Good for you Anngelique! Sounds like you are handling the situation with your son in a very loving way. Yes, I am only hearing one side of the story, I will give you that. But, I have known these people for 15 years, and have watched thier son grow up, know him well. He has changed. Yes, they are very disapointed, but not so much about the religion change. They are Catholic, but very casual about it, not fanatics. They have no problem with him going in a different way regarding religion. What they had deep concerns about is this all started with a girl from this family he dated in high school. Her family started taking him to church and other things...no problem there. He graduated, went away to college and midway through his first year, dropped out and was suddenly going on a mission. This girl stopped dating him as soon as he was hooked. Her parents went to the college to get him and take him out, never informing his parents. They took him to the airport to go on his mission. His parents never even knew any of this until after the fact. We all live in the same very small town, this family only lives 3 blocks away from us and his parents. Yes, his parents are upset! Now he is not getting his education and has no medical insurance. To top it all off, this Morman family also has thier own child that was on mission. Last year thier child was sent home from that mission with some form of Cancer. It has been all over our local paper, they keep having fundraisers for him, cuz he has no insurance. He was not in school and still covered under his parents, and since he was on a mission and not working he had no insurance. Of course this concerns my neighbors, I dont blame them! They have told me that he has told them that his phone calls are limited, I dont know if this is true or if it is something that he is just telling them. I do know that his grandfather died this past summer and his parents went through hell trying to get him home for the funeral. They do love him, and want him in the family. They are good people, trust me on this. He has a brother that is 1 year younger than him, they were very close, he has alienated him too, and his brother is certainly not judging him. I am not saying Morman is a cult, and all Mormans do this. I am just relating what I have observed in 1 situation. There is also another family in town whose child was in school and the same thing went on with this same Morman family helping her quit school and going on a mission. So, that has been what I have observed.
Once again, I commend you on your relationship with your son. You sound like a Mom any child would love to have!