Status Update

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR (Dad):

About 5 hours after I got his weekly email on Tuesday I received another one from him, which is unusual. He said that he was going through probably his worst day since arriving at the MTC and was very discouraged, but did not give specifics. He told me that he had tried to speak with his Branch President on Sunday, but was not able to and that he hoped to do so later that night after their weekly devotional.

I fought the urge to call the MTC for a while, but then realized that it was too important for me not to call. I wanted to get a message to the Branch President before the devotional so that he knew that Steven needed to talk to him. I left a message with a secretary and then received a phone call back a couple of hours later. I spoke with a District President (who supervises the Branch Presidents) and to my surprise he told me that he had just spoken with Steven. He said that he could tell by the way he looked when he walked in that he was carrying a heavy burden. They spoke for about a half hour and the District President told him that it was good to be concerned for his companion, but that he cannot take responsibility for his lack of desire or for his actions. He said that he shared a bunch of stories from when he had been a mission president in Peru and that by the time Steven left he was laughing and smiling and that he should be just fine. He also told me that he had spoken with the Branch President and that he too had felt concerned about Steven's companion and that he was planning on speaking with them that night. I guess we'll have to wait until next Tuesday to find out if things have improved.