Elder Kevin W. Pearson, along with Elder Erich W. Kopischke, and Elder Matthew S. Holland all participated in a news conference and media tour of the newly renovated temple on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
I distinctly remember getting an unexpected phone call on a Friday afternoon. I didn’t recognize the number except that it was from Utah. As I answered, one of the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) presidents told me two things: 1. Our son was being sent home from the MTC. 2. We needed to get on a plane as soon as possible to come get him. My heart was flooded with simultaneous emotions of bewilderment, anxiety, and sadness. A few hours later we were on a plane from Portland to Salt Lake City. My mind raced with questions: Why was he coming home? What would the future hold? What could we have done to better prepare him? We soon learned our son had an undiagnosed anxiety condition. The stressors of full-time missionary service had exacerbated his distress to the point of needing to be released.
When we emphasize that the Lord can’t abide any unclean thing, and that his acceptance of us is predicated on all the dazzling feats of self-improvement we’re going to perform, we're hurting those who struggle with mental illness.
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