Hermana Heywood

Kaitlynn in the Chile Puerto Montt Mission

Monday Call with You (Puerto Montt, heading to Punta Arenas), June 22, 2026

June 22, 2026 · Puerto Montt (Kaitlynn); home in Herriman

We talked about 34 minutes on P-day while you packed in Puerto Montt. Mom, Alexa, and I were all crowded on the one camera at home. You were flying out that afternoon for a three-day Hermana Líder Viajera exchange to Punta Arenas, due back Wednesday.

Opening fragments, haircut, and prayer

We picked up mid-conversation, something about someone having been a supervisor and everyone working in the summer; I could not follow exactly what you meant. You asked if I had gotten a haircut. I had, Natalie cut it the day before, and you said I looked like a handsome prince. We finished a prayer together, you said you had forgotten the closing line and we both said amen, and I joked about whether the haircut had reminded you to pray.

Video off and a missionary feeling sick

I told you I had turned my video off because I had not wanted to make anyone feel silly, and asked if everything was okay. You said one of the other missionaries was feeling sick.

Emails: Uncle Craig's baptism, and the weekly email you skipped

You said you had finally answered Uncle Craig. He had emailed you for the first time to tell you about his baptism; you had written him about nine months earlier, he responded to say he was getting baptized, and that day you wrote him back that it was so cool, that you wanted to watch, and to let you know. I told you that was cool.

You said you had answered Grandma and answered everybody that day, but had not sent a weekly email. You said it was "the end of my powers of sending emails" and that you had already sent way too many. I told you that you could never send too many; you said that was a lie, that sending one was too many. I asked whether you had emailed the president and responded to Mom's emails.

My counsel: the two required weekly letters

You said you never respond to Mom's emails: you read them but do not respond, and that she does not respond to you either. I told you that on my mission two letters were required of me every single week, one to my mom and one to my president, and everything else was on top of that. You asked whether I was telling you that you should respond to Mom, and I said yes, at least that.

Flying to Punta Arenas; how mission travel is booked

I asked what you were up to. You said errands and then traveling, to Punta Arenas, and that you could not drive there unless you had four days, so you were flying. A flight left that day around 3:30, with check-in at 1:30. You expected about three days there and to be back Wednesday.

I asked who buys the tickets. You said the office handles it, "the office monkeys," the ones in charge of the finances and that side of things.

The new office senior couple, the islands, and the Falklands

I asked whether a senior couple runs the office. You said technically yes, but they do not speak Spanish yet because the mission just got them and they are still learning the job. I asked whether senior missionaries are expected to learn Spanish even when they work in the office the whole time and do not proselytize. You said you thought they need to be able to communicate in Spanish, not necessarily fluently, because with all the errands they do they will work with Latino elders in the islands and have to communicate with them.

You added that far out in the islands the missionaries there speak English and are preaching to the people in English right now, a bunch of Brits. I said that was really cool. A short stretch here was garbled.

Sleeping-shorts and camera-angle banter

I joked that your shorts looked a little short. You told me to leave you alone, that they were your sleeping shorts, and we went back and forth about how they work with some of your garments but not all, and about the phone camera angle and what was visible, until you said you had it.

First look at the backyard concrete

I turned the camera to the backyard, where workers had been pouring concrete. You asked if they were pouring cement right then; I said they were out there. You asked if they were Mexicans and said you would talk to them; I said they were not. You asked where all our Mexican friends had gone; I said they went back home. There was some construction banter that you cut off, saying you were not the one who said all the Mexicans need to work in construction.

Last week's extended exchange trip

You told me about a recent exchange trip from the prior week. It was supposed to be three days but became five because your flight home was canceled. With the extra time you visited other missionaries and went back to an area where you had served, where you got to see Carlos and Victoria again. You said you hid "the sweater" from them.

Punta Arenas missionaries and the out-of-season penguins

You confirmed you were in your house, packing. You said the missionaries down in Punta Arenas include some hermanas you do not know well (one name sounded like "Amanda Green"). I asked if you would see a penguin; you said you wished, but they are not there now, only in the summer, "which is poopy," and that you would not get a summer here again this time.

Flights tally and the Spanish "AA" aside

I pointed out you have had more flights in Chile than in your entire life. You agreed: you served the first half of your mission in the two areas that have flights, so your first three months had flights, then a three-month break, then about four to five months of flights, then five months without, then three more with, putting you at roughly seven months of your mission with flights. There was a brief aside about a phrase you said is "AA" in Spanish, which I did not catch; you said you would forgive me.

Friends back home getting married

You brought up that Sadie is getting married, laughing at a photo, just one picture, and joking about who would "wear the pants." You asked whether anyone else you know is getting married; the answer included Sydney Barney. We talked about Macy, whom you said you do not really keep up with and called scary, and about the "Mai girls," with you saying you were better friends with Olivia than with the Alexa in that family (a friend by that name, not your sister) and sorting out whether another one goes by "Liv" or "Libby."

A peer who switched to a service mission in Honolulu

We got onto a missionary who had been serving in Honolulu, switched to a service mission, and is now ending early. Mom said the missionary's mom had not said why; she assumed it was just too hard.

