Events
Natalie Heywood Decides to Serve a Mission
Snapshot
On Monday, March 2, 2026, during a family video call, Natalie Heywood received her answer to serve a full-time mission. Kaitlynn led the family in a one-by-one prayer exercise she had been using with investigators on her mission - everyone on their knees, each person taking a turn, the prayers asking only that the seeker (Natalie) be able to know clearly what God wanted her to do. The order was Kaitlynn → Jason → Kristi → Natalie. Natalie's prayer was interrupted mid-way ("someone came in"); she finished. Her answer came immediately and clearly. Her exact words to the family afterward: "From the second that Kaitlynn started, I knew. I was gonna go on a mission, not go to college."
Details
- Earliest mission entry: July 1, 2026 (Natalie turns 18 on June 1, 2026).
- Papers timing: Can be opened 150 days in advance - i.e., immediately.
- Mission call: Typically arrives within ~2 weeks of papers submitted.
- Jason's follow-up counsel: Write a note to her future self about how she felt during the prayer. The adversary will plant doubt in the lead-up weeks; the written record is the anchor to return to.
- Kristi's observation: The prayer interruption was an unintentional object lesson - undistracted mission time will serve Natalie better than trying to do mission decisions through college interruptions.
- Kaitlynn's framing: "The mission is the best thing you will ever do."
People There
- Natalie Heywood - the one seeking the answer
- Kaitlynn Heywood - led the prayer exercise from Coyhaique, Chile
- Jason Heywood - prayed for clarity and the family's support
- Kristi Heywood - prayed for peace and confidence; noticed the interruption-as-object-lesson
- Mason Heywood - present on the call
Sources
Natalie Receives Mission Call to Iowa Iowa City
Snapshot
On March 27, 2026, Natalie received her official mission call from the Office of the First Presidency. Assignment: Iowa Iowa City Mission, English-speaking, 18 months. Online MTC training begins Wednesday, July 8, 2026; in-person report date at the Provo MTC is Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Signed by President Dallin H. Oaks. Natalie accepted the call via the Missionary Portal four days later, on March 31, 2026.
Details
- Mission: Iowa Iowa City Mission (eastern Iowa plus the western Illinois corridor through Nauvoo / Quincy)
- Mission President: Todd B. Stone, with Sister Kerrie Stone (Shamrock Park Ward, Idaho Falls South Stake)
- Mission office: 2730 Bradford Drive, Iowa City IA 52240 - phone 319-351-2976
- Mission email: 2011328@ChurchofJesusChrist.org
- Length of service: 18 months
- Language: English
- MTC training start (online): Wednesday, July 8, 2026
- MTC report date (in-person, Provo): Wednesday, July 15, 2026
- Acceptance submitted: March 31, 2026
- Earliest possible mission entry (per the March 2 decision conversation): July 1, 2026; the July 8 online start aligns with that window.
People There
- Natalie Heywood
Sources
- 2026-03-27_document_natalie-mission-call-letter
- 2026-03-27_document_natalie-mission-call-packet
- 2026-03-31_document_natalie-mission-call-acceptance
- 2026-03-29_email_two-missionary-girls - Kristi notes Kaitlynn joined the call opening by video from her own mission ("That was awesome that your Mission President let you join")
Natalie Receives Her Missionary Nametags
Snapshot
On June 28, 2026, about a week and a half before her online home MTC start, Natalie received and opened her missionary nametags. She opened them right after getting home from a gardeners' reunion, following a long ride home. Jason took a picture of her in her tags and shared it to the family group. The milestone surfaced on the June 29, 2026 call with Kaitlynn, who reacted that Natalie "looks so little" in the photo.
Details
- Natalie opened her nametags on June 28, 2026 (reported as "yesterday" on the June 29 call).
- She had just returned from a gardeners' reunion after a long ride home.
- Jason photographed her in the tags and sent the photo to the family group; Kaitlynn saw it on the June 29 call.
- Context: her home MTC (online) begins Wednesday, July 8, 2026, with an in-person Provo MTC report date of July 15, 2026 (see 2026-03-27_natalie-mission-call). Natalie is serving in the Iowa Iowa City Mission.
People There
- Natalie Heywood
Sources
- 2026-06-29_transcript_kaitlynn-emergency-travel-call - Jason told Kaitlynn that Natalie got her tags and sent a photo of her in them to the family group
Natalie Enters the Provo MTC
Snapshot
On July 15, 2026, Natalie reported in person to the Provo MTC, her assigned report date for the Iowa Iowa City Mission. She had completed the online MTC week from home (District 07-F, English, non-language track) starting July 8. The whole family except Kaitlynn drove her down from Herriman: Jason driving, Kristi, Bryson, Alexa, and Mason. They stopped at Raising Cane's on the way, the same place the family had eaten before Bryson's mission drop-off. Jason said a prayer for her in the car before they got in line, and the family checked her in at the host stand.
Details
The drive down
Roughly ninety minutes of the drive was recorded. The family ran through the last checks at the house (wallet, cards, driver's license, ID cards), then filled the drive with family memories, comparisons to Bryson's and Kristi's own send-offs, and Bryson answering Natalie's logistics questions about luggage and getting to the airport. The full account is in the source.
