Elder Eric Montgomery: Week 23: Oops, All Venezuelans!

Monday, March 10, 2025 10:23pm

Hey, its me, your friendly neighborhood elder that somehow surprises everyone by speaking Spanish without a southern accent! This week was kind of slow in terms of Missionary work, but fast in terms of time. Again.

We have a lot of people progressing, but most of them live in the same house, so wetres 1 only get one teaching visit at a time. It'd be really cool to be able to meet with our friends daily, but unfortunately they have lives outside of meeting with us. Who could've guessed?

So anyways, we're riding bikes, knocking doors, scratching our heads, looking for Latinos, talking to everyone, and besides all the Americans, we are finding a majority of Venezuelans. It didn't used to be like that. I don't know what's going on, maybe Venezuelans are more courageous than the rest.

The family we found a couple weeks ago is progressing very well! One of the couples we haven't seen after the first lesson, but then the guy we were supposed to meet the first time showed up.

4 of them attended church! The one who didn't come promised to go, then used the same lame excuse she used last week to stay home. That's okay, she is progressing, and we're probably not leaving the next transfer.

Our friend who is married to a member is also progressing super well, getting closer to accepting a baptism date every time we have a lesson. He's come a long way from where he started. He says he knows he'll be baptized at some point, he just doesn't know when; maybe next week, next month, next year. But why wait to receive the blessings of baptizm?

The thing is, he's already been to church a few times, so really, we can teach him all the lessons really simply and baptize him whenever. So... how does Thursday sound?

I love being able to see how the spirit influences people. There's no better feeling than teaching a lesson where the spirit is just so strong, and everyone knows it's there. After I leave lesson

Getting to know someone and see them change as they come to a knowledge of the Gospel is literally the best thing ever. (There's a reason the 3 Nephites wanted to do this until the second coming)

This Gospel is all about change. God didn't create us as perfect beings; and I personally am pretty okay with that. We are all meant to learn and expirience the joy of becoming someone better, someone happier, someone a little bit more like Jesus Christ. And this change is possible because of our Savior.

The Hymns for Home and Family are amazing, and I listen to them a lot. One of the hymns stands out to me. I remember my little siblings singing it in primary, and thinking about the words always helps me to feel the spirit.

The chorus of 'I Will Walk with Jesus' reads,

"As I walk with Jesus

To my home above,

He will bless me with His Spirit

And fill me with His love,

Change my heart forever

And help me clearly see.

I will walk with Jesus

And He will walk with me."

If we seek for and allow the spirit to change our hearts, Jesus will help us to live this life fully, and to see the things that really matter. He will change our hearts, and continue to help us to become more than we were yesterday. If walking with Jesus becomes a consistent effort, I know that we can be filled with love and joy despite the trials we expirience.

I love you guys a ton!

Crap.