Salvaged Title…

I love cars.  I know they are really just golden caves that we should not covet or make into a distraction from the important things in life.  BUT, I still like cars…a lot.  I see some great vehicles here, and I think of the movie Gone in 60 Seconds about stolen cars.  I always assumed they were stolen and shipped here…but I learned some different things about it recently.  Some may be stolen, but more often than not, they are cars that get in crashes and are “totaled” in the USA or Europe. Then, they are purchased cheap and brought to Ghana with new parts to be resurrected and reborn….Just like the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no such thing as a “salvaged title” here.   Everything is of worth and they do more to reuse and repurpose things than anyplace I have seen. (where are you Patagonia Brand?) Recent sightings - Ferrari, Audi RS8, Lamborghini SUV, Audi R8, New Corvette…here are some random thoughts…

Totaled? In the USA, when a car is more expensive to fix than to rebuy, they total the car.  Some cars don’t look that bad and they still get totaled by the insurance company because it is easier. It is just a financial and risk calculation (…their trade).  Then they sell the heap or the totaled car to anyone who will buy it for scrap or to fix it.  If they fix it and re-register the car in the USA, it is considered a “Salvaged Title.”  It is like having a scarlet letter on your registration.  Some people will not buy a salvaged title car because there is more risk that there is some unseen problem…as if?  Is the soul of man ever totaled?  Not in my faith.  The great healer and fixer is Jesus Christ.

What do they call a Ferrari that has been totaled in the USA and rebuilt and fixed in Ghana?

…A Ferrari!

Monica’s Truck:  Monica got in a crash when a guy T-boned her running a stop sign and hit her Toyota Forerunner.  (She was safe. Tough girl)  The car was “totaled” in the eyes of the insurance company.  They just sent us a check for the agreed-upon value of the vehicle.  Monica loved her truck.  She did not want a newer version; she did not want a new color; she did not want leather seats; the only thing different she wanted was CarPlay on her stereo, but she wanted her truck.  I did not want to look for her unicorn vehicle so I had a friend look at the truck and he said it was fixable so we fixed it and made it right again.  It was of great worth to Monica and it is still her baby.  The truck was better than new to her now that it had CarPlay.  It has a “salvaged title.”  Is it really a bad truck now?  …well you must be damaged goods?  Monica doesn’t care…she sees the good in the vehicle.  I have good mechanic friends who see the good in a wreck.  Jesus does the same...he can see what we can be…again with a little work…

Magazine: There is a place in Kumasi Ghana called Magazine which is all about redoing cars.  They buy totaled cars and parts from all over the world, ship them to Ghana, and then rebuild them…they are as good as new.  They do not always have to replace the metal…they still have craftsmen who know how to pound out dents and creases to make it smooth and ready to paint.  This is a place I want to visit.  They take the damaged goods and make them new again.  Just like Jesus Christ does with us.  Jesus has a whole different kind of body shop.  He can take a broken soul and rebuild it back into a happy and confident person again.  He will take all the dents and broken dreams, fix them, and give us a new paint job.  There may be scars on the back side of the metal, but the outside is smooth and clean.  He is the best at taking a “totaled soul” and making it new again.

CarFax:  This is a service that they have in the USA to give you the full history of a car to let a buyer know if it has been in a crash.  It might be good for buying a car, but it would not be good if it was on people.  I would hate if my wife could order a CarFacts on me and get a full list of all my sins of the past and mistakes I would like left in my past.  That brings all that dirt back into my life so I have to relive it.  If I repent of my sins and mistakes, the Lord has said he will “remember them no more.”  When I married Sandy, she did not ask for my CarFax and I did not ask for hers.  We were starting our future together and the past has been left in the past.  Sandy is also true to her faith by forgiving fast and not bringing up the past.  That is a big reason why we have a future, and our marriage is not stuck in the past.  It allows us to put more miles on a good marriage rather than broken down on the side of the road.  If you are a person driving down the road, assume they are in good working order, not about to crash.  You can see a CarFax on a moving car…

Leave the past where it belongs, in the past…

“If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”

-taught by our mission leader;

good for mission companions,

good for siblings,

good for marriages

We might all be Salvaged Title, but the owner is God. To Him, I am of great worth.  Jesus already paid the price…

Subaru:  I love my Mom and she loves her Subaru.  She sometimes hits things and sometimes things hit her.  …driving by braille… “they call it a bumper, it's ok to bump!”  The corners of her car may have some damage.  When she lived near us in California, we would fix it yearly and paint the corners so it was as good as new.  When I visited her in Florida, some of those same things had reached out to scratch some of her paint.  I went to AutoZone to get some rubbing compound and spent an hour fixing all the scrapes and scratches.  With some effort, we can fix any scratch.  With more effort, and the help of Jesus and maybe a bishop, He can fix any totaled or wrecked car/soul.  We do not need to live with the scratches and dents of our lives, but they happen, and really they should not slow us down.  Keep doing the best you can.  If your car/soul is scratched and it still runs, that is a win for you…keep moving down the road and carry good people with you.  Be grateful for the good that a car/person does. Don’t focus on random imperfections.

