The Gospel and Gasoline

October 10, 2008
By

So in case you haven’t heard, we are at the tail end of a gasoline shortage in Atlanta. Stations were empty for days at a time. The few that received a shipment would be out within an hour or two. People were watching traffic cameras on the internet to spot tanker trucks. I personally spent up to 2 hours one day trying to find gasoline at any price. I almost ran out a couple times.

Atlanta Gas Crisis Play Now | Play in Popup | Direct Link


The situation was bad enough that our ward called off weekday youth activities for the last two weeks so that families would not have to worry about the burden of finding more fuel for those trips to and from church. I don’t think anyone had unleaded gas set aside in their #10 metal cans :-)

So what else wasn’t happening in the Gospel? I’m assuming fewer home teaching and visiting teaching trips. What about early morning seminary every day? There were meetings at the stake center, which is all the way across town. I wonder who went to those or not?

Gasoline has gone through some steep price increases over the past couple years. In just the last 4 years, prices have tripled! My wages certainly have not tripled in that time frame. Driving is something that I think about a lot now. I didn’t have to focus on it as much in the past.

Historical Gasoline Prices

Fuel costs are a factor now when we plan scouting events. We have to think long and hard about driving large vans a long distance for a high adventure trip. Members from our region also travel to help recovery efforts in those areas hit by hurricanes over the past couple years. It is no small matter to drive trucks across 2 states for a weekend to help communities with the devastation.

Is the price of gasoline changing the day to day functions of the Church in your area? Has it had an impact on your ward, or your personal activities living the Gospel?

  • Heather B

    I know that our local seminary has gone to independent study. Not sure if that is directly gas related or just a general activity problem.

    I do know there were some requests to have enrichment activities at different members homes in different areas instead of at the chapel every time, so that the same members were not burdened with the cost of travel for every activity.

  • James

    Great post Valoel

    Prices over here in the UK have been about £1.32 a litre when the exchange rate was $2.00 to the gallon we were paying about $10.00 bucks a gallon.

    I think now everyone who lives on the far reaches of the Stakes will really think twice about going to some of these events or meetings.

    My wife is on the Stake Young Womens and they are having more and more meetings on SKYPE.

    I think many people will start doing that more- where you are virtually in the same room as your home teaching family but not driving 10 miles to shake their hand.

  • Rigel Hawthorne

    We’ve cut one youth temple trip per year, but it was more related to a shrinking ward budget due to decreasing size of active membership than gas prices. We also tabled a discussion on creating a ward cub pack that would have drawn cubs out of two different packs in the 2 different communities in our ward boundaries. One family wanted to keep their cubs in their own community’s pack because of their established ties, but it will also keep the gas expenditures down. I know they have rationed trips. We are also being offered the stake conference broadcast (its our time for one of those) in our own building, whereas it was formerly set up only at the stake center. A high councilor will be in each building of the stake to take care of the stake business. Home teaching is still home teaching. :)

  • James

    James,

    British and American gallons are different sizes. There are 8 pints in a British gallon, and only 7 in an American one.

    At a litre for litre comparison the British cost of gas was around $8 last time I checked. Still very high though in comparison.

    The American cost of gas is so low (in comparison to Europe) because it is subsidized by oil companies using the dollar as their trading and investment currency.

    Iraq had planned to change its oil currency to the Euro, which may have ultimately raised gas prices in America and perhaps lowered them in Europe, but then was invaded by some country.

  • Nobody Special

    Neocons and commie libs are all in the same conspiracy with the globalists to take down the United States. The whole thing in Iraq was to take it over for the NWO and weaken the United States, and of course, do it with the money from the US taxpayer, not from the globalist coffers who ordered the war to begin with. And of course, Cheney being CFR delivered the war for them using fraud.

  • Valoel

    As soon as the stock market goes into crisis mode, I see the price of gasoline drop by 40%. It was $4.39/gallon here during our shortage. Today, it’s $2.56 just a few weeks later. What? Did demand suddenly drop in half? People using half the gasoline they used to?

    Call me crazy, but sometimes I wonder about market manipulation…