HUNTINGTON, Emery County — Six days after the Crandall Canyon Mine caved in, hundreds of community members gathered at the LDS stake center here to fast and pray for the six trapped miners, their families and the rescuers.

More than 600 people attended the special fast meeting sponsored by the Huntington, Price and Castle Dale stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Lavar Jensen of the Huntington Stake said they gathered "to fast for the welfare of the souls of men."

"Let us help them to have their burdens lifted and their yokes broken," he said.

He said he recognized the community is going through a difficult trial, but he reminded the crowd of the growth-through-tribulation principle, an LDS teaching.

"We grow through trials," he said. "In all aspects of life, there's growth through trials."

LDS spokesman Mark Tuttle said the Huntington Stake hasn't held a special fast since a drought last year.

At the meeting, Marie Johnson, a member of a local LDS ward, said she's heard one word repeated over and over during this tragic time: hope.

"Hope is a word that is a modest but tough virtue," she said.

She also said people can't choose the trials they face, but they can choose the way they respond to those trials. She recited her father's favorite expression: "Happiness is the art of making a bouquet from those flowers within one's reach."

Local LDS ward member Elizabeth Hanson said the church leaders offered inspirations — not false hope — during a "devastating time for the community."

"I wake up at night in a warm bed, and I think of what conditions those miners must be in, and I start to cry," she said.

Saturday night, the streets of Huntington were quiet with the exception of an occasional passing car and the sound of children at the elementary school playground. Banners proclaiming, "Pray for our 6" and "We believe" hung high around town. Meanwhile, other members of the community expressed hope for the best Saturday, but they also considered the possibility this disaster won't end the way everyone hopes.

Joe Jensen, a 50-year-old former coal miner, said that as the days roll by, people in the community are starting to feel dread.

"The days are getting longer," he said. "You think the worst but pray for the best."

As a seasoned miner, Jensen believes there is a good chance the miners are alive.

"It's all hope," he said. "Chances are slim to none, but as long as you have hope there's a chance."