My name is Randel M. Sessions. I was born the third son of Barney Burl Sessions and Lloy Jane Bennett Sessions on April 18, 1959. I was born and raised in Vernal, Utah, where I still reside at the present time.

My parents are goodly parents. All that I am is because of them. They gave me a firm foundation on which I have been able to build my life. Their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ have given me a foundation with which to build my own testimony and love for the Lord. This is one of the greatest gifts I could ever receive.

I have four brothers and one sister. Lynn is my elder by about four and one half years. Drell died a few hours after he was born, but would be about two years older than me. Lawona, my only sister is about two years younger. David is about five years younger and Glade is about eight years younger. All of these have families of their own now except David who is not married.

My parents lived in a little house on about 580 West 100 North in Vernal when I was born. When I was about two years of age we moved into a new house that they had built at 631 West 200 North where they still live to this day.

I had a happy childhood and many fine memories growing up in the 60's in the small community of Vernal. I would like to relate a few.

When I was only about two years of age I was extremely uncoordinated and clumsy. I would bump into walls when trying to go though doors and such. After being examined by an eye doctor it was determined I needed glasses. I started wearing glasses at that time. I don't know if this helped my clumsiness, but I did stop running into walls.

When I was four years old it was determined I had a lazy eye and would need corrective surgery. This was a common surgery done on "lazy eye" syndrome at this time and although the surgery did straighten my lazy eye it did not correct my vision. I have always been extremely far-sighted and have had to wear corrective lenses my whole life.

A short time after I started wearing glasses I took a nose dive off the shelf in the basement of the old 5th Ward Chapel and shattered my new safety glasses which were not suppose to break. I was not hurt, but was inducted into the "Wise Owl Club" by the lens manufactures for wearing their safety lenses and thereby saving my eyesight when involved in an accident.

I can also remember spending a great deal of time with my Grandmother and Grandfather. They would come by after Grandpa got off work and want to take us kids to get a hamburger at A & W. My dad was working at putting in a yard at the time and I was somehow involved in helping him, because when mom told me I couldn't go with Grandma and Grandpa until I found my glasses. I would feel around in the dirt until I found where I buried them and put them on, dirt and all, while declaring I was ready to go. Grandma would give me a spit bath and clean my glasses with her fog and then declare I was ready. I only relate these stories, not because they carry any major significance, but because they are part of my earliest recollections and had an impact on my life at the time.

Grandma and Grandpa would take Lawona and I on long exploratory drives throughout the County. They would take Lynn and I on many fishing excursions to the mountains. As we got older, Dad, Lynn and I would go on deer hunting expeditions with Grandpa and Uncle Les. I remember spending a lot of time helping out on Grandpas little forty acre farm which he owned in the Glines area. Grandpa and I made many trips to Sheep Creek and Manila hauling cattle over the mountain to summer range. We worked in the garden and helped with the sheep and livestock. I mention all of this because somewhere between the time I was a small boy and a teenager I developed a close love and relationship with my Grandma and Grandpa Bennett especially my Grandpa. These relationships, I believe have influenced and shaped my life into what it is today.

When I was about seven my mother enrolled me in piano lessons. I took lessons from then until I was about seventeen years old. I didn't always enjoy the practice hours, but I will always be grateful that my parents made me stick to it. When I was twelve years old I was called to be the pianist for priesthood meeting each Sunday and have done that ever since. I wish I would have practiced harder and learned to play better, but that which I did learn has brought me a great deal of happiness and hopefully been enjoyed by others as well.

When I was eleven I started a paper route, delivering the Salt Lake Tribune. I would have to get up every mourning, including Sundays and Holidays and deliver papers. My mother drove me around during the worst of the winter months. Most of time I delivered from my bicycle. I would have to collect the subscription fee each month from my customers. This was one of my first jobs and taught me a great work ethic.

I went from delivering the smallest route to the biggest route and delivered close to eighty papers at one time. I won two trips to Disneyland by selling 50 new subscriptions each year. Brent Partridge also won two trips. We went together on these trips and had a great time. Mr. C. Brian O'Neil was the manager of the paper office and helped us earn these trips. Many of the delivery boys didn't get along with the O'Neils, but I had a very good friendship with them.

One day while delivering papers a little dog followed me home. We tried to get rid of him as I knew my parents didn't want any pets around. Granny and I loaded him into her car and took him to a distant neighborhood and dumped him off. When we got home their he was waiting for us, so after some persuading, I convinced my parents to let me keep the dog. His name became Hector and he became my companion and part of the family until he died some years later.

After delivering papers for about two years, I was tired of it and gave the route to Ronald Taylor, a boy would lived across the street from us. His first day on the job by himself he got hit by a car while crossing main street. This put him in a body cast and me back delivering papers for another six months.

