We Are Rich in Friendships

One of the sweetest blessings of our mission to the West Indies was the friendships we made with other senior couples … and those lovely friendships continue even though we have now been home for two years.  Last week we enjoyed a delicious dinner, company and conversation with Jim and Mary Andrus (St. George) and Bob and Katie Beecher (Lehi) at the LaVerkin home of Val and Marcia Cook.  The Andrus' took our place in the mission office in Trinidad where they served the entire 23 months of their mission.  The Cooks were called to be Humanitarian Service missionaries throughout the entire West Indies and the Beechers - more or less - took over our assignment with PEF.

Tonight we had dinner and a pleasant evening of chit chat with Jean and Carol Drolet who we first met at a WIM couples conference when they were serving in French Guiana.  Now they are serving in the Utah St. George Mission where they share the message of the gospel to approximately 27,000 French-speakers who visit the area's Church historical sites every year (who knew we had that many French-speakers in little old St. George).  They told us they introduced their son, who was still unmarried at age 35, to a beautiful Relief Society president from French Guiana ... they "clicked" and are now married with a new baby.  The Drolets still have about five months left before they return home to Canada so we hope to get together again.

Friends are – according to the scriptures – what make us “rich” (Proverbs 14:20) and one of the greatest blessings of our friendship with these wonderful senior couples is none of them ever tire of talking about our shared experiences in the mission field.