There he is, watching the demise of his people, and rewriting the records from hundreds of years of Nephite history.

Mormon has the gift of wisdom, and while he does a great job at narrating the events from the plates, he can’t help but interject his own lessons throughout his abridgment.

And what’s that famous phrase that signals us that Mormon is about to teach a lesson?

“And thus we see…”

(Sometimes, “thus we can behold…”)

He switches from story-telling to spiritual commentary.

He takes a time out from telling us about who was chief judge and who was murdered and who was baptized…

And instead focuses on the lesson to learn.

“And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.” -Hel. 12:3

Mormon is a great example at using BOTH storytelling and explicit teaching in order to get a point across.

I think it can be easy to think that by living a pretty righteous life, our kids will catch on.

Don’t get me wrong, setting the right example is probably the most important element in teaching the gospel to our kids.

But it’s not that only element.

We also need to explicitly teach gospel principles to our children.

I think this was why Family Home Evening was first instituted, and why home-centered church has been a huge push (even before it became essential).

Because we probably need to do MORE straightforward teaching.

And not always in formal settings either! Mormon beautifully weaved his “thus we see..”s throughout his summaries.

So when my kid sees a church building out of the car window and yells, “church!”, I can take that moment to teach her about why I love church and how happy it makes me.

I can’t be afraid to teach. Or even hesitant to teach.

I HAVE to be explicit. I have to point out the spiritual lessons in real-time as much as I can.

Because we truly need both: the examples and stories, and the Godly principles being boldly proclaimed.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Boldly teaching our children first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And one day, my very perceptive husband came home from an earlier day at work and said, “I’m completely handling Quin. Leave this house. Go do something you want to do on your own.”

And so I got in the car…

And I had no idea where to go. ????

I needed a break from my baby, but I didn’t know what I needed to replace it.

And so I leaned into the cliche, drove to Target, walked around aimlessly for a while, and then drove home.

Now since that day 2 1/2 years ago, I’ve come a loooong way!

Just this past week during a few kid-free moments, I’ve scrubbed a bathroom, studied my scriptures in total silence, written Come Follow Me posts, attempted to remodel a bathroom, played the piano, talked with a friend, and done other work.

And there was one time when I scrolled social media endlessly, clicking on article after post after video, waaaaay past the “refreshing and relaxing” amount.

Clearly, I don’t have a total handle on my agency yet.

But I’ve come a long way in learning how to make positive, righteous, fun, and meaningful decisions with my time!

And this is what fascinates me about the Lord giving Nephi power to do whatever he wished in Helaman Ch 10.

The Lord trusted Nephi to ALWAYS make a righteous decision in the name of the Lord.

Nephi wasn’t going to sit in indecisiveness. He wasn’t going to waste time. He also wasn’t going to give in to wicked desires.

The Lord KNEW Nephi would make the best decisions with his abundance of agency.

That’s what I’m working towards.

Not that I always have to be “busy”. But that when I’m given “free time”, I make righteous decisions that will either rejuvenate me, bring me happiness, or push me to grow.

Because learning to use my agency wisely is the ultimate sign of trust in my Heavenly Father.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Using agency for good first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I can handle just about anything, and if I don’t know what I’m doing, I’ll figure it out.

If I’m asking someone for help, I guarantee I have thought through every possible way I could solve the problem without needing assistance first.

This is a fantastic strength in many areas of my life.

I can get things done.

Because the truth is, I can be super strong on my own.

The judges speaking against Nephi knew that they could be strong, too.

“We are powerful,” they said.

“Our enemies can have no power over us.” (Hel. 8:6)

And they really did have powerful and strong armies who could get things done and fight off enemies!

But where does all of our own strength come from?

From the One who created us and placed us on earth with a very specific purpose.

He often allows us to use our own natural (yet God-given) strength.

I can learn new things or ace a test on my own.

And the Nephite armies could totally win a battle without any religious sentiment.

But –

What happens if we team up with God?

What happens if we rely on the One who made us to add His efforts to ours?

What if we knew He could make us unstoppable?

A little army of 2,000 with no fatalities.

A man on a wall with arrows completely missing.

A young mom who is defending her home against the seemingly ever-present evils around her.

And against all odds, they all succeed.

We can do things on our own.

Or we can take our strength and add it to God’s.

And that’s where the miracles happen.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Unstoppable strength first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Allow time while you are reading for your mind to wander on related topics.

In other words, ponder.

But this is often really tricky.

Because who has extra time to just sit there and let their mind wander, right?!

Our days are filled to the brim with other priorities.

Plus, we also place value on “getting things done”.

So if I’m just sitting there with my scriptures, staring off into space, and thinking…

What am I actually accomplishing?

It’s a lot easier to just read my assigned scriptures for the day, and then cross it off of my to-do list.

Did you happen to notice what Nephi did in order to allow the voice of the Lord to speak to him and give him great power?

Nephi was pondering.

He was pondering on previous miracles and revelations he had received.

He was just thinking about them.

He wasn’t talking to anyone else, scrolling through a phone, finding something else to clean, turning on music to fill the void, turning on a show…

He was just quiet.

And that quiet pondering is what led the Lord to give him amazing power and praise.

Are we making quiet moments?

This can be so difficult.

But spiritual development isn’t meant to be easy and convenient.

Because it’s not just nice to ponder sometimes.

It is ESSENTIAL to do every single day in order to open up God’s true power, to obtain personal revelation, and to feel peace.

So whenever I feel that my scripture study is starting to lose its power, I try to follow Nephi’s example from Helaman 10, and make space to ponder.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Pondering first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Most miracles are sacred and personal, and aren’t meant to be displayed or even proclaimed publicly.

But I can think about times when miracles HAVE been performed for large groups of people.

By Jesus Christ, by Moses, by Nephi, son of Helaman…

And the part that baffles my mind?

The public miracles don’t always convert everyone.

In fact, when Nephi told the people their chief judge had been murdered, and then accurately told them how to catch the killer, Mormon narrates that “some” were converted while others explained it away.

What?!

How could you see that and not believe?

But I think it comes back to a principle that has been taught time and time again:

Faith is a choice.

We choose whether or not a miracle will strengthen our faith, or whether we will explain it away.

Giant miracles don’t produce faith for everyone. At least not the conversion-level faith that is required to change hearts permanently.

But I also find the “faith is a choice” concept really comforting.

I’m not going to just lose my faith someday on accident.

If I’m doing the little things that I know will invite the Spirit with the intention to grow my faith, then I will grow my faith.

And the miracles that I see in my life, both small and mighty, will strengthen my faith because I want them to strengthen my faith.

Because the future of my faith is not by chance, but by choice.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Faith by choice first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.