A big part of my life growing up was spent with the boy scouting program. I never earned my Eagle Scout award, but the experiences I had while in scouting helped shape me into a better person. I was having trouble getting along with some of the boys in my own troop, so when I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow (a service arm of the scouting program) these boys became my scout troop. They accepted me and this is where I had many, many wonderful experiences. This is also where my good friend Kirk Robbins and I really got acquainted.

I never knew my Grandfather Sessions, because he died when my dad was still in high school, but I knew my Grandmother Sessions or "Granny" as she was affectionately known to all of her grandchildren. She too was a great example to me and had a great influence on my life. Granny come to live in an apartment that was built in our basement when I was very young. She lived there until long after a left home to go on a mission and to pursue my own life. She died shortly after I married and we had our second child.

I remember Granny would listen to me as I checked in with her each day after school. She was always busy quilting, sewing, cooking or baking bread. She made the best homemade bread! She also cooked some of the best meals I've ever had. I don't know if the food was really better the my Mom's cooking, but I remember It was always prepared with a lot of love behind it as she always fixed it with a degree of personal sacrifice, whether of money or of time.

As a teenager I remember having to wake Granny up in the middle of the night when I was awakened by her wailing. When I asked her what was wrong, she would laugh and just say the darn Indians were after her again and tell me to go back to bed. She was also the inspiration for the names of my pets, such as Mickey and Diamond my two ponies and Hector my dog.

When I was nine my Grandpa borrowed a Shetland pony from an Uncle in Manila for the summer for us kids to ride. I was especially interested in horses at this time in my life. One day while helping Grandpa herd the cows into the corral the lead cow turned the wrong direction, the rest of the herd followed. The borrowed pony I was riding was trained to herd cows and took out after this lead cow which took me by surprise. I was still off balance when the horse jumped the ditch and I feel off breaking my arm on a rock in the ditch. My grandpa didn't believe my arm was broke and told me to go sit in the truck while he retrieved my horse and put him away. He took me home and after my complaining my folks took me down to get my arm x-rayed. The break wasn't a bad break, but I think Grandpa felt worse than I did when he found out it really was broke. The next summer Grandpa purchased two Welsh ponies for the Grand-kids to ride. Daryl Preece and I rode those two horses every chance we got. Horses were the love of my life during this time.

I went to school at Ashley Elementary from Kindergarten through sixth grade and then to the Vernal Junior High School which is now the Middle School during my seventh through ninth grade years and graduated from Uintah High School in 1977 after attending there tenth through twelve grades. The High School I attended is now the Vernal Junior High. I believe my education was a good one, which gave me the foundation for the skills I have needed in my adult life. I made many friends while growing up. Many of those continue to be my friends and have inspired and continue to inspire me in many. I would like to mention a few of my close friends. Kirk Robbins, I have known since grade school. When I was in high school he became a close friend and remains so to this day. We had many fun times together. Jeff Carpenter, Vernon Calder were also good friends. I have many friends and associates whom I look to for inspiration and leadership. Many of these are fiends and associates from church and school. I also had a girlfriend who waited for me to serve a mission.

When I turned 19 I was called to serve in the New York Rochester Mission for the LDS Church. I had been out about a year when I got word that my Grandfather had passed away. This was the lowest point of my mission. I was extremely depressed and wanted to come home, but knew I could not. About two weeks after I was called to serve as Mission Recorder and was transferred to Rochester. The office staff was in the middle of moving the office to a new location. The new place was an old house which needed to be renovated. I was kept so busy during the next month, learning my new job and helping with the demolition and renovation that I did not have time to think about my problems. I was totally unprepared for what was about to happen next in my life. President Curtis transferred me and Elder Randall Johnson, by plane to the newly created Hartford Connecticut Mission. It was created by combining parts of the Mass. Boston and New York Rochester missions. We were sent to help start the new mission. There my mission experience improved with each passing day. I served with the new office staff for the next five months. I was companions with Elder Richard Adams and then Elder Wade Clark. The influence of these two missionaries and the Office staff changed my life forever.

We would typically do office work from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. then proselyte after dinner until dark then back to the office. Elder Clark and I taught and baptized a black family and a young man by the name of William Osborne. He owned a house in Bloomsfield, Connecticut. One evening one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Dradge and I tracked Bill out. Wade and I taught him and he was soon there after baptized.

After I got home from my mission I worked for Roland Searle for about a month doing landscaping then worked at Uintah Engineering and Land Surveying. I worked as a survey helper for about 3 months and then worked for about 8 months as a draftsman. This was in the days before computers were used much in drafting. During this time I was engaged to my girlfriend, but we broke it off soon after.

