Family and friends we are back in the USA. It is a bitter sweet experience. We love the people we were able to associate with while serving in Cambodia. We are grateful for the freedoms we enjoy at home. We will miss the slow pace of life in Cambodia.
Our 36 hour trip home was tiring. Since arriving home we have had little time to catch up on much needed rest. We sleep out of sheer exhaustion. We are facing hours of work to make the house we returned to our home once again.
Sunday August 4 we took the Wylers to Tuol Thom Pong Branch where they were introduced to several of their PEF students. They also experienced a Khmer branch Fast and Testimony meeting. There were several members who wanted to bear their testimonies so we did not share ours. The meeting ran over by 20 minutes. After the three block meetings we took the Wyler's to their apartment. The trip to church was their first tuk tuk experience. We were able to introduce them to our favorite tuk tuk driver Sam OL. We are sure they will use him often in the future.
Sam OL the best tuk tuk driver in all of Cambodia. His mother survived Pol Pot. He lived with his aunt when he was a little boy so he could attend school in Phnom Penh. He is married with three children. He speaks great English and reads all the time to continue to improve his language skills.
Our last two days in Cambodia were intense training days for Elder and Sister Wyler. They both have basic computer skills. They purchased their first laptop just prior to flying to Salt Lake City. Sister Wyler worked in special education and used a computer to record her student observations. Elder Wyler was a school counselor. He loves to teach and is excited to begin teaching Institute and Career Workshop. Of the two, Sister Wyler is most comfortable using the computer. Their combination of skills will work to their advantage as they serve their mission.
The Wyler's like us received "theory training" at the MTC. What we all really needed was practice creating loans. Dale worked with the Wyler's and Meas Sameth helping them understand the different steps in creating, approving and distributing loans. There is also a program called Business Objects which must be accessed in order to know what type of contacts are needed for each student. The contacts then must be recorded correctly into the Church system. Dale covered as much information as possible concerning the reports. For the past 8 months he has been training Meas Sameth who is a sharp guy and a quick learner. He will be of great value to the Wyler's in the weeks to come. For some unknown reason Sameth has not received authorization to use Business Objects. Without the reports from this site the PEF work comes to a standstill. We told Sameth to use Dale's personal user name and password for as long as he can. The Wyler's do not have the skills to run these reports. Dale put in several requests on behalf of Sameth to give him authorization. Thus far his requests have landed on deaf ears.
By lunch time on Monday Sister Wyler was feeling sick. Rather than going out to eat Dale and Elder Wyler picked up Fish n' Chips from Ma Ma's New York Deli.
Monday evening we had our farewell dinner with the other Senior Couples. We ate at the Viva Restaurant. They make very good Mexican food. The Kohl's "sneakily" paid for our dinner. We told them when they return to Fruita, Colorado we will reciprocate. They attend the same ward as our son Kyle and his family. The chances of meeting up with them again is great. We are happy about that.
Saying good bye is hard to do. Me and Kong Mary. She is engaged to an American return missionary from Maryland. There is a lot required to be able to marry a foreigner and to leave Cambodia.
Rem Sophary made a special trip to the office to say good bye to Dale and me. She is our first "Debt Free" student while serving our mission. She brought in $100 and paid off her loan. She is unable to work at the present time because she tends to her sick mother. This is a very common scenario in Cambodia.
Seam Kuntheavy ( CES Secretary) and Kong Mary.
Nen Pichmonyroth is our youngest PEF student. She was able to get her loan just before PEF changed the qualifications. She was 17 when she began her college program. She is now 18. Because of her high academic scores she was able to get a $200 discount on her schooling. She speaks very good English. She has a tender disposition and is easily touched by the spirit. Tears well as she expresses her love and gratitude for her Savior.
Tuesday we arrived at the mission home at 4:30. We weighed our luggage and did some weight redistribution of our belongings. We then reported to President and Sister Moon for our exiting interview. We discussed our experiences as the PEF missionary couple for the past year and half. We offered our observations concerning the needs of the members in Cambodia and gave suggestions on how to better help the PEF students and the leaders that work with them. It was a relaxing informal interview. After our interview we walked to a very nice restaurant for our final meal in Cambodia. It began to rain as we walked back to the mission home. We loaded our luggage into the Presidents SUV set off to the airport.
When we arrived Meas Sameth and his family were there. [Meas Sameth, Dale, Ury, Me, Vann Thidda]
Sameth worked with us and is a Branch President. His wife Vann Thida is a PEF student. Ury is 4 years old and loves us because we have candy.
Sameth had many of our PEF students sign this flag of Cambodia. He said that several other students planned to come to the airport but the rain and time of night made such the trip dangerous. He called them and told them to stay home. We are glad he did. As we were traveling to the airport President Moon had to brake several times.
Saying good bye to our Senior Couple friends and President and Sister Moon.
Elder and Sister Kohls, Elder and Sister Wyler, Dale and Me, Elder and Sister Westover and President and Sister Moon.
Farewell dear friends we will miss you so much. Forever in our hearts and prayers.
Traveling is not with out its ordeals. Unfortunately when we redistributed the weight in our luggage all the sharp dangerous stuff got thrown in our carry on luggage. Needless to say the left handed scissors got tossed. I was surprised that it was the only thing that was discarded. We did raise eyebrows at every check point along the way. In the jostling of stuff the Skype camera came up missing. It is probably sitting on the floor in the airport in Korea.
The flight from Cambodia to Korea was torture. We have never sat on such uncomfortable seats. The only person who seemed comfortable was a little Khmer man who through experience could contort his body to a comfortable position. The seats were grouped in threes. He sat in the middle. I wished I were more flexible.