Lunch at Raising Cane's
The family ate at Raising Cane's in Provo, which prompted a comparison to Bryson's mission drop-off (the family had eaten there then too) and to Kristi's own farewell dinner at Black Bear Diner the night before her mission, back when the family did not go out to eat.
Jason's prayer
Before getting in line, Jason said a prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank Thee for this day. Thank me that we're able to have such a fun time together with Natalie before dropping her off at the MTC. Please watch over and help her as she gets settled and gets leveled up in the gospel in the MTC. Please help her and her companion to have an enjoyable time together. That she'd be able to understand the things being taught, enjoy her experience, and please help her to be safe. And to be able to be sensitive to the feelings of the Spirit, that she might learn how much Thou dost love her. And know that she is not alone and that she has such a fun experience ahead of her. And while she is also in the MTC, she gets to experience so many fun things. Please continue to hold her in the hollow of Thy hand. Help her as she grows. And these things we say in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
The sacrifice passage
In the last minutes before drop-off, Kristi read a passage aloud about sacrifice and the widow of Zarephath. See The Measure of Sacrifice.
Check-in
The family was told they could not drive into the parking lot and worked out where to park. At the host stand Jason gave the last name as Heywood and the mission as Iowa City, Iowa, and spelled the name for the host. The host directed them to take a left after the umbrella and go straight, then to unload and meet their host down on the right. Someone read a sign as "Got phone, give to family now." The recording ends as they unload.
People There
- Natalie Heywood
- Jason Heywood
- Kristi Heywood
- Bryson Heywood
- Alexa Heywood
- Mason Heywood
Kaitlynn Heywood was not there; she was serving in Chile. She had talked Natalie through her packing two days earlier (2026-07-13_transcript_natalie-kaitlynn-packing-call).
Sources
- 2026-07-15_transcript_natalie-mtc-dropoff - the drive down, Raising Cane's, Jason's prayer, and check-in
- 2026-07-16_email_day-1-we-got-a-puppy - Jason's first letter to her at the MTC, the day after
Natalie Arrives in the Mission Field
Snapshot
Natalie flies from the Provo MTC into the Iowa Iowa City Mission on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, checking out of the MTC Travel Office at 4:30 AM and landing in Cedar Rapids at 3:38 PM after a Minneapolis connection. Per the plan relayed by the mission office, she eats dinner with President Todd B. Stone and Sister Kerrie Stone her first evening and stays overnight at a hotel with her MTC companion Sister Dillingham, who is also assigned to the IICM. The following day she trains until 2 PM, meets her first field companion (the family expects photos), and travels to her first area. Planned, not yet occurred; confirm against what actually happens.
Date confirmed July 23. This date moved twice before settling. The original mission-office plan relayed July 3 had her flying Tuesday, July 28. On the July 21 MTC call Natalie said she flies "next Wednesday" and does not meet her field companion until "the Thursday," and Kristi's calendar was revised to match. The MTC travel itinerary issued July 23 confirms July 28, and Kristi moved the calendar back within minutes of it arriving. Natalie's July 21 recollection was a day off; the original office plan held.
Natalie confirmed the Tuesday date herself on the July 25 call, framing it as a change on her end: "But this is on Tuesday morning now, not Wednesday morning." Jason replied "Yeah, they moved you up a day." She said the shift costs her a full P-day of preparation time, since Tuesday is her MTC P-day and she is busy Sunday and Monday.
Travel
- MTC checkout: Tuesday, July 28, 4:30 AM, Travel Office (T4-136). Travel group of 18. Confirmation HYZAFX.
- Delta 2916: depart Salt Lake City 8:00 AM, arrive Minneapolis 11:29 AM.
- Delta 4906: depart Minneapolis 2:28 PM, arrive Cedar Rapids, IA 3:38 PM.
- Cedar Rapids is the arrival airport, roughly half an hour north of Iowa City. A Church or mission representative meets missionaries past baggage claim.
- The Minneapolis layover runs about three hours (11:29 AM to 2:28 PM). Per the July 25 call, Natalie will not have a mission phone during it, because she will not have met her trainer yet and the phone and SIM are shared with the field companion. To call home from the layover she would connect to the airport Wi-Fi. She expects Wi-Fi at the hotel that night as well.
- Packing: because she has no access to her checked bags until after the first night, she is packing a personal item or carry-on with everything she needs for the overnight.
Details
- July 28, 2026 (Tuesday): Natalie flies in. Dinner with the mission president and his wife. Overnight at a hotel, sharing the first night with her MTC companion Sister Dillingham before they part for separate field companions.
- July 29, 2026 (Wednesday), planned: Training until 2 PM, then she meets her first field companion. The family expects to receive pictures of the pairing. She then travels to her first area the same day.
People There
- Natalie Heywood
- President Todd B. Stone and Sister Kerrie Stone (mission president and wife)
- Sister Dillingham (MTC companion, same mission, same flights)
Sources
- Mission office call with Kristi, relayed by Jason on July 3, 2026 (original July 28 plan). No separate source file.
- July 21 MTC P-day call (Natalie's July 29/30 recollection, since superseded).
- July 23 MTC travel itinerary email and its attached PDF. Authoritative for the flight schedule.
- July 25 last MTC call (Natalie's own confirmation of the Tuesday date, the layover phone situation, and the overnight carry-on).