A Night To Remember

Last night our dearest friends, Mike and Sally Hess, threw a party in our honor. Our Somerset neighbors came to say goodbye to us. The night was filled with good food, stories, laughter, hugs, and tears. It was another gift - another tender mercy in our mission journey. Sally worked so hard to make the evening special. Our hearts were filled with gratitude.

To our neighbors we say "Thank you" for caring enough to come. We were strengthened by your your love, your testimonies and your faith in us. We had never lived more than 3-4 years at a time in any one place until we moved to Somerset. We spent 20 years there in a paradise of people. People who were committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. People who were full to love and freely gave of themselves to teach and guide our children. People who set examples of courage and faith as they went through great trials. People filled with talents, knowledge, and testimony they willingly shared. Our lives were so enriched by each and every person we came to know. These people picked us up when great trials came to our family. Through their service, their faith and prayers, and fasting we experienced miracles when all looked hopeless.

We loved our neighborhood parties and birthday lunches. We loved walking the trails in the foothills and through the streets of our neighborhood. It was a neighborhood your children could feel free to run to the park and play and be safe. A neighborhood who celebrated the freedom of our country every 4th of July with a parade through the streets filled with children on bikes they had decorated, trucks and 4-wheelers filled with grandchildren and children dressed in red, white, and blue. The parade was followed with a pot-luck picnic in the park including an art show which hung on the park fence, displaying neighborhood talent. There were the yearly golf tournaments sponsored by the Bells. When our children grew up and moved into their own homes, we were included in empty nester's family home evenings. Somerset was Mayberry. We will never forget you!