Mom, I love you! This last week was spectacular. Later at night we tracted into this 45 year old lady. She was disabled (b/c her spine had not been connected to her tailbone and her top half was separating from her bottom and she had surgery to fix it, but now she can't really work) and said she'd spoken with missionaries before but had stopped because they wouldn't give her a straight answer about anything, so she was a little hesitant to sit down with us. Turned out she just had simple questions like, is there any evidence at all of Book of Mormon times and people, and where the gold plates are now. So we discussed it for a minute and then spent some time discussing faith and the restoration. The other missionaries (way back in 2002) had never taught her the restoration! We went over it briefly and discussed the apostasy and emailed her the timing of the restoration talk. She's going to get baptized. I know it. We also taught Edward! We Tracted into him a few weeks ago and after talking for a bit and he said he wasn't really interested til the spirit convinced him to meet with us. It fell through and weeks later, now, we randomly swung by and they let us in! Turns out his girlfriend is a less active member that wants to start going back to church. And she's been trying to get him to come for a while. We talked with them about what life would be like as members of the church and tried to teach the restoration. It was really frustrating. The spirit wasn't there for a number of reasons. Ah well. I have a testimony of tracting! The Lord is ready and willing to put his prepared children in the path of his prepared servants, that are out doing their best to find the Lords elect! I love this church! IT!!! IS!!!! TRUE!!!!! The only true church on the whole earth. I love the gospel. It is the only way we can return to our Father in Heaven. I love you all!

Elder H. Johnson

So, this will be my last time writing everyone as a full time missionary and representative of Jesus Christ. I'm sorry I haven't emailed everyone as much as I should've. Time just flies. Let me just leave you with my simple testimony. Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. He is a glorified and resurrected being, and stands at the head of His church. Joseph Smith was the prophet foreordained before the creation of the world to restore the gospel to the earth. I know these things for myself, independent from any other person. I love you all!

Elder Johnson

Sounds like a good last fast and testimony meeting! That's awesome K got her patriarchal blessing, I'm sure she enjoyed it thoroughly! One of the greatest blessings on my mission has been seeing all the miracles on your guys's end! Being with elder R is very much like parenting I imagine. I think you did an excellent job dad, I've applied many of your tactics. :) I know the house thing will work out. All there's got to do is trust the lord and move forward with faith! How much is left to be paid off on the house in Virginia, just out of curiosity?

Do you know if the Bishop wants to speak on anything in particular? I've got plenty of things I'd like to say, but I know mission farewells and homecomings aren't supposed to be monopolized by the missionary kind of thing. If he's fine with me talking about whatever, fantastic, but if he's got something he wants me to speak on let me know! Thanks for the heads up in case you're not able to write. Elder R is not making any progress at all. It is very frustrating. I told President he needs to go home. I'm glad you enjoyed the talk! It's one of my favorites. Your hair is turning all white! What's up with that?!

 

This week we talked to a couple of girls arguing outside one of their houses. They were fighting because one had been strangling the other one. One went inside and we talked with the other one outside, then some loud banging a inside made the one we were talking to run inside and there were lots of screams and fighting from which we learned they were......a couple. And we almost broke the door down and ran inside to break them up, we thought someone was going to die. There was also a corn festival and a parade. So much corn! To polish it off, a lady ran out after us Saturday night after we knocked on her door and yelled at us about how horrible we were. It was pretty funny! Good stuff! Love you tons!

Elder Johnson

top picture Elder Johnson and Elder D

Bottom picture Elder R and Elder K.  (R is one of Hunter's companions)

I wrote this up two days ago for one of our investigators that tried to find the Book of Mormon on spark notes website. So I wrote one up for them!

Spark Notes on the Book of Mormon!

1 Nephi - 600 B.C. - 570 B.C.

Nephi and his family live in Jerusalem. Nephi has 3 brothers, Laman, Lemuel, and Sam. He also has at least 2 sisters. Nephi's father, Lehi, is a prophet (along with Jeremiah at the time) and the people want to kill him because he said they were wrong, they needed to repent, and God would destroy them if they didn't. Because they wanted to kill him God told them to leave. They left, and Nephi and his brothers went back 2 different times. The first time, to get the plates of brass which was basically a bunch of the Old Testament, and the second time, to bring another family with them so they could have wives. Laman and Lemuel try to kill him a few times. After a while, they come to the Ocean. Nephi builds a ship and they cross the ocean and come to 'the promised land'........the Americas! Significant events in this book are the vision of the tree of life and a sermon by Nephi explaining it to his brothers. Lehi also has 2 more sons while they are traveling.

