Choeung Ek -- The Killing Fields

Today was not a normal routine for Saturday, although we did get up early to teach our wonderful Institute class (We had 19 students there today), followed by Skype and FaceTime calls with most of our family. From that point on everything took a different course than we have taken in the past.

Today we had two visitors arrive at our office about 9:00 this morning: Trent Jacobson from Salt Lake and Marco Lok from Hong Kong. Both are from the PEF team and will be visiting Cambodia until next Wednesday. After visiting with Trent, Marco and Sameth for a few minutes we were on our way to get Elder Oveson's hair cut, and a quick stop at the mission home. Our normal Saturday shopping was done yesterday because we expected these visitors.

After our quick errands, we returned to the office to meet up with the team for lunch at Mama's and a trip to Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields). A few months ago we told of visiting Tuol Sleng Museum where many people were held and tortured during the Khmer Rouge Regime. This was a very dark part of the Cambodian history. Choeung Ek was where the prisoners were taken from Tuol Sleng and were executed. The history of the Killing Fields is not a pretty tale, but it is more peaceful. This is more of a resting place of so many. No one is sure how many were killed and buried there, but the Stupa (shrine building) has about 9,000 skulls plus other bones and artifacts that have been collected in memory of so many who lost their lives. The grave sites continue to have bones, teeth, and other fragments surface each year, additional evidence of those buried there.

After walking these grounds and hearing the stories through headphones, we discussed how much of the purpose behind the regime came down to destroying the family. They were trying to build an agrarian society but the family had no place there. The war on the family continues today. We need to look at what we are facing in todays world and make sure we don't allow this dark part of history repeat itself.