Hermana Heywood

Kaitlynn in the Chile Puerto Montt Mission

Evening Family Call with You (Puerto Montt, Packing), December 1, 2025

December 1, 2025 · Herriman / Puerto Montt

Long Monday evening call, continuation of the morning packing day. You were still packing for tomorrow's transfer to Coyhaique. The whole family was around the home-side phone at various points (me, Mom, Mason, Natalie, Alexa).

Matching bracelets with Hermana Soares

You and Hermana Soares bought matching bracelets earlier in the day. You also secretly bought Soares a second one as a parting gift, along with a Book of Mormon in English. The bracelet cost was small - you used your mission card with a discount; about $6 went through.

"Training a Latina" - Aunt Cathie's mishearing

Mom told Aunt Kathi that you were going to be training a Latina (a companion of Latin origin, Brazilian in this case). Aunt Cathie heard it as you thinking you ARE a Latina. Your response: "actually true."

Danica's new boyfriend Jacob

Family update on cousin Danica:

Boundaries with a pre-mission peer

A thread about a peer of yours who has been sending frequent emails (including a long audio) since you both left for your respective missions, and who seems to read the contact as more than friendship. Mom and I advised you to be unambiguous in your next reply: clearly state you just want to be friends. The agreed plan: hold off that night, sit with it for a week, and if you still feel the same way, send a direct message.

Elder Ulrich as the trusted friend

Mid-call you turned to Elder Ulrich - a peer in your mission who is, in your words, "completely consecrato" (no romantic interest in any direction). You've been making post-mission plans (his uncle has a boat). You said you find the friendship refreshing.

You complimented me: "Best friends make the best husbands."

Closure - the Mrs. Hadley quote

Mom brought up "closure" as part of the boundary-setting conversation. You riffed on it: per Mrs. Hadley (Angie Hadley, formerly in Summit Ridge ward with us), "girls don't need closure." Your own self-assessment: you don't think you need closure.

BYU-Idaho housing

IHC patient-care-tech job research

Looking at IHC hospital options for your post-mission work:

The Catholic Mass visit

You and your companion stopped into a Catholic church earlier today on a whim - doors were open, you went in and sat down. You almost put your feet on the kneeler before realizing what it was. People around you were reciting prayers (the rosary).

Your read, near-verbatim:

"It was a really cool experience to be there because the place - you could tell it was a sacred place for a lot of people... but it was empty. It was completely empty and it was lifeless. Because there wasn't the spirit. The spirit wasn't there at all. And it was a reverent place and a quiet place, and it was really cool to see their respect for the Virgin Mary. But the spirit wasn't there at all... I wanted to go up there and ask if I could say a prayer. And then pray for all of them. And invite the spirit. But no, we only stayed for about 15 minutes."

You paired this with a question to me: how can people join the church, feel the Spirit, and then leave? I said peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and when something is hollow like that, the person has to make a hard decision; on my mission, what turned people away was usually that they did receive an answer but they loved their life more than they wanted peace.

Family updates

We spoke briefly of Uncle Craig. You also asked about Uncle David and Kerry being on your email list.

Bible appreciation

Tangent: you have been using the Bible more and loving it. Cross-referencing the Bible and the Book of Mormon is one of your favorite study patterns.

Closing - Operation: Identify the Companion

The agreed plan for figuring out who your companion will be:

  1. I send four separate text messages, each with one of the four incoming hermanas' last names.
  2. You thumbs-up react to the one that turns out to be yours.

This is a workaround for the mission's slow announcement process.

Brief drive-by from Mason ("75% dead" joke about Mom), Natalie (briefly on camera; you thought she was Alexa because of how nicely she walked in), and Alexa ("Did you know that you're so pretty?"). Sign-off: "Love you guys. Thanks for talking to me. You can get all your stuff done. Don't be worried. Everything's going to be great."

Cleanup Notes