Heavy/Getty Lisa Barlow
Lisa Barlow gave fans an update on her son Jack.
In September 2023, the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star’s 18-year-old son left home to go on a long Mormon missionary trip.
The teen’s religious trip has been a storyline on the 4th season of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” Co-star Heather Gay, who left the Mormon church after her divorce, questioned the mission.
At the time of her son’s departure, Barlow shared an Instagram story that featured footage of Jack dressed in a suit as he rolled suitcases through the airport in Salt Lake City. The Bravo star revealed she wouldn’t see her son for two years.
But after a fan spotted him at a department store chain in Orange County, Barlow spoke out.
Lisa Barlow Set the Record Straight on the Status of Her Son’s Mission
Lisa Barlow says bye to her son Jack for two years as he goes on his mission 🥺 #RHOSLC
On October 31, 2023, Barlow posted to the X app to share where her son was called to serve his Latter-Day Saints mission. “We are soooo happy Jack was called to serve in Colombia,” she wrote. “He loves serving others and was so happy this is his call. He has so many friends that have served here and still are and we are sooo happy for him.”
But less than two weeks later, a Reddit user claimed to see Jack at TJ Maxx/Home Goods store in Tustin, CA. “He was wearing his LDS badge and was with another missionary guy,” the Redditor wrote before speculating that Barlow didn’t let her son go to Colombia for his mission. “Instead, he went to Irvine/Tustin (literally one of the safest cities in the entire United States),” the Reddit user alleged. The OP even snapped a photo of Jack allegedly at the TJ Maxx store.
The LDS website states that the Colombia Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Bogota closed in January 2023. But some commenters noted that there are still active missions in Colombia and that the closure of the Bogata training center simply means “people serving missions in South America do their training elsewhere.”
Barlow caught wind of the questions about her son’s status and set the record straight. “Jack had to wait on his VISA so temp Spanish speaking in CA,” she wrote. “Still Colombia. Very active imaginations.”
She also responded to fans who questioned the process for obtaining a Visa. “Process for VISA goes through the LDS church and our attorney. Jack should have had his sooner,” she wrote.
When another commenter said the application process for a Visa isn’t months, she replied, “It is when you are serving a mission We have an attorney and the LDS church working with the Colombian govt. Some take up to 8 months.”
Lisa Barlow Previously Insinuated Her Son Was Already in Colombia For His Mission
The same day that Barlow announced her son was going to Colombia, she appeared on “Watch What Happens Live.” After host Andy Cohen asked her how Jack’s mission was going, she replied it was “amazing.”
She noted that he calls home once per week and that the conversations are quick. “And the guns in Colombia?” Cohen asked.
“Friends’ kids have gone there they get held up at gun/knifepoint … it’s not an anomaly,” Barlow replied. “But we love Colombia.”
Barlow did not mention that her son was not yet in Colombia.
In November 2023, Barlow clapped back at commenters who speculated her son’s mission was a made-up storyline for RHOSLC. “It’s not a storyline it’s our actual life,” she wrote on X. “Fake mission? I’m not the one faking anything – and my son IS ON A MISSION I don’t need camera time fake stories but we will def be talking about who does at the reunion.”
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