We spent 11 very long hours in Korea. When we first arrived we met up with two young Elders and two young Sisters who were on their way to Russia to serve missions. They were excited in anticipation of the next step in their individual journeys.
The airport offered tours for travelers that have long layovers. We chose not to do the tour. We wanted to plant ourselves near our departing gate and sleep. We found a spot spread ourselves out over three seats each to get some shut eye and recharge our laptops. Of course this is not like sleeping at home. We would wake up and walk around a bit.
I did not know this picture had been taken. Kinda glad to have it. We were not the only people sleeping in this manner.
When we weren't sleeping we were searching for other entertainment. Dale would check up on what was happening with the world via the blessing of the Internet. We found a children's play area and sat nearby to watch them play. Asian children are just as hyper as American children. There was also a television. Out of desperation we viewed a show similar to Tella Tubbies, the news in Korean and a few documentaries. The topic of one documentary was cooking in Cambodia. It was fun and appropriate to be able to watch that one. We watched as the host went with a villager fishing and then to their home to prepare a meal. It was fun to reminisce over what we had experienced. The host was not Khmer. We could not understand the words being spoken but as we watched we could tell we were looking at Cambodia. Confirmation that it was Cambodia were some boxes in the the background with Khmer characters printed on them. There is an innocence in the eyes of the Khmer people that sets them apart from other Asian people. I do not know the reason they stand out but there is definitely something special and pure about them. Perhaps we see it because we served them.
The live orchids were beautiful.
Hoping we can board soon.
We were getting hungry. Subway Sandwiches hit the spot. When it was time to board the plane we saw two young Elders in line. They were returning home from their missions in Russia. They went their separate ways from Korea. One was flying to San Francisco and then on to Salt Lake City. The other was flying to Seattle and lives in nearby Bellevue. After the flight from Cambodia to Korea I was not looking forward to boarding Korean Air again.. To my delight when we got on the plane the seats were much better quality than our first experience. Their food was pretty good also. It didn't make the flight any faster but it made it bearable. Unfortunately my monitor that was mounted on the seat in front of me was not working. I spent most of my time with my eyes closed. While on the flight we were given a customs form to fill out. We were instructed only one was needed per family. We filled out one form. When we arrived in San Francisco I realized how unconnected the people in our country are. First our entry was not the anticipated "Welcome to America". Our first stop was customs. The line wound around forever. We finally got to the check point where they mark your customs claim form. The customs worker looked at our ID and asked us a trivia question about the capital of Washington. He marked our form with a red straight line and wished us a good day. We showed our custom form at check point #2. He motioned us to continue on. Check point #3 was the last and final step to freedom. At this point the guard checked Dale's claim form. He then yelled at me because I did not have a form. I said we were together. He said where is your claim form? I said the form states fill out one per family. He once again said where is your claim form? I was really frustrated. He said go back into line and get your claim form. To be honest we did not know what he was talking about. Apparently at check point #1 the custom worker was suppose to to mark in red the number of members in the family. Our slip was marked with a long line (I thought it was like at Costco when they mark your receipt). I refused to stand in the long line again so I pushed my way up to the first check point and he remarked our slip with a number 2. We proceeded through the check points and were finally allowed entry. As I passed the last check point I remarked," Now is it welcome to America?" We are so use to walking the streets of Phnom Penh where everyone looks you in the eye and greets you. In the San Francisco airport no one looked up. They were all wired to some sort of devise and were in their individual Cyber Worlds. It was quite sad and cold. I finally struck up a conversation with a young lady from China who was on her way to visit a friend in Chico, California. We had a good visit.
One last flight and we would be home. We boarded the plane. I ended up sitting at a window seat. It was fun to view Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson and Mount Adams and the beautiful green trees below. Arriving in Portland was a welcomed relief from our California experience.
Stuart, Jenni , Derek, Owen and Rylie were eagerly awaiting our arrival with signs grandly displayed. It was a great reunion.
When we got to baggage claim all our bags were quickly accounted for. We went to Enterprise Rental where we secured a blue Nissan Versa.
When we got home we were greeted with more welcome signs and welcome home gifts. Jenni had purchased some start up grocery items and our dear friends Connie and Jerry Anderson had also fixed up a care package. All of which has been very helpful as we slowly reconnect with "life" in America.
The next morning we discovered that we did not have Dale's brief case . When we rented our car Dale had laid the brief case next to a pole beside the rental car while he was doing the normal inspection for dents, etc. He forgot to pick it up. We of course called Enterprise and they did have the brief case. On our way to retrieve the brief case we saw a flashing Amber Alert. The car description was a blue Nissan Versa. Great! We were in a rented blue Nissan Versa. Just what we needed was to be stopped by the police. We proceeded to Enterprise and got the brief case. On our return home we read more of the Amber Alert. The suspect car had California License Plates.Whew!
Sunday we attended church and said hello to many of our friends. Many could not believe that we were back so soon. At 3:30 we met with President Randall who released us after we reported to him. We will report to the High Counsel on August 25. Our Bishop is not sure when he will have us speak in our Ward. He said for sure not until September.
Our next step is to find our new niche in life. We will be very busy for some time making our house a home again.
Thank you all for your love and support while we have served. Your acts of love and service on our behalf while we have been gone is appreciated more than you will ever know. We love you.
We are now closing a big chapter in our lives. We do hope to enjoy several new chapters. The book of life is truly one where we each can choose our own ending. If we do what the Lord asks us to do the promises are sure. The end of our book can say, "And they lived happily forever after."
THE END