2 Nephi - 588 B.C. - 545 B.C

Lehi is dying, so he blesses his children and gives them Admonitions and warnings. After he dies, Lamanand Lemuel plan to kill Nephi, so Nephi and everyone else that obeys the Lord run away! Nephi and those with him are called Nephites (the righteous ones). Laman, Lemuel, and everyone that followed them are called Lamanites (the wicked ones). There aren't many significant events in this book. Most of it is many doctrinally rich sermons given by both Nephi and his younger brother Jacob about the coming and mission of Jesus Christ, the Atonement, and Plan of Salvation. 

Jacob - 544 B.C. - 421 B.C.

Jacob is mostly a bunch of sermons Jacob gives. He gives a sermon on chastity, keeping the commandments of God and living righteously, and gives the allegory of the olive tree, which is comparison/allusion between an olive tree and the house of Israel. It is very good. A man comes denying the Christ, and is smitten by the power of God.

Enos - 420 B.C.

Enos is Jacobs son. He's out hunting and decides he needs to pray. He spends a day and a night praying, is forgiven of his sins and obtains a promise from the lord that he will bring the gospel to the Lamanites in due time.

Jarom 399 B.C. - 361 B.C.

The Nephites keep and obey the law of Moses. The Lamanites attack them from time to time. He purpose of the Lamanites is to be a scourge to the Nephites to keep them remembering the Lord

Omni 323 B.C. - 130 B.C.

A number of people keep the records. Mosiah, a Nephite King, is warned to leave the land of Nephi (that's where they live), so they take a hike and come over to a place called Zarahemla where they discover a group of people known as the Mulekites, who came over to the Americas around the same time as Lehi from Jerusalem. The join together and Mosiah is king over them all. A group of people go back to the land of Nephi to see if they can still live there. King Mosiah dies, and his son King Benjamin becomes the new king.

Words of Mormon - 385 A.D.

Mormon, who is abridging the whole Nephite record puts in this little insert. At his time the Nephites have almost all been killed. He talks about how King Benjamin has a war with the Lamanites, and works really hard to teach his people to be righteous and keep the commandments.

Mosiah - Mosiah 8 - 130 B.C. - 121 B.C.

King Benjamin is dying, so he gives a sermon to his people. He teaches them to love one another, keep the commandments of God, and serve each other. He dies, and his son Mosiah is the new king. A guy named Ammon leads a search and rescue party out to find the group of people that had left to go to the land of Nephi (from the book of Omni). 

Mosiah 9 - Mosiah 29 - 200 B.C. - 91 B.C.

Zeniff was the leader of the people that went over to the land of Nephi. He makes a deal with the Lamanite King and he lets them live in the land. Zen if is the King over his people. After about 12 years the Lamanites come and attack them to bring them into slavery. They are repulsed. These battles carry on for some time. Senior dies, and his son Noah becomes the king. King Noah is wicked and his people follow his example. A prophet, Abinadi comes and tells him and his wicked priests to repent, and teaches them the Ten Commandments. One of the Priests, Alma, believes, and runs away before Noah can kill him. They burn Abinadi to death. Alma, the priest that believed and ran away, teaches the people in secret. King Noah finds out and goes to kill him, but he is warned by the Lord and he and the 450 people that he has taught run away into the wilderness and start their own little city. The Lamanites come to attack Noah's people again and because they are wicked, the Lord allows the Lamanites it's to take them captive. King Noah runs from them with many of the men. A lot of them are ticked that they left their families, so they burn Noah to death and are going to kill his wicked priests, but they run away. Noah's son, Limhi, rules over his people as a tributary monarch to the Lamanite King. They have to pay 50% of everything to the Lamanites or else they will be killed. They try to fight them off a few times but don't do too hot when they try that. When all hope seems lost, Ammon and the rescue party comes and they make a plan to escape. They get all the Lamanite guards drunk and go join Mosiah and his people in Zarahemla. Meanwhile, Alma and his little group of people get found by the Lamanite army that ran after Limhi. They're lost, so Alma tells them how to get back home and they enslave Alma and his people. After a while, the Lord delivers them and they also join King Mosiah's people. Mosiah translates an ancient record found by Limhi's people that gave a record of a people that came from the Tower of Babel to the Americas and were destroyed. Alma has a son named Alma and Mosiah has 4 sons named Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni. The five of them go around causing trouble and destroying the church. An angel appears and shocks them. Alma is catatonic for 3 days and then gets up and tells everyone he's sorry and teaches about the Atonement. The 4 sons of Mosiah leave to go teach the gospel to the Lamanites. King Mosiah proposes that they have judges and Alma the younger is chosen as the first chief judge. Mosiah and Alma the elder die.

