"At this point, the big question ... why? God, why is this happening to them? ... We are not here to explain that. We cannot understand that now ... It takes time to understand," he told those at the mass two miles south of Huntington.

Mission San Rafael's Rev. Donald Hope said back then that it was a "bitter" time of saying goodbye, but that it was also a time for sweet prayers. The Rev. Omar Ontiveros traveled from the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City to help lead in those prayers.

Steve Allred, brother of killed miner Kerry Allred said after the service, "By golly, there's got to be a whole bunch of good come out of this bad."

Julie Jones said her prayers are still with families who lost loved ones in the collapses. She figured her own son Elam Jones, 25, a miner at the now-closed Crandall Canyon Mine, was spared three times, including the incident that killed the six miners Aug. 6. She groups those three incidents as her "personal miracle."

"It's not fair," said Jones, a member of the Huntington City Council. "I truly believe God has a hand in it.

"It wasn't a punishment thing. It was a timing thing," she added, thanking God her son was spared. "How do I say that to those families? I feel for them — I truly feel for them."

Jones, who became known as "The Mom" during dark times here last year, said her family has grown by the nine families left behind by the Crandall Canyon victims.

One of those victims was Don Erickson, one of the six miners trapped Aug. 6. He left behind a wife, Nelda Erickson, who doesn't readily give it all up to being part of God's plan.

"I have a hard time with it," Erickson said. "It's something that could have been prevented."

She doesn't consider herself an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but she's had several blessings from other members.

"I've turned to God to help me get through this," she said. "I pray more than I did before."

Black was baptized LDS and for a while after the collapses was asked a lot to attend church. These days she calls herself "religious in my heart."

"It pulled the community together," Black said. And she'll always be thankful for what she called the "overwhelming" Christian acts of kindness that benefited her and the other eight families.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com "