Hawaii: you want both of us to come

You asked whether you and I would go to Hawaii when you get back, and said you would rather go to Hawaii than have the family come to Chile, because you just want warmth and can come back to Chile in a couple of years. You said you did not want it to be only you and me, that I keep trying to take Natalie, and that you want both Mom and me to come.

Mom said it would be too hard, that she would have to get someone to take care of Mason and Alexa. Someone asked Alexa whether she wanted to go too. I said, "What are you talking about, Kris? You can go too," and told Mom she can do hard things. You argued Grandma could come up because she has more than enough time; Mom said Grandma is not capable of taking care of the kids; you insisted she is, calling her a full-grown woman who has been one for about 70 years. You said it would be really cute for you to go with us and that we could bring Mason so he could get his trips in.

Mary Janes and Natalie's mission Zoom devotional

Mom mentioned they had gotten Natalie her Mary Janes, which hurt her a little but not too much. Mom also described a Sunday Zoom devotional tied to Natalie's mission, which the missionaries and the mission president and his wife joined and which the family was told to watch. She found it funny how comfortable people were on the call, with some parents in bed on the Zoom, and said it was the kind of setting where she and I could introduce our family.

Back to Hawaii: the stubbornness lesson

Coming back to the Hawaii trip, Mom said she did not know if she could pull it off, that she did not know who she would get to take care of Mason and Alexa, and that she cannot leave without someone caring for them. I said we did not have to decide right then.

You pushed back, asking whether Mom was not even open to trying, and said that not knowing who would come does not mean we cannot figure it out as we go. You said: "One thing I've learned on the mission is that I'm very stubborn when it comes to things that I think won't work. I just say no right from the beginning," and then your companion says you have to try, you try, and it works out, and that it frustrated you to see Mom being the same way. I laughed and said Mom needs to learn that lesson; you told me it was awesome that I was learning it and that it would serve me well. I said I was going to pay for that; you agreed I would.

Laundry, video, and staying muted

You asked whether all your apartments have a washer and dryer, whether that is standard, and whether you had ever had to use a laundromat in Chile. I asked if you were watching me fold clothes; you said you were just sitting there. I told you to turn your video on if you were just sitting; you said it was on and you could see yourself. You explained you had muted yourself earlier because you did not want us to have to listen to you and thought that was more polite. I thanked you.

Home news: Isaiah Davis's service farm and the Father's Day donut

Mom said Isaiah Davis works on a farm as part of the service for his mission, and that the ward took the young men and young women to it on Wednesday, so the kids got to be farmers.

Mom then told about a Father's Day moment at church. She was in Primary and had gone to pick up her last kid. A ward member came through handing out the big Father's Day donuts to the men and handed one to Mom. Not wanting to be rude, she took it, then felt awkward holding a donut in the Primary room when the women there knew she was not a man and had not "earned" it. She did not want to walk through the church carrying it. She said she looked up and Rachel Brooks and Leah told her from the back of the room, "Yes, we are judging you from the back of this room, silently judging you." Mom said she grabbed Natalie and Alexa and snuck out the Primary door so no one would see the donut, and called it a really hard day.

Where the Hawaii idea started; my 1988 Hawaii missionary-housing memory

I asked what had brought Hawaii up. You joked it might have been an intrusive thought from Satan; I said I doubted it. The answer was that Mom had been talking about the missionary who was going to serve in Hawaii but is now a service missionary.

I remembered that when we first moved there in 1988 we lived in the missionary housing, where that missionary would have been living: the sisters were across the street and a senior couple was across the street. I said I had to go talk to the concrete guys. I asked whether you remembered looking at the missionary housing when we were there; you did not, and I described little squatty square houses that might have been mint green.

Grandma's driving and why the trip is hard

You pressed again on why Grandma is not capable of taking care of the kids. Mom explained that Grandma cannot drive up to Herriman and will not drive out of town anymore, will not drive to St. George. She said if the kids were in elementary she could get away with it more easily, but now that Alexa is in high school she has to be able to get her to everything, and Grandma cannot get her places, so it would be a body but not a helpful one. Mom said it has gotten worse but has been this way for years, and that Kathy could not come up because she is in school, in person. You said you and Mom can talk about it.

Wind-down and the concrete tour

You said you needed to go but had about five minutes, and told me you hoped I would fly safe, then caught that you were the one flying. I offered you a tour of the concrete. I showed the backyard and explained the concrete had been poured the prior Thursday; the forms stay on while it cures, and once cured you can step on it. I said in the fall and winter we take the pool down and can use the pad for other things, and that the pool will go there. I floated putting up a tent and having a fire pit out there for a little camp adventure; you said that would be super fun.

"Don't get discouraged about Mom"

I told you not to get discouraged about Mom, that I do not know why she sometimes doubles down on being stubborn, and that if you can see that in yourself and do not like it, you should learn from it. You said that is what you have been trying to do your whole mission. I said it is the same with me: if you see things in me that seem messed up, you can let me know, but if I still do them, you should learn from it and not be that person, so we can learn from both the positive and negative influences in our lives. You said the only thing you think is messed up about me is that I do not have a big truck. I finished the line for you, called you sweet, and said you are my favorite. You said I am your favorite too.

Goodbyes

We exchanged goodbyes and "I love you," and the call ended.

Cleanup Notes