Hermana Heywood

Kaitlynn in the Chile Puerto Montt Mission

Evening Call with You (Valdivia), April 13, 2026 (full recording)

April 13, 2026 · Herriman / Valdivia

Our Monday P-day evening call, about 53 minutes, with you in Valdivia and Hermana Stewart off your camera, and Mom and Alexa here with me. The Krisp recording only caught the first few minutes before the connection died; this is rebuilt from the fuller Zoom recording, which picks up at the BYU-housing talk and runs the rest of the call. The internet fought us the whole way.

Connectivity trouble

You picked up sweaty, internet breaking up. You don't have WiFi at the apartment and were on data; Hermana Artieda used to have permission for WhatsApp calls but you didn't, and even WhatsApp still broke up. I floated Zoom as a fallback, which we ended up on. Mom was here working on a puzzle.

Kyla Siemens coming home

You asked if I'd seen Kyla Siemens's homecoming. I said I should've gone to the airport but didn't have the strength. You said she posted a cute video - when she saw her mom she ran at her and almost took her out - but it would only load about ten seconds for you. I said Amelia had tried to get me to do a homecoming video but ended up doing it herself.

BYU housing and deferments

I walked you through winter-semester housing: I couldn't put you on the BYU list because they only do it for the year, but you'll find plenty of half-year contracts to buy from people leaving mid-year - missionaries, people getting married. You can't buy a second-half contract outright; you buy out someone who's leaving, and you don't know who you want to live with yet, so there's wisdom in waiting. I'd switched your deferment for both BYU Idaho and BYU Provo a semester, so both think you're still coming, just not yet. You thanked me.

A rough P-day: cookies, a presentation, and a difficult leader

The audio was rough here, with Hermana Stewart's Spanish coming through off your camera and me not able to hear half of it. Alexa was in the room. You said you'd used all of your P-day for the zone: you made a presentation (a Canva), went to the church, made cookies, and otherwise just did lunch.

When I asked if the zone liked it, you said most of them did, but some of the other leaders were making "anarchy comments," shooting down ideas, and being jerks about everything. I said it sounded like a rough day. You said it's okay, everyone has rough days. I told you not to be discouraged. You clarified it wasn't the whole mission, just one of the elders you have to work with - a leader, not hard on everybody. He seemed to realize he was being a jerk when you stopped engaging: instead of brushing it off like you usually do, you let your annoyance show a little, your "personality was kind of muted," and after that he tried harder. I asked whether you kept good behavior when you got frustrated; you said you hadn't behaved badly, you'd just gone quiet and flat. Mom and I ran a joke asking if the elder was cute, which I admitted was immature; I told you I was glad he started being nicer.

Sheets, the SIM card, and "Snarglehooper"

In the middle of the connection mess you mentioned, out of nowhere, that you now have sheets and feel like a brand-new woman; I teased that you never used them growing up. The internet kept dying - you said it was your SIM card / chip not connecting with your phone, and I asked if there was an IT person in the mission and whether to reach out to the office. I turned my video off to help. Somewhere in there you changed your Zoom name to "Snarglehooper," and we finally noticed; Mom said she'd been wondering when we would. I also thought for a second you had a nose ring - it was two dots from the video lining up with your nose. Mom joked I was going to fix her car and asked if you knew what a timing belt is; I said, "It times things." I asked about Hermana Stewart - whether she went to BYU, whether she wanted to meet Bryson - and you showed some pictures of the two of you having fun.

"She's just tired today"

I asked what other solutions you'd thought of for hard people. Mom reframed it: you do deal with hard people, you were just tired of it today - socially and emotionally worn out, with the internet trouble as the cherry on top. I asked if your shower felt good; you said yes, it helped.

Natalie's prom with Jesse

You asked if Natalie went to prom with Jesse. I confirmed it; you weren't sure from the picture whether it was Jesse or a lookalike. We recapped: they went to Benihana, where the chef cooks at the grill and does knife tricks, twirling the knife like a baton. Natalie asked to wear his tall red chef hat; he warned her it was wet with his sweat, so she passed, but the table got little kids' red chef hats. Natalie was the star.