Alma 1 - Alma 16 - 91 B.C. - 77 B.C.

There's a guy named Nehor that tries to introduce priestcraft. He is executed. Alma gives up the judgement seat to a righteous guy named Nephihah and devotes himself to teaching the people. Most of these chapters are him teaching people. In the city of Ammonihah, he finds Amulek as a companion and they teach together. The people are very wicked and burn to death those that repent and believe Alma and Amulek. The Lamanites come and wipe out the city. There are many significant and doctrinally rich sermons and teachings in this section.

Alma 17 - Alma 63 - 91 B.C. - 52 B.C.

Ammon and his brothers go to teach the Lamanites. Ammon makes like a banana and splits, and becomes a servant of the Lamanite King, Lamoni. He defends the Kings flocks and singlehandedly repels a band of robbers, chopping off many of their arms in the process. He earns the trust and respect of the king and teaches him, his household, and the people. Almost all of them are converted and baptized. Meanwhile, Ammon's brothers don't have such great success and are thrown in prison. Ammon goes with Lamoni to talk with the king of that land and get them out, and along the way, run into Lamoni's father who is the King over all the land. King Lamoni's father try's to kill his son because he's now friends with the Nephites and Ammon takes him down because he's a boss and tells him he'll kill him unless he lets Lamoni do what he wants. The king agrees and Ammon lets him go. He goes and rescues his brothers. His brothers teach Lamoni's father and convert him, his family and many of the people. In all, the inhabitants of 7 lands and cities are baptized. They all come together and call themselves the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. The Lamanites that didn't convert are mad at them, so they start to kill them. The righteous Lamanites made a covenant to never fight again, so they allow themselves to be killed. The Lamanites killing them feel bad and some of them stop, repent, and join the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's. The rest of them are mad and go to attack the Nephites all of a sudden. They attack and wipe out the city of Ammonihah, and are then repelled by the Nephites. The persecution among the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's becomes so great that they decide to go and join the Nephites. The Nephites give them land and promise to protect them and the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's give them food and support. They are called by the Nephites the people of Ammon, or Ammonites. Alma the younger the whole while devotes his time to the ministry. He has personal interviews with his three sons, and then disappears. A huge war starts between the Nephites and Lamanites. The Lamanites are led by a wicked Nephite that dissented. There are internal dissensions among the Nephites and at those times the Lamanites have more success. A Nephite assassin kills the Lamanite king who is a Nephite. Ultimately, the Nephites are victorious when the Nephite assassin kills the 2nd king (who is the first's brother). 

Helaman - 52 B.C. - 1 B.C.

Alma's sone Helaman, then Helaman's son Helaman, then that Helaman's son Nephi keep the records. There is war between the Nephites and Lamanites. Nephi and his brother, Lehi, devote themselves to preaching the gospel. The Nephites become wicked, and the Lamanites become righteous. A Lamanite prophet named Samuel teaches the wicked Nephites and prophesies of Christ's coming, and the sign of a star at his birth. A group known as the Gadianton robbers infiltrate the Nephite government and grow in power. The Nephites repent after Nephi asks the Lord to send a devastating famine.

