PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Leang and Saroeun Eav slipped out of Cambodia in 1979 under the most desperate of circumstances. After nearly four years of witnessing murder, starvation, torture and barely avoiding death under the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the Southeast Asia country, they miraculously escaped with two young children to a refugee camp in Thailand, eventually making their way to the United States.
Today, 46 years later, four young grandsons of Leang and Saroeun have returned to Cambodia as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Another cousin, a granddaughter, will begin serving this summer.
When these cousins look over the tranquil rice paddies of the Cambodian countryside or ride their bicycles in the teeming cities, they don’t see the atrocities of the Killing Fields. Instead, they see beautiful landscapes and growing communities filled with humble, peace-loving people.