Hermana Heywood

Kaitlynn in the Chile Puerto Montt Mission

Post-Mackay-Interview Call with You (Coyhaique), December 29, 2025

December 29, 2025 · Coyhaique

Major call. The most substantive single thread was your interview with Presidente Mackay over Christmas: he confirmed you stay in Coyhaique with Hermana Juncker for another transfer, then pivoted to tell you something he said he probably shouldn't - every time the mission leadership council has discussed who might be the next hermana AP, your name has come up. Your peers respect you; Hermana Mackay respects you; the Lord respects you. You don't think it will happen (you don't believe you have enough time left), but the framing landed.

The broken tub

You were deep-cleaning the bathroom on P-day (every Monday you've been tackling small zones). You started unclogging the drain in the tub - something you've done before and know how to do - but the pipe was stripped and only held by rust. Now the tub doesn't drain into the pipe at all; it drains under the apartment. You lost water entirely. The mission office didn't respond all morning (it was their P-day too). Eventually you called the dueña (landlord - Carlos and Victoria's wife) directly per district leader's go-ahead. The dueña texted someone else, found out the water issue was an unrelated broken pipe (not a payment problem), and her husband would buy the tub part the next day. Punchline from you: "Basically, the office is useless and I don't like them. But calling people is better."

Wounds - ankle and knee

Third ankle twist this week. This time you landed on your knee. Wound was deep enough that blood soaked through the bandaid. You did clean it (water and cloth, then alcohol, then Neosporin and a bandaid) but joked at first about spitting in it, rubbing dirt on it, putting bacon on it, and singing it a song. You stained your white dress. You need to buy more bandaids and an ankle sleeve.

The interview with Presidente Mackay

The substantive thread. In your interview Mackay confirmed:

Then he paused and said something he probably shouldn't have. Your recounting (close to verbatim):

"Every time we've been in council about the leadership and the mission, your name has come up. Your peers have respect for you. Hermana Mackay has respect for you. And the Lord has respect for you."

Other missionaries have been telling you they think you'll be the hermana AP. You don't think it will happen - you don't think you have enough time, don't think you're the person for it. But the validation landed.

You also surfaced something you have been noticing about your own growth: you have become much more tranquila (calm) in your reactions, and you're learning to be "pleased with myself, not prideful" - to recognize your growth in comparison to who you were before, not to who's around you. Me: "Heavenly Father uses the word pleased."

Soccer night - Barbies and the elder photo

You and Juncker played at the Friday soccer night rather than just watching. A drunk local man (borracho) at the field yelled "¡Miren, los Barbies!" the entire game; the elders kept positioning themselves between him and the hermanas. You handled it as "this man isn't a threat, just stupid." Then at the end of the night, for the team picture, one of the elders put his arm around you for the photo. You froze for the seconds it was there. You did nothing - didn't shove it off, didn't react. Walking away afterward, the elder caught up to apologize: "I am so sorry. I did not think. That was a complete accident." Then his companion stepped in defensively and told you directly: "And you just let it happen." You responded badly in the moment - handed off the church keys, said "ciao," and walked away.

Reflecting later that night, you realized the defensive elder was right: you had let it happen. You also realized your response to the apology had been disrespectful in itself. On Sunday you sought both elders out at church and apologized with a bonbon. "After my apology, we're just even better friends now."

You tied this to Kalani Sitake's quote from the BYU game that day: "People are going to judge you by your reactions."

BYU Pop Tarts Bowl - Kalani Sitake's testimony

I walked you through it. BYU won the Pop Tarts Bowl (12-2 season, only loss was to Texas Tech, twice - same team). When ESPN interviewed Kalani Sitake on the field after the win surrounded by his players, he shared his testimony of Jesus Christ - not specific to the LDS Church (the team is mixed Christian) but unashamed. He also said something about reactions: "People are going to judge you by your reactions. We can't... look, there's nothing we could do to change it. So we're just here to play football. Prove them wrong." That landed for you - the same theme as your week.

Garments update (family chat)

Briefly: the newer sleeveless garments. I have been getting the small on top (form-fitting) and normal on the bottom; "I don't change anything I wear. Doesn't change how Heavenly Father wants me to respect my body." Family-banter aside about wearing three tube tops, four cups of mate, and a slip - culminating in my joke that this is how I'll get a calling in the library where children will avoid me.

Mason's engraved journal

Mason's Sunday School teacher gave him a leather journal engraved with his name for Christmas - engraved as "Mason Hayward" rather than Heywood. Mom's joke: this teacher has had him in class for two years; I have been in the bishopric saying the name from the pulpit week after week. "Well, it's one of those things that you check everyone's name before you do it to make sure."

Inactive members in Coyhaique - apostasy in the 80s/90s

You shared that the Coyhaique branches together have enough members for a stake, but half are inactive. In the 1980s and 90s missionaries were baptizing a thousand people a month here - "and it was apostasy because half these people didn't even believe in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. They were just like, you need to get baptized or you're going to go down South." Now you frequently meet people who say "oh, I remember your church."

Also: locals here will not say "Iglesia de Jesucristo" - they'll call the Saints "Mormons," "Santos," "Latter-Day Saints," "the Church" - but won't pair "Jesus Christ" with the church name. Both members and non-members. You don't know why.

Looking ahead - BYU-Idaho with Juncker

You and Juncker are already planning to live together at BYU-Idaho after your missions. Juncker comes home around April (so will miss the first semester); you return in September 2026. Juncker is going to BYU-Idaho.

Mac Hanson engaged

You checked: Mac Hanson (Bryson's friend; the Hermana Hansen "close to Bryson" connection from Dec 22) has a boyfriend she plans to marry. You: "She's out."

Closing - Matthew 26 insight

Final beat: you shared an insight from your study. Matthew 26 is the chapter just before Jesus dies - basically the last 24 hours. "Jesus only has 24 hours until he dies. Do you think he is going to teach what's important to him?" He teaches the sacrament, the Atonement, loving one another, being humble. The takeaway: knowing the context tells you a lot about what he wanted to emphasize most.

Sign-off: love yous, pleased messaging both directions.

Cleanup Notes