3 Nephi - 0 A.D. - 35 A.D.

Nephi's son, Nephi takes stewardship over the records. All the Nephites and Lamanites are righteous. They all unite to fight against the Gaddianton robbers who infest the land. They gather together in one body and the Gaddianton robbers attempt to lay siege, but end up starving to death while they are attacked from time to time by the righteous Nephites and Lamanites. The Gaddianton leaders are put to death, and they are defeated. E people are righteous, but over time, pride, class distinctions, and contention arise. The chief judge is murdered, the government is destroyed, and the people divide into tribes. There are earthquakes, tempests, hurricanes, and fire. Many cities are burned, drowned in the sea, covered by earth, and the inhabitants of them are killed. There is three days of darkness. Out of the Darkness, the voice of Jesus Christ speaks to the people. The darkness disperses, and as the people are gathered around the temple, the voice of the Father introduces His son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ invites the people to feel the nail marks in his hands, his feet, and side. He calls Nephi forward and gives him authority to baptize. He calls twelve others, and gives them authority as well. Jesus teaches the people the same things he taught his people in Jerusalem. He gives them commandments and announces that the law of Moses has been fulfilled. 

4 Nephi 35 A.D. - 321 A.D.

All the Nephites and Lamanites are converted. For 200 years they have peace and prosperity. Eventually divisions, evils, false churches, and persecutions arise and after 300 years, all the people are wicked. The prophet Ammaron hides up the sacred records.

Mormon - 321 A.D. - 421 A.D.

War and carnage cover the land. The prophet Mormon leads the Nephite armies in battle. He teaches them and exhorts them to repent, but they refuse to change. Mormon prophesies of the final days, the bringing forth of the gospel to the Lamanites by the Gentiles, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. The Nephites are all destroyed in a tremendous battle. Moroni, Mormon's son, admonishes those who don't believe in Christ to repent, and testifies of the signs of spiritual gifts that follow those that are true followers of Christ.

Ether - about 2500 B.C. - 450 B.C.

The Lord confounds the languages of the people at the Tower of Babel. The brother of Jared pleads wi the Lord to not confound his and his families and their friends languages. The Lord blesses them and guides them to the promised land. A kingdom is established. The people follow a pattern of righteousness and happiness, followed by extreme wickedness and sin. The lord sends prophets to tell them to repent. Sometimes they obey, sometimes hey don't. The 200 year period is plagued by constant secret combinations, lying, and wicked men conspiring to take the kingdom. Eventually the people all divide into 2 groups, fighting for 2 different kings. They have a tremendous war in which well over 2 million people are killed. Coriantumr, one of the Kings, and Ether are the only ones to survive. Ether disappears after hiding the sacred records so that the people of Limhi found them, and Coriantumr is found by the Mulekites and dies after living with them for 9 months.

Moroni - 401 A.D. - 421 A.D.

Moroni, the son of Mormon wanders around for about 20 years, trying to not get killed by the Lamanites. He sets for the manner in which someone is to be ordained, gives the sacramental prayers as given by the savior, and speaks about church meetings. Moroni writes some of the teachings of his father Mormon, and includes a couple letters from him during the war. Moroni testifies of the power of the Holy Ghost, gifts of the Spirit, and faith, and invites all men to come unto Christ.

Hunter shared his testimony with his brother Kumen who is leaving for Brazil in 6 days.  They will miss each other by 10 days.  it will be 4 years before they will see one another again :(  It will be like the sons of Mosiah meeting up after many years of missions rejoicing because they are still their faith in the Savior is strong!

Kumen, I so excited for your mission! You leave on the 9th though, right? I'm so proud of you, you're going to be an incredible missionary. The Lord needs you down there in Brazil for many reasons, and all of those reasons are people, including yourself. I can't wait to see how fast and how much you grow! A mission is a priceless experience for $10,000!!! You have two years that is an opportunity to receive more education and experience than any university in the world can offer. Make the most of it. Work like there's no tomorrow, because eventually there won't be. I love you so much! The church is true. Joseph Smith told the truth. This is the greatest message in the history of eternity, right up there with our Father announcing to us his Plan of Happiness, and the Angels announcing the coming and birth of our Savior! He lives and He stands at the head of this church! It's not up for debate or questioning. All you've got to do is go and tell it to people! To quote Richard G. Scott......."Don't just have a good mission, have a blast!!"

Elder Johnson

He also shared birthday wishes for his mom:

Happy birthday mommy!!! How did you enjoy your watermelon cake this year? I love you so much! You're one year older and wiser too, but you still look the same! Incredible how that works, huh? You are the best mom in the world and I'm so glad I got to learn from you and have you lay the foundation for everything I know! I love you I love you I love you!!

