OK, so I was told I’m supposed to take over the blog so I will try to give it my best…
On the fifth, we took the day off to hang out with Luke before he left. We had big plans for the day… but of course, things went Khmer style. We were going to go putt-putting earlier in the morning, but it got too late, so we just went to the reservoir for a bit. Then we went to the airport to surprise our cousin, who is here on world race. After that we went to Veasna’s mom’s place for lunch. We were there for a while, then we headed home to get ready to go to the water park, but when we got there, of all things, it was closed. So we ended up just going putt-putting instead… Then after supper we went to Swenson’s for ice cream.
The next day was busy preparing for Luke’s farewell supper. We all enjoyed the pork, bread, and cucumber salad. Luke told the Khmer people bye, then we headed home so Luke could get cleaned up and get his stuff together. Then we took off for the airport. And alas we bid our dear brother farewell. It’s quieter since he’s gone, we all miss him a lot.
On the fifteenth Ryan Austin and Dallas went with all the staff guys on a bike trip.
On the 18th we were all thrilled to have our cousin Melanie (the one that’s on the world race) and one of the girls on her team spend the evening with us. It’s not often that we get relatives through our neck of the woods.
The following day, Dad was driving down the road and he saw a girl who looked a Mennonite. He decided to turn around and ask … turns out she was and she lives right down the road from us. She’s here with an organization called Destiny Rescue.

And on the 22nd Alaina turned five. That whole week that was all she could think about. We were all relieved when the day came and we could finally get some peace and quiet.

Well that’s about all that’s happened recently.

Heather for the Helmuths

This past while hasn’t been that busy. Since the board left there hasn’t been that much going on. The biggest thing was when we had a seminar here at our house for everybody who wants or is considering baptism/membership with our church. There was around 70 people here for the day if you count all the children. We have started a weekly Instruction Class for those who want it, so that is very exciting…

Other than that there hasn’t been much going on, but for me at least there is a big change coming up!!!

I’ve been teaching English for the last 3 years, and today is my last day in the foreseeable future. There are mixed feelings that come with that. On the one side I’m happy, because planning lessons can become a drudgery. On the other side I’m sad, because I really love the children that I’ve been teaching. We have had so much fun together, both during class and after. No, they are not perfect, but then who is? I’ve been trying to teach them English, but at the same time they have been teaching me stuff. Like when I was trying to get a conversation started, and I asked them this question. “If you could have anything in the world what would you want.” Over half of them answered that they would want a happy/peaceful family. Some of these children don’t always know where their next meal is coming from…Maybe this doesn’t seem as big to you as it did to me, but it made me think again about what is really important in my life.

Well, I guess if you don’t know, you are probably wondering why I am stopping to teach. In five days I am going to be moving to Idaho where I’ll be living with my uncle! I will definitely miss my family and a people/country I’ve come to love, but I’m also excited about going. There’s going to be a challenges I’m sure, so I’d appreciate it if ya’ll would pray for me if you think about it…

Well that’s all for this time…

Luke for the Helmuths…