Look at me from 15 feet!  I look better that way.  I bought an old ’72 Caprice Classic (never did look at a CarFax) and it was an ugly (highly judgmental of me) color so I changed it, just like we can change our story and our outlook.  It is a cool Lexus Blue, and it looks great…from 15 feet.  If you look too closely, you can see the original sky-blue color at some of the seams and the joints.  But it is a good car and has given me and my family awesome top-down memories.  It is fulfilling its purpose on earth as we should also as we do service for others.  I am happy to see my friends — as they are; where they are; and who they are --  I do not care if they wear stripes with plaids of white shoes after Labor Day. …or they show up to church in shorts…Glad to see you and you're great from 15 feet.  If you get closer, I will hug you and try to look at you as God looks at you…see the good only.

“…you really can change your stars”

-A Knights Tale

You are what you drive:  I love the movie Cars and the characterizations of each car and the personality of the cars.  There is a relationship between what you drive and how you think about yourself.  One day I am a Mini; one day an old convertible; a really fast Mercedes Wagon (Favorite); a Bronco; or an F-150.  It depends.  Some cars don’t fit me.  There has to be utility in some way and can’t be too flashy—it has to carry some friends and family-no two-seater sports cars.  I see a car, and I size a person up (dang, judgmental again).  I can even make judgments on color.  What you wear and what you drive is a way you send a signal of who you want to be.  Does it matter if your clothes or your car are purchased used?  What about a mended jacket or a fixed car?  No, they have utility when they are fixed.  Whatever you have, you should take care of and fix…including yourself.  Repentance lets you get your dents taken out, a new paint job, and puts your alignment back to drive on the covenant path…

“Repentance isn’t part of the plan...Repentance is the plan.”

-Neil L. Anderson

Repentance:  It’s the whole reason that Jesus died for us. He already paid the price, he salvaged your title, and you are a car in good standing in the garage in heaven; you just have to go in and know that when you’re resurrected, you’ll be resurrected in a perfect shape, no matter what type of hail storm, muddy roads, car crashes, or dents you have run into on the road of life.  Jesus Christ gave up his body so that we can go to His body shop and be perfect in him. He paid the price and we will be shiny and new with all the horsepower to serve him, through the millennium and through eternity.

Good “car-ma”-- That which you put out, comes back to you.

My Car Now is an SUV:  Spiritual Utility Vehicle.  I can take 5 people in it: two companionships to Circle where they take a tro tro to wherever they are going.  It has 4-wheel drive so I can climb up dirt roads and ford muddy closed roads.  It is a mid-size pickup with a cab so I can take luggage from the airport or packages to the missionaries or I can take 6 bikes to act as the BikeMaster for the missionaries.  It is a useful, well-used vehicle.  I really like it and I keep it clean (really Bengamin cleans it).  I am happy to have a ride.  I had to give it up last week so they could do what I used to do for my mother…I have collected my share of scratches and dents and a bent bumper from a tricky offroad maneuver.  Clean as new and ready to continue serving on my mission…We all need to look at ourselves and clean up once in a while…a good day to do that is Sunday at church…We go in for a spiritual tune-up of sorts…

“Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.”

-D&C 107:99

“Oh Boy”

-Elder Kaaen when we see a crazy Ghana Driving Experience

Checkered flag:  We all get paid (blessed) if and when we finish the race.  If you look at a race car at the beginning of a race, it is shiny and pristine like a new baby-all the stickers are perfectly placed.  When you see a car at the end of a 24-hour Lemans race, you have a tired and sweaty driver and a very beat up, scratched, pockmarked car with worn tread and oil and exhaust stains all over…but the race is done and something hard has been completed.  For us, the race is living life as best we can and when it ends, the finish line of life has been crossed.  There is a loving Heavenly Father who waves the checkered flag for you.  Life is a staggard start so you really don’t know what place you came in until later and there are all these extra time points you get for your service to your family friends and citizens of the world.  You will still be short, but we have to remember that where we fall short, we are never out of the race of life.  The only one who wants to see us quit is Satan.  We are in the race, when we crash or get dented, we can rebuild and be reborn…we are NEVER TOTALED by Jesus Christ.  He has already paid for the sins and crashes of whatever life we created whether it is a train wreck or a well-cared-for Toyota…THE PRICE HAS BEEN PAID BY JESUS CHRIST.  That is the beauty of the atonement and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.  Drive your best life and know that there is a body shop that will make it all right in heaven.

Kachow!

Elder Bertha

Ghana Racing Team