Elder Johnson

:) thank you so very much for your constructive feedback! We read the white handbook every morning when we start our comp study around 9:10/9:15  Companionship study is our biggest struggle. It is so hard to do with three people. I promise you I am doing my best to be obedient.  Elder D is realizing things are going to go downhill when I leave and he's not excited about it at all. I really need your prayers right now. That's the only reason I've been up late this week, is because I've been praying and praying and praying. 

I'm sorry to hear working on the shed was a pain, but at least it's fixed! Maybe that's why the house wasn't selling! Just kidding, I'm sure it will sell still. Thanks for all the updates, doesn't Kumen have 1 more Monday though? R is from Idaho and he is on a mission because his GF told him she wouldn't marry someone that wasn't an RM. he's been out 9 transfers, this is his 10th. Love you tons!

Elder Johnson

Hunter wrote this last week but we were in Colorado:

Can't wait to enjoy Colorado for an entire day or two! I'm glad Ranger likes it. That's awesome that it's right near the Kehls. This week was really slow. And super duper hot. So hot. So so so hot. The guy only answered his phone once. We've been trying to contact him but it's been a pain. We are just knock g on lots of doors and talking to the people inside regardless of weather or not they open it! One door we knocked on, this guy came out and he said he wasn't too interested, but he had a Book of Mormon and did we want to see it? He went in and came out with a quad! We talked for a minute or two longer and (at some point we asked him what kinds of questions he had that pastors weren't able to answer. We told him we had the answer to the one he asked! It has to do with baptisms for the dead) were able to get his number and he said he wasn't working this week and we could call him and set up a time to come back. He had to leave and go shopping, but when he came back (we were still knocking doors) he said hey! Come on Tuesday. Text me and I'll give you a time, but Tuesday works! We are pretty stoked. :) This week, we just.....Tracted. For so long. We taught two lessons. One of them was ridiculous. It's not worth talking about. But have you read 'the timing of the restoration'? By Hyrum W. Smith? I'll email it to you. It's absolutely fantastic and has a couple quality jokes in it as well. 

 Just keep us in your prayers like always please!

In my studies this week, I looked up all the GC talks given by Elder Groberg. They were all incredible, but I loved an overarching theme. In every single one of his talks but one, he talked about his mission. I thought that was really cool. Love you tons!

Elder H. Johnson

We had our temple trip on Thursday. On Monday the 4th we party hopped to a few different bbq's the ward members were having. It's always hard to write on p-day because I can only send emails when I have wifi. And I can't write in the car because I'm driving. The firework show was at a local high school, and we were on the pyro crew! Although we couldn't actually help set them up, but it was cool anyways! Both the exams were pretty much the same exact thing. The eye doctor was his very nice Asian lady! It was the best eye exam I've ever had! Those burritos sound like California! Everything here has hot sauce and spices in it, it's crazy! I'm pretty used to it by now......Hispanic people put hot sauce on everything and deep fry everything, it's crazy! Your description of not knowing what you were doing is how some of my days and weeks feel. We're not really teaching anyone solid, but we may have someone that was referred by a recent convert in the ward above us whose baptism I was able to play at! We're meeting with her tomorrow, so hopefully it goes well! 

I was able to go to Hamilton pools with the family! It was pretty fun, but I think things like Priest lake in Idaho was more fun. I'm glad Talmage's court of Honor went well, it's too bad the young men didn't really participate. I heard a story recently about one of the apostles a number of years ago at a fireside for priesthood holders I think. He invited them to come closer. Then he did again, and the second time a couple came closer. He waited for a bit, then announced that the meeting was cancelled and if they wondered why their children didn't obey, it was because of the examples of their parents that they had to look to. Then he walked away. Epic!! Maybe obedience isn't in the question, but devoting time and energy to something good absolutely is. Could you try to find that story for me and email it to me when you do? I will keep praying that someone will make a good offer on the house. The ward I'm serving in is about 2.5x1.5 miles and has regular ward membership, but a lot of less actives. We never really get referrals, so we just find by our lonesomes! I love it! We tract a ton and talk to everyone and don't waste a second talking to people that don't want anything to do with it. Today my comp wanted to play soccer with some other missionaries, so when we were walking onto the field, there was a small group of people with a bunch of dogs and I stopped to talk with them all and without realizing it ended up talking about how we were all missionaries and it was great! They weren't interested but it left a good impression on them and it boosted myself knowing that I really am doing my best to talk with everyone.please keep praying for us to find someone to teach! I got the pants from Elder S. Thank you so much for the quote, I'll probably use it in a lesson!

