2026-07-19_email_sunday

From: jason.heywood@gmail.com To: kaitlynn.heywood@missionary.org (cc kaitlynn.heywood@gmail.com) Date: 2026-07-19 (sent Sunday evening MDT; Gmail's UTC timestamp reads 2026-07-20 00:57Z) Subject: Sunday

Happy Sunday! I hope you are well and were able to enjoy the sacrament. I just got back from a hike not too long ago. I wanted to email you so I cut it shorter than I originally anticipated. Ended up being an even 3 miles though, so that's cool. Here are some pictures from today. [image: FC116A2E-5C91-47D4-9DBC-7E637FC50BE5_1_105_c.jpeg] [image: 5AE190C0-A83B-476E-A670-BA3B1C1BF10A_1_105_c.jpeg]

It was pretty and peaceful in the mountains. I could hear the crows and a hawk and a few other birds. God sure has made such a beautiful world, if we can just open our ears to hear and eyes to see. I've found sometimes when I'm overly anxious, I go outside and simply close my eyes, and feel the breeze on my face and listen to the environment around me.

Church was good. It was weird and kind of saudade (I had to look it up. It's Portuguese) only having Alexa and Mason to sit with us, but I guess that's just part of having my beautiful family grow up!

I texted Craig to see how he was doing, which he responded, essentially, "good". I hope he can find what's going to help him be happy in life. The Gospel is the first step. His choices have truly shattered him. None of his 6 kids really have any desire to keep a relationship with him. I can't imagine that pain. Jesus does though. The more I learn about how screwed up everyone is, the more I learn I don't grasp the depth of Gethsemane, or the depth of love Jesus has for each one of us, personally.

Thank you for going on a mission. I think that is one thing the Savior would say to you, personally. Thank you, Katilynn, for going on a mission. For introducing me to so many in Chile - by your words and your actions. Thank you for doing your best, for navigating your self doubts and fears, and still moving forward. Thank you for including me in your moments of weakness so I could be there to uplift you, console you, encourage you, and, sometimes, to cry with you. For serving with those hermans you have served with, and for doing your best to look past their weaknesses and seeing them as I do, then trying to help them see themselves as I do. For taking the dog bites, the poo legs, the maggot shoes, and social challenges throughout the entirety of your service.

I can't believe how little time you have left out there. These last 16 months have seemed to fly by, and also have seemed to last forever.

At church today, Madelyn Laker had her farewell. She is going to some weird country and speaking non-English lol. I gave it minimal effort to both remember and look up, so that's what we get. She did a good job. When she gets nervous her head bobbles like a bobble head, and when she started I thought it was going to pop right off. But she soon got it together and gave a great talk. I couldn't understand what she said because she was speaking so fast, but It was from her heart and I was proud of her for having courage to do something scary to her.

After church we went to the Lakers and had what looked like cafe rio catering. Man i don't know how everyone affords this (rico!). It was nice though. Any time I go to another's event like this I always feel like we are poor people that tie together trashbags for sun shade and hand people old newspapers or maybe a skittle as we thank them for coming.

As I was on my hike I was listening to this weeks come follow me, and a talk that was mentioned in it "Our Relationship with God" By D Todd Christopherson.

One of the things he said, i love,

Some misunderstand the promises of God to mean that obedience to Him yields specific outcomes on a fixed schedule. They might think, "If I diligently serve a full-time mission, God will bless me with a happy marriage and children" or "If I refrain from doing schoolwork on the Sabbath, God will bless me with good grades" or "If I pay tithing, God will bless me with that job I've been wanting." If life doesn't fall out precisely this way or according to an expected timetable, they may feel betrayed by God. But things are not so mechanical in the divine economy. We ought not to think of God's plan as a cosmic vending machine where we (1) select a desired blessing, (2) insert the required sum of good works, and (3) the order is promptly delivered.

I have felt this way so many times. Which then makes me think, well, dang it, does that just mean I get to wade through sorrow until I'm dead? Well, maybe? But honestly, I'd rather live a life of difficulty showing the Lord I love him and trust him, than living a life of ease or doing what I think is best, then facing his disappointment when I inevitably meet him again.

Christopherson goes on:

Our repentance and obedience, our service and sacrifices do matter. We want to be among those described by Ether as "always abounding in good works." But it is not so much because of some tally kept in celestial account books. These things matter because they engage us in God's work and are the means by which we collaborate with Him in our own transformation from natural man to saint. What our Heavenly Father offers us is Himself and His Son, a close and enduring relationship with Them through the grace and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

I guess Mike and Kari and their kids are coming over so I have to stop giving you random thoughts and focus on whats going on here. I love you Kaitlynn! I'm excited to see you tomorrow. Sleep well.

Dad

Filing notes

Jason's Sunday note to Kaitlynn, sent the night before the July 20 calls ("excited to see you tomorrow"). Centered on gratitude ("Thank you for going on a mission," a list of the specific hardships she has carried) and a counsel thread that God's plan is not a "cosmic vending machine," framed around D. Todd Christofferson's talk "Our Relationship with God" and Jason's own preference to live a hard life showing the Lord love over an easy one. Also notes the family's neighbor Craig (Jason's brother, recently re-baptized) is struggling, and Madelyn Laker's ward mission farewell.

Two hike photos attached; not stored in the vault. "Katilynn" is Jason's typo, preserved. "hermans" preserved as written.