Friend to Friend

Go Forward and Harvest On!

By Elder Hugo Montoya

Of the Seventy

Hugo Montoya

Man and boy picking grapes in a vineyard

Illustrations by Garth Bruner

I lived in California, USA, with my family growing up. In the summer we harvested grapes at a vineyard. We had a big family, and we all worked together. I was young, but my father taught me to work hard.

We cut bunches of grapes off the vine. Then we piled the grapes on a metal tray. When the tray was full, we took it to my father. He spread the grapes out to dry into raisins in the hot sun. The owner of the vineyard paid my father for the raisins we made.

Each time we took grapes to my father, he told us, “Go forward and harvest on.”

So we went to the next vine to harvest the next bunch of grapes. We did this again and again. We focused on the next vine and the work ahead of us. We didn’t let ourselves get distracted by what was behind us.

Every week my father paid my siblings and me for our work. He taught us to take out 10 percent for tithing. We saved the rest. When we had enough, we each bought a wooden airplane or our favorite candy. We spent Saturday afternoons playing in the park with our airplanes and eating our candy.

My father’s saying to “go forward and harvest on” has become a tradition in my family. It teaches us the value of hard work. It is important for us to “go forward and harvest on” in all we do. When we work hard and follow what God asks us to do, we can find joy in life.