Transportation

[jmsross89]

Hey, so I'm the Branch Mission Leader in my Branch, and we have a little bit of a transportation issue. We've discussed it a bit in our PEC and Branch Council meetings, but I wanted to see if anyone here had any ideas, suggestions, or have been in a similar situation.

It is a Spanish branch, and not too many members have vehicles. The bus that passes by the church does not operate on Sundays, and the Stake will not allow us to have a van or bus to pick these people up. Many members with cars already pick people up, and the members with cars actually do not live close to the people that often need rides (the boundary covers the whole stake).

Any ideas????

[Guest gopecon]

Sacrament meeting via Skype...

Seriously, it sounds like your options are somewhat limited. With no public transportation, and not stake funds available for a bus or van you are stuck relying on the goodness of people who are willing to drive. I don't know how big your stake is, but this is a challenge having a specific need branch with larger boundaries than a typical unit. These units often cater to populations that are less affluent and may be more likely to have challenges with transportation - yet they also cover larger areas than a typical ward or branch. The stake could call people (Spanish speaking RM's) to serve in the branch from various parts of the stake who could help transport from their neighborhood. If the problem is too big, the stake president may need to consider if the benefits of hearing the Gospel in your own toungue without translation is worth the trouble of finding numerous rides every week and making church harder to get to than if people were encouraged to attend their nearest ward.

[rameumptom]

Ask the stake if it will call service missionaries that can work on Sundays and on your Youth night as taxi drivers. I work in our stake Spanish Branch right now, and we occasionally request service missionaries to fill positions and assignments we just cannot do on our own.