since I know the system so well. Go figure; this old dog can still learn new things. He did show me one new report that has been added to the system. I can now run a report that shows me exactly what work has been done on every car for a given date range. Or that same report can be run to show how much has been spent on a variety of different services such as accident repair, tires, batteries, etc.

I have mentioned in previous emails how many accidents we had this winter. I was shocked to see that from Nov thru March we spent almost $84,000 on accident repair. That's almost the price of a new car every month.

We picked up two new cars plus one new van this week. I began the process of preparing three more cars to be ready to sell. We had 4 more accidents this week. Three of those were hit & runs in parking lots. We have probably had 20 of such hit & run accidents these past few months. Not once has anymore put a note on our car letting us know they had hit us and given us their contact info. What's wrong with people these days? Did they not learn anything from their mothers/fathers? Or perhaps did their learn from their example not to own up to your mistakes?

I am excited to have tomorrow as a day off, at least until evening. We will then do training for new missionaries who will arrive tomorrow. We only have 4 new ones coming in this time, a far cry from the groups of 38 or 32 we received in the fall. I am very grateful for the men and women who have served in the military to make and preserve this great country in which we live. Even with all the problems in government these days, we are so blessed to live in this part of the Lords vineyard. As we talk to missionaries and other people who are here from other countries, I am reminded that we have it so much better than most in the world.

I pray that you will have a sweet week. Make time to thank someone who has served our country, make time to make a sweet memory with those you love, make time to let others know why you are so blessed and happy. May you feel the love and peace this week that comes from Him whom we serve and share that love with someone around you. Thanks for your influence in my life.

Elder Taggart