Cerro Mackay Hike + Nostalgia Call with You, January 20, 2026
Long, meandering Monday call. You just got back from a P-day hike up Cerro Mackay with the whole district.
The Cerro Mackay hike
The whole Coyhaique district went up Cerro Mackay for P-day. Started at 10 AM, hike took until ~5 PM, didn't reach the top.
- Several missionaries couldn't move fast - one elder had been sent home from his original mission for knee problems and reassigned to Coyhaique because it's "less hard on the knees." Lots of stopping to help people up.
- A random collared dog started following you. The dog got too tired to walk; you carried it down in 30-minute shifts. "My legs were already tired, but then I was carrying a dog and so my arms were tired."
- Your read: violated the Normas (the white handbook): no P-day extremes that wipe you out for the work week.
- Map trail (you walked through it with me on screen): drop-off point, fence you couldn't cross, doubled back, asked a local for directions, ended up improvising the route up an entirely different face. Total: 4-5 miles per day average lately; the GPS got confused and said you "drove 5 hours 40 minutes and rode on a motorcycle too" (it didn't).
- Ended at a sushi-burger restaurant before going home.
My broken foot story
Counter-story. I broke my foot on my own mission falling off the second story of a building while climbing in between something. The doctor gave me a special boot rather than a cast. I had every missionary I served with sign the sole. I still have the boot. Mom: "Is it all stinky because it had your dead skin in it?" Me: "No, it's all stinky."
District update - new leadership
A new district leader from Arizona. Your read: "He feels like he has ADHD sometimes, and he's very pig-headed, or like hard-headed, and has to be right, has to be the alpha wolf." Your zone leaders are unchanged. Today was your first district meeting together - "fun, really like our district, good vibes."
A new hermana also arrived - "a sweetheart, a good missionary."
Water heater update
The gas leak from the water heater is still leaking. Tank-style gas (not a line). You need to buy gas the next day; the elders were supposed to send a ticket that makes it free but didn't get it through in time. Plan: buy gas, fix water heater, then off to Puerto Montt for zone conference.
Hermana Bird engagement - the full story
You now have the official version. Bird and her fiancé dated in high school. He left on his mission first. She wasn't going to serve; she was going to wait and marry him. Then she decided to go on her mission. He came home. She left. He ghosted her for six months mid-mission, then sent a single message saying he had cheated on her (kissed another girl). They re-connected after both came home; now engaged.
Hermana Soares transferred to Valdivia
You won't see Soares at the upcoming zone conference because Soares got transferred to Valdivia (the part of the mission that doesn't come down to Puerto Montt). You will see Hermana Snowder ("my mom"), which you're looking forward to.
Zone conference logistics - Puerto Montt
Tuesday fly out, conference Wednesday, return Thursday morning. The Coyhaique-Puerto Montt route is an hour-each-way flight. You are hoping the family's letter packages to you have made it to the mission office - you'll check while you're there.
Pre-mission peer - "Dear John" banter
Brief revisit. The elders keep offering to help you write the "Dear John" letter. You: "It would be really funny." Mom: "You cannot let the elders help you write the Dear John. Don't be mean to him." Per standing direction, no further detail.
The old Halloween video
Uncle Dave (my brother) sent over an old Halloween video. Mom guesses Alexa was 2 at the time; you were about 5. Alexa was a "little walking nugget" who walked into frame; you walked in after. Bryson was dressed as Bam Bam the Clown that year. You (mock-affronted): "Why would you ever let Bryson be a clown? Who are you guys? I don't believe in my childhood anymore." You and Bryson went "power trick-or-treating" - my parental tactic to wear you out by running you house-to-house.
Dangling earrings - why Mom said no
You surfaced the family rule Juncker found odd: no dangling earrings as a kid. Mom's stated reason: "I didn't want you to look so wildly. It's just how they look. Really wildly." Reference: a girl with big hoops at some stake conference. You: "I have had multiple stake conferences every year of my entire life. You'll have to clarify which stake conference."
Amazon package
The BYU sweater for Carlos and an additional skirt for Victoria - arrival window January 26 through February 4. Free shipping kicked in. Skirt $25, sweater + shipping totals around $50.
Alexa's patriarchal blessing - 4 pages long
The blessing was Thursday. Mom reports it was 4 full pages (same length as yours). It didn't mention a mission or a future husband. You (joking): "What did it even talk about then? There's like nothing else to talk about." Me: "I think he got nervous and just started naming all the animals he could think of starting with aardvark." Mom confirmed Alexa is from the tribe of Ephraim.
Closing - shower and sign-off
You signed off to take a (cold, since the gas was off) shower before bed. "Rico hot shower" - joking that the cold one you're about to take will be neither.
Cleanup Notes
- "Hermana Suarez" → Hermana Soares (transferred to Valdivia): This is new information for Soares' wiki note.
- Pre-mission peer "Dear John" thread: Generalized.
- Cerro Mackay hike: Already named in the Coyhaique area note.
- Uncle Dave: My brother. Glossary mention only.
- Bryson "Bam Bam the Clown" story: Family-memory color, no wiki layer.