In December of 1981 I moved to Orem, Utah. Wade Clark (Elder Clark) and I both moved in with Bill Osborne (whom we baptized) who had moved to Orem to go to school at BYU. Wade and I were both working and going to school as we could. We both worked at a place that raised beavers. These animals were raised for their pelts. I had worked with Lynn at the Provo beaver ranch part time before my mission while attending BYU. When I went back they hired me as ranch manager for the Orem and Provo ranches because of my prior experience. One other guy and myself were responsible for about 1500 head of beaver. It was hard work and required a great deal of time. I didn't mind the work, but was unable to take many classes at BYU, because of the time commitment. I was able to get a full time job with Provo City on their tree trimming crew, because of my association with the crew on the beaver ranch job.

One Sunday evening while attending a church function with Bill and Wade I was persuaded to attend a birthday party of one of Bill's friends. He was driving so Wade and I really didn't have much choice. It was there that I met Cherie' Anderson.

Cherie' knew I was the one for her when she first saw me. It didn't take much longer than that for me to feel the same way about her. Cherie' and I were married on April 28th, 1982. In Provo, Utah.

We moved to Vernal soon after our week long honeymoon to California. Lynn had started a solar business and I went to work for him. We choose California for our honeymoon, because we were broke and the solar company offered to pay our mileage if I would use my little truck to pick up some solar panels in Southern California. The solar business didn't last long and I got a job working for Uintah County Mosquito Abatement. This was a steady pay check. Lynn worked their as Assistant Director under Dr. Steven Romney. I had worked there before my mission too. In the fall I decided I had better get an education so Cherie' and I moved to Salt Lake so I could go to the University of Utah to study Civil Engineering.

On the 26th of November, 1982 our first son was born. We named him Timothy Randel Sessions. By the end of the first semester we were out of money and the solar sales job that I had was commission only and I was a poor salesman, therefore it was back to Vernal. We found a small apartment build on the back of an old house that used to be a Mortuary. It had one small bedroom and no insulation in the walls. Our blanket would freeze to the wall at night. The main source of heat was a wood burning stove. When it got going we would have to leave the door open, because it was too hot. On April 28th 1983 Cherie, Tim and I were sealed together as a family in the Salt Lake Temple. This has been a joyous and blessed occasion for our lives.

On January 1st, 1984 I started full time for the Uintah County Mosquito Abatement. I took over Lynn's job as Assistant Director as he quit to start a computer store.

On January 10, 1984 Brenna Cherie' Sessions was born in the little lean-to apartment. She was delivered by a midwife because we didn't have maternity insurance and could not afford a doctor. Cherie was petrified of them anyway.

When Brenna was born the cord was around her neck, she also aspirated some of the fluid. We had to have the ambulance come and take her to the hospital. She was in intensive care for about 5 days before we were able to bring her home. She gave us a scare, but helped us to make commitments to the Lord, which we have tried to keep to this day and which have turned to our good. Fortunately I did have insurance that covered Brenna after she was born, so all of her hospital stay was covered.

Grandma Bennett died in March of 1984 and Granny died in May of the same year. We moved into Grandma's house soon thereafter. This was in the Vernal 2nd Ward and I was made Elders Quorum Secretary in that ward.

In April of 1985 we built a house at 153 North 600 West around the corner from Mom and Dad. In fact the back yards joined and we had a gate that connected the two. With the help of Cherie's dad, Dean Anderson, we did much of the work on the building of this home ourselves. We formed the foundation, Did all the siding and outside work and did all the finish work on the inside. We moved in November 15, 1985.

On January 7th, 1987 Benjamin George Randel Sessions was born. We had not planned to have another child, but we didn't oppose the idea either. We had three kids now. We had a steady income and a new house. Life was good as we look back we regret not taking the time to enjoy it more. We had no idea how good we really had it. I suppose this was because money was tight and we were struggling to get ahead of the money game. We knew that Ben wasn't our last child so we soon planned to have one more child and then our family would be complete. Or so we thought.

I apparently could not get away from the paper route business, because I picked up a car route during this time to help supplement our income. It took me two years before I realized that all my profits went to keeping the car repaired. I wore out our little Datsun 310GX that Cherie' bought before we were married and another 1978 Subaru Wagon.

On April 10, 1989 Cherie' gave birth to identical twin boys- Andrew and Zachary. So much for our "just one more" theory. At a time when our marriage was struggling and we were both still "growing up", Andrew and Zachary came into our lives as a blessing from heaven. Each of our children have enriched our earthly experience, but rasing twins has been a most unique experience. Their coming into the world helped our family to grow closer together than any other experience could and continues to be that way.