The most exciting thing this week was finally being able to teach some of that family (the family of S) that we've been trying to for so long. The spirit was there and it was awesome!

 Love you tons!

Elder Johnson

So what classes have I been signed up for? And how many credits are they all worth? Do you think I'll be able to handle that load? I don't want to crash and burn......what kind of job opportunities are available in Provo? How much are utilities?!?! That is all a super amount t of stuff going on! I had no idea the V family was getting baptized, thats awesome!! 

Haha, the hike/camping thing makes me think of the mission! I look at all the ridiculous things new missionaries do and I'm like, why are you doing that?! And then I realized I used to do or not do that thing. Life is just such a learning process! Let me tell you about some of the miracles that have happened! We found this awesome lady named J. Just knocked into her right before dinner and she'd just gotten home and she said come back tomorrow at 5:00, so we did! She's looking for a Christian church and wants to raise her two kids to learn about Christ. And she is so solid! She said no to the baptismal invitation, but she doesn't understand the priesthood or anything yet. We also found this guy named C

  He said we could try back on Sunday and we Tracted into him on Saturday. We went back and said come on in! Usually they aren't there or say to try back another time. We taught the restoration and he believes it but thinks any church is fine. Things are hopping! We're going to bring that other family cookies this week! A talk I read this week that I really liked was 'Love takes time' from October 1975 I think. I thought of you and mom. :)  thanks for your thoughts on testimony, as well as your testimony! Love you tons!
Hunter
pictures:
making one of the stories in the Book of Mormon more visual (Ammon)
A Hot Day 112 degrees
Bag of cold cereal at the bottom of a pole (typical crazy thing to see in 
aneheim
boy at church who looks like Hunter's brother Talmage
Zone at the temple

They ended up texting us and basically saying they weren't interested. :/ it was sad, but we left them with a good impression and the Book of Mormon. I hope they read it! We found another family though! They had been taught by the elders in one Ward, then moved, and we found them in their new place and they asked, how did you find us? And we were like, what are you talking about? Then we talked with them for 30 minutes. It was fantastic! 

I can't wait to help everyone pack, and I'll definitely keep all of you in my prayers, but should I pray that we'll find someone to rent the house or buy it? Also, do you think maybe you could find someone for me to teach and then we can just eat after we visit President Freckleton? 

I'm glad the car didn't get towed at Kumens graduation, I started reading that part and the first thought that came to my head was, "I wonder if the car got towed...." 

Thank you for sharing those quotes with me dad, I really like them! I think that's a good way to describe one of the things I've learned. Not to toss the importance of planning a lesson, but lessons I've taught have gone much better when I've been spiritually prepared and been doing well with the 'righteous routines' and not prepared an actual lesson plan than when I have prepared a lesson plan and haven't been spiritually prepared. Spiritual preparation doesn't just come during the personal study in the morning either! It's in the weeks and months you spend constantly striving to do what you're supposed to. 

My personal opinion on why the Lord wants us to move to Colorado is this. There is a person or persons there that are ready for the gospel, or ready to come back to it, and our family is the Lords way of making it happen. I think it's interesting that you found out you were leaving practically immediately after Sarah and Kate got baptized. There's a Sarah and a Kate and maybe even a Rachel or Mallory or Makenna in Colorado waiting for our family!

News for the week......everything fell through and almost no one was home the whole week. But we did find a lady that when we asked her if she was religious and she said no and we asked why and she said I don't know! Then we gave her a Book of Mormon, explained a little of the restoration, and she asked us if we were going to co e back to pick it up and we were like no, and she got super excited and asked if we were going to come follow up with her to see if she'd been able to read and we were like, uh, yeaaaahhhhhh!!! That was really awesome. In other news.........Thursday night, President called to release me as a Zone Leader, and Saturday night I got the call to go to La Habra, Love you Dad!

Hunter

P.S. Can you ask the family to please not write anything about me going home in their letters? I know it's probably hard, but in these last few weeks, I don't want it to be any harder than it needs to be. :)