They also had the dance at the Salt Palace - her senior prom. She wasn't impressed with the venue and said the DJ only played two songs she could mosh to, so she was disappointed but still had fun. This was the last date dance of the year; the senior dinner dance at the end of May doesn't need a date. Jesse apologized for being "an idiot" - he didn't officially ask her until the Tuesday before the Saturday dance, leaning on an earlier in-person "save the date." I said that's not good enough for my daughters and called it a jerk move, but he owned it, was respectful all night, and got her door, so he was a good date. Bryson went to his dance with a girl whose name came through as Avon. Mom did her bit about not liking any boys no matter how cute, which I said she was performing for me.

Hair loss and scalp

You asked Mom to ask Aunt Kathy what you can do about losing your hair, which had been falling out for a couple of months. You said there's a Sally Beauty in the mall, that you thought it was partly the water there, and that out of nowhere you also had a scalp buildup you called "krusties" - insisting it's not dandruff, not cradle cap, not a skin disease, just buildup. I figured hard water and told you a clarifying or anti-dandruff shampoo would strip the buildup; I read out that clarifying shampoo deep-cleans product, oils, and hard-water minerals, and told you to take your scalp into Sally Beauty and ask them. I also suggested rosemary-mint oil and pumpkin-seed oil massaged into the scalp - the rosemary mint for blood flow, the pumpkin-seed oil for hair loss (a natural version of finasteride) - and a multivitamin, since so much American food is fortified and your diet there is different. You joked you didn't have enough multivitamins to last to the end of your mission, then admitted you did. I'd texted Aunt Kathy, who said stress is the biggest cause; you said the sector had been super tough on you. I told you to start a multivitamin that night and go to Sally Beauty.

Your recent convert texts back

Mid-call, your recent convert - who hadn't answered you in about two weeks - finally texted. You and Hermana Stewart reacted ("he's alive"), counted out the long string of unanswered messages, and worked on pinning down an appointment around 10:45 the next day. You said this is why you keep going and persevere; you'd almost given up hope on him. You said your day had been hard but it was God prepping you to make it even better, and that "Jesus does cool stuff."

Money on your personal card

I told you your lunch got charged on your personal card and asked if that was on purpose, or if you were out of money again. You said no - you'd made the mistake of taking out a bunch of cash instead of leaving some on the card, and having only cash makes you anxious. I said it was fine, I just wanted to make sure, because sometimes you grab the wrong card. You thanked me for checking on you.

Bryson's band and the audition story

I asked if my email mentioned that Bryson performs Friday with his band. Then Mom told the audition story: she'd put her phone on silent, but when she went to "love" a band recording Bryson sent the family chat late the night before, holding it down blasted his loud band music during Alexa's choir audition - "the weirdo mom in the corner playing hard rock while my daughter sings her soul." I joked that maybe that's why Alexa got in, that the choir director, Kelly DeHaan, figured a rocker mom means their kind of people. You played along that that's exactly what happened.

Skadden and Curry family banter

I did a riff about you marrying Chandler Skadden, working through how his dad and Jeff Skadden are brothers and his mom is Brother Curry's sister, so he'd be first cousins with all the Curry kids - marry him and you get the whole extended family. You said it was breaking your brain.

Guitar Hero and the hidden drums

Bryson's band led to Guitar Hero memories. You said you remembered the drums hidden under the stairs, and that you'd secretly go play them, always scared I'd get mad. I said I would have, joked we hid them just to give to the DI, and called myself a horrible dad; you told me not to talk about myself that way - it's not the truth - apologizing for saying "bullcrap." There was a bit about me needing more confidence and wearing a shirt that declares me the greatest dad on earth.

Facebook friend requests

Mom went through Facebook friend requests with you. In the middle I mentioned Olivia Cannon has her mission call; you said surprising, but good for her. On the requests: Susanna Chacon is a sweet member from Coyhaique who messages you every Monday telling you she loves you, so you said to accept her. Carter Stanley you said isn't someone to be friends with. Harry Flores Grande is a member from Puerto Montt - you said he's a friend of all the missionaries but the women, so we didn't have to accept that one.

Seeing an acquaintance at the temple

Near the end, Mom and I told you we'd seen Kayla (Carter Stanley's girlfriend) at the temple, sitting on a bench by the baptistry entrance. I said she seemed to be in a hard place and that I'd felt worried when I noticed a sore on her arm; she's applying for a surgical tech program. Mom went and talked with her. You said you hoped she and Carter were no longer together and that she could do better.

Sign-off

I told you we're really proud of you and that you're doing a great job on your mission - learning so much, being an angel to everyone you meet, and that Heavenly Father is aware of you. We said our love-yous; I took a screenshot, told you you're pretty, and said goodbye.

Cleanup Notes