When the twins were only about two or three years old, Dad and the family started an ambitious project of adding on to the Cabin that they inherited from Grandpa and Grandma Bennett. I was against it at first because I had been involved in enough building projects to know how much work was involved. I however became heavily involved with this project and would spend much of my "free" time working on the cabin.

We lived in and attended Vernal 6th Ward during the years we lived here. I was Elders Quorum Secretary, primary teacher, Cub Scout Committee Chairman and later Cubmaster. These were fun callings for me. I enjoyed them immensely. This was only the beginning of my scouter experience. Cherie' served as nursery leader and in the primary.

After leaving the paper route, Boyd Sorenson and I created a Company called S&S Janitorial for the sole purpose of bidding on the State and County Building's janitorial contracts. With the help of Lawona and her husband Rob Harrop we were able to land these contracts. This put us in the Janitorial business for the next two years. We cleaned three stories of the State and County building. Four levels of the old County building and the Library, every night. This was hard, tedious work, but we at least got some Saturdays and all Sundays off. This was a good experience for Cherie', Tim, and Brenna. They did a lot of the work and even did it for me many nights when I was up working on the cabin. It gave the kids their first taste of the work a day world. The money was good and very welcome, but we were glad when the contract lapsed and our "free" time became free again.

On August 11, 1991, our sixth child, Samuel Briggs Randel Sessions was born.

On March 15, 1993 we sold our home and moved to 265 North 600 West, just four houses to the north. It was a run down older home that needed a lot of renovation. We went to work and again with the help of Cherie's dad we were able to turn this home into something very nice.

This move also put us in a different ward. We now were in the Vernal Ninth ward. This brought many new challenges for growth and new callings. I was immediately called to the Young Men's Presidency as the Deacons Quorum advisor. In February of 1994 the church realigned the boundaries of all the wards in the Ashley Stake. This left us in 9th Ward, but also moved my folks and a lot of our 6th Ward friends to our ward. The change also gave me a new calling as Scout Master. I also ended up with 17 boys in my troop. Most of them were active at this time. This was a major undertaking at this time in my life as we went on a camp out a least once a month. This became a burden on Cherie' and the rest of the family, so I talked to the Bishop and was released after having served for about one and one half years. It didn't do any good to release me because the Stake immediately called me to serve in the Stake Young Mens Presidency as the counselor over the Deacons and Scouting in the Stake. This automatically put me in as Unit Commissioner. After attending round table and trying to learn what I was suppose to be doing, I decided to attend a Woodbadge course. This is advanced training for Scouters. Little did I know that the week I would spend in the Anisazi Valley of Saint George my life would change again. I gained not only many new friends, but also a testimony and a understanding of the spiritual side of scouting. I received my Woodbadge Beads year later in the same valley by my coach/counselor- Myrle Astrope.

Soon after I received my Woodbadge beads, the stake president called the Stake Young Men's President to the Stake High Council and a new Young Men's Presidency was called. Soon after I was released from the Stake calling, Bishop Collett called me to be the Ward Young Men's President and Priest Quorum Advisor.

On December 29, 1995 Joseph Moosman Randel Sessions was born. We have learned to enjoy the younger years of these last two children a lot more than we did with our first ones. These last two along with all our children have brought us a great amount of joy.

About a year after I was called as Young Men's President we got a new Bishop. Arvid Sullivan then requested that I be the Elders Quorum President. Karl Wright was the Elders Quorum President and was called to be a counselor to Bishop Sullivan. Leon Hoyt was called as the other counselor. As I have worked closely with these men they have had a powerful impact on my life. A few months after I was called to the Elders Quorum, Cherie' was called to be one of two Gospel Doctrine teachers in our ward.

In January of 1998 we decided to start a Five Buck Pizza Restaurant. We found a building and spent all of our spare time remodeling it through the summer. On November 10, 1998 we opened our doors for business. This has been a great undertaking. Our whole family has been involved. Working together on the renovation of the building has brought us closer together. Tim and Brenna are now employed at the pizza place and Cherie' helps with the ordering, and scheduling of employees as well as all the odds and ends that come up. I work my regular job at the Mosquito Abatement then work at the pizza place until closing.

At the time I am writing this Cherie' is pregnant with our eight child whom we believe will be a girl. Her due date is Nov. 3, 1999. We also believe we will be moving to Brigham City, Utah. We are in the process of selling our business and may take a job as Director of the Box Elder County Mosquito Abatement if all goes as planned.

My wife said I needed to list my hobbies. My first hobby is my family, whom I love very much. I enjoy my church callings which gives me the opportunity to serve others. I also enjoy gardening, food storage, building useful things, fishing, hiking, backpacking and scouting, but only if I can do these things with my family.

Oct. 11, 1999