Hermana Heywood

Kaitlynn in the Chile Puerto Montt Mission

Evening Call with You (Coyhaique), January 26, 2026

January 26, 2026 · Coyhaique

Monday evening call. Heavy threads: a Coyhaique friend / contact of yours checked himself into a doctor's house on suicide watch (he turned himself in; you are relieved he is getting help). You sent the long-debated "Dear John" letter to your pre-mission peer. Companion-pace conversation with Juncker. A tense $215 lunch with a rich RM's dad. Bryson update: his first real date with a pickleball girl got canceled.

Coyhaique friend on suicide watch

A friend of yours (from the teaching pool) is now in a doctor's house, medicated, on suicide watch. He turned himself in. Mom: "At least he's getting help." You: relieved with how it turned out because he was the one who self-reported.

Hair riff

You looked at a what-if-I-cut-my-hair photo on your phone and decided again that you don't want to cut it. Tangent about Mom suggesting you buzz parts of it into a smiley face that would "help you in the spiritual."

District banter - borracho and Hermana Ew

Coyhaique district teasing:

You debated whether you actually have ADHD. Mom: "I think you just want it for fun."

The Dear John letter - sent and closed

You wrote and sent the email you had been putting off since December. (Standing direction: generalized.) Outcome: the peer accepted it calmly. No pushback, no fight. He removed himself from your Google Photos album.

Your reflection: anticlimactic. You had braced for a long emotional resistance and got a flat acceptance instead. Your own takeaway, captured close to verbatim:

"With that happening, I think - at least for me - I would like a man who is willing to fight a little bit more for me instead of just be like, yeah, okay."

Mom asked whether you would have caved if he had pushed back. You: no, with a "1% doubt - the 1% of me that has autism."

On whether to remove him from your weekly email list: Mom advised against it. He's an adult; let him make his own decisions about what he wants to read; taking his whole family off the list would presume things on their behalf. You had already removed his email - Mom suggested seeing how next week plays out before deciding to put him back on. I concurred with Mom's framing.

Companion conversation - pace and stress

A real exchange between you and Juncker today: Juncker had been feeling that you hated her because of how fast you were walking and how stressed you got when running late to appointments. You had been walking faster expecting Juncker to read it as "we need to walk faster"; Juncker read it as anger toward her personally. You sorted it. You agreed to walk slower and plan timing better.

Your own flag on the conversation: "Did you know that I can actually communicate with people now?" Pre-mission, you could not have had that conversation cleanly.

The run that didn't quite happen

You and Juncker had planned a longer run with the elders. You ran uphill to the elders' house - but the elders were already outside in suits, waiting for a colectivo (shared taxi). They sat for an hour waiting for a colectivo that never came. Eventually you got your actual run in (about two miles). You: one elder was super fit, the other had to walk - Juncker walked with the slower elder.

The $215 RM dad lunch

Lunch with a returned missionary visiting Coyhaique and his dad. The dad bought the whole table burgers, fries, and ice cream - $215. The family is genuinely rich (the dad started a company, sold it, works 8-10 hours a week, planning to buy boats and jet skis and build seven houses).

For you the lunch was high-anxiety. You were on the Latino end of the table. One Latino elder was quiet (real problems at home); two were on their phones; the gringoes were chatting with the dad and RM at the other end. You started drafting your Dear John letter mid-lunch to have something to do.

Necklace confession

You bought a turquoise necklace at the local Mall Chino. "The guy I bought it from does weed, and I think he's going to use the money to buy weed. Helping Satan one step at a time." (Followed by a riff about a passing car shouting "Satan" in English at you - your spin: "I bet he was saying don't let Satan take your joy. Listen to.")

Brief Bryson update - canceled pickleball date

Mid-call Mom got a screenshot from Natalie: Bryson's first real date with the pickleball girl he met at Institute got canceled because she was sick. She had given a day's heads-up that she was starting to feel sick, then asked to reschedule. Mom's read: legitimate cancellation, but it's hitting Bryson hard because of his history with Brinn playing games with him.

Mom's general caution to you (looking ahead to post-mission dating): the people in dating dynamics are real people with real feelings. "It's been very hard to watch Brinn play games with Bryson. I do think she cared about him, but she definitely sat there and played games" - meaning Brinn would call on Bryson when she wanted him, blow him off when there was a better option, claim to want a relationship while keeping him hanging.

Closing

You signed off to finish your mission-president email. Sign-off.

Cleanup Notes