2026-03-15_email_bonnie-is-the-new-grandma
From: kristi.heywood@gmail.com To: kaitlynn.heywood@missionary.org, kaitlynn.heywood@gmail.com Date: 2026-03-15 Subject: Bonnie is the New Grandma
Dear Hermanocutiecookie,
Bryson is home from Australia. He loved it. He brought me home a beer bottle opener. He knows me so well.
Nata went to mission prep. Fake Uncle Dave (Brother Acton) taught it. She also met with President Haynie. Woot!
Alexa got hired at Karie Anne's. She is super excited. She did great in her interview. We were super proud of her.
Alexa had a choir concert this week. We took Jenna and Bonnie. I love Bonnie. It was fun to have her.
Aunt Kathi is coming up on Tuesday. I'm so excited to see her. We have big puzzle plans.
I love you. I'm proud of you. Heavenly Father and Jesus love you.
Love,
Mom
Attached: Dad's study message to the family (Jason, Genesis 37-41 / Joseph of Egypt)
(Jason forwarded a study reflection to the family; Kristi included it. Preface: "I am studying and found this incredibly insightful. Please don't write it off because I use AI. Ponder it - truth is truth, and that's what the Spirit will confirm.")
Three principled themes from Genesis 37-41:
Descent. Faithfulness and hardship can exist at the same time, and that doesn't mean God has left. This cuts against a prosperity-gospel reading. Joseph keeps his covenants and his circumstances keep deteriorating, yet God's presence made him visibly effective - Potiphar saw it, the prison keeper saw it. Same pattern: Abinadi (converted Alma though he never saw the fruit), Paul writing from prison ("the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel," Philippians 1:12), Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail ("all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good," D&C 122:7). The distinction is "God will fix this" vs. "God is working inside this" - scripture consistently makes the second promise.
Waiting. Character is built in seasons with no visible reason to believe faithfulness will be rewarded. Genesis 40 is one of the loneliest chapters: Joseph interprets correctly, asks to be remembered, and the text says nothing for two years. The waiting season is where most people live. Nephi: "I do not know the meaning of all things; nevertheless I know that he loveth his children" (1 Nephi 11:17). Hannah prays year after year. Alma's "from time to time" (Alma 36:2) is honest - deliverance is real but not constant. The principle: doing the right thing while nobody notices doesn't mean it isn't working; the results are on a timeline you can't see yet.
Rise. God does not waste what you walk through - which is different from saying God planned the suffering. The evil came from human choices; God took the broken pieces and built something redemptive. This protects God's character: the text holds the brothers accountable (their guilt follows them, Genesis 42:21) while Joseph says "ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good... to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20). Same pattern at Ammonihah (Alma 14:11) and at the cross (Acts 2:23 - foreknowledge and human wickedness in the same event). D&C 98:3: "All things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good" - a quilter's promise, not a straight line. The takeaway: when something unfair happens, it is okay to call it unfair; but God is in the business of making broken things useful, and He is very good at it.
Attachments: IMG_9081.jpeg, IMG_9056.jpeg, IMG_6467.jpeg, IMG_6473.jpeg, IMG_9063.jpeg (photos, not downloaded)