I think a lot about Ether being prompted to leave his cave and go preach repentance to the king one last time.

Doesn’t it seem a little futile?⁣

Not many people react well to someone walking into their house and calling them to repentance. ⁣

And Coriantumr sure didn’t respond well, sending his guard to kill Ether. ⁣

Ether was able to escape back to his cave.

But… maybe he spent some time thinking:

“That was pointless.”⁣

But fast-forward a few years and a few brutal wars,and we find Coriantumr on the battle field.

He was forced to watch his friends and loved ones being slaughtered by Shiz’s army. ⁣

And all of a sudden:

“When Coriantumr had recovered of his wounds, he began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him.” (Ether 15:1)

⁣Coriantumr’s heart wasn’t ready to hear the message when Ether was ready to preach.

But now, on the battlefield, Coriantumr’s heart was ready to listen.

Isn’t it amazing that the Spirit takes care of all the timing?

He can bring to remembrance words and topics that were taught when the listener wasn’t quite ready to learn.

“Faith also includes trust in God’s timing”. – Neal A. Maxwell

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Does anyone else feel like they need that reminder every week or so?! ⁣

We love preaching that righteousness = blessings. ⁣

But then we sometimes get a false sense of what those blessings are. ⁣

If you are righteous, you are not promised freedom from financial issues. ⁣

If you are righteous, your spouse can still make a terrible decision.

If you are righteous, you can still lose your job. ⁣

If you are righteous, you can have a lot of people really angry at you. ⁣

If you are righteous, you can still feel really disappointed by others’ actions. ⁣

If you are righteous, you might not look the way you want to look. ⁣

If you are righteous, you can totally fail a test. ⁣

If you are righteous, you can still be dramatically harmed by other people. ⁣

If you are righteous, you can still be diagnosed with a terrible illness. ⁣

So… why am I choosing to be righteous?!⁣

Because of the real blessings that we are promised. ⁣

Because of the peace. ⁣

The inner joy. ⁣

Because of Jesus Christ. 

The confidence before the Lord. ⁣

And unimaginable and innumerable blessings for the eternities. ⁣

Because I love my Savior and my Heavenly Parents, and I want to keep the commandments that I have been given. ⁣

But sometimes I need to have that reframe. ⁣

I AM grateful for all of my outward blessings.

I am filled with gratitude when I look at my living situation, my loved ones, my health, my opportunities. ⁣

But really, all of those could be taken away. ⁣

I could be living in a cave, completely alone for the rest of my life. ⁣

And I could still give thanks.

“Great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether; but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people.” (Ether 13:13)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Could I still give thanks?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“Man, that Moroni is the worst writer ever.”⁣

Right?!⁣

Like, it’s almost laughable. ⁣

But clearly, to Moroni, this was a serious issue. ⁣

He believed that he wasn’t great at writing.

He believed that this was a big weakness of his.

“When we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.” (Ether 12:25)⁣

He didn’t want to be mocked or compared. ⁣

Now THERE’S a feeling I think we all can relate to. ⁣

We see a little kid, afraid to perform at a piano recital…

And we tell them that it’s totally fine if they make mistakes because everyone is proud of them just for getting up to perform. ⁣

But we ourselves are paralyzed by a fear of messing up. ⁣

We go to someone else’s house and tell them not to worry about it no matter how many times they apologize for “the mess”.⁣

And yet we don’t want anyone to see our house unless we clean. ⁣

We encourage our friends to accept a new calling, telling them that this will be a new opportunity to grow and expand their talents. ⁣

And we think the Bishop’s got it all wrong when we hear of our new assignment. ⁣

(There are so many more examples like this…)

We feel such loving compassion for Moroni talking about his weaknesses. ⁣

And yet we sometimes spare ourselves that same loving compassion. ⁣

So let’s try to be more compassionate, forgiving, and patient with our own weaknesses this week. ⁣

To look on our shortcomings the same way a tender, loving parent would. ⁣

The way a loyal friend would. ⁣

The way our perfect, divine, Heavenly Parents do.

Weaknesses are an opportunity for growth and a new chance for us to turn to the Lord and experience a miracle.

“Many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.” -Elder Uchtdorf

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post “He’s the worst writer”  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

We say things like:

“I hope you are doing well!”

“I have faith that you can finish that!”⁣

“I hope that goes away soon!”⁣

This really is fine.

Many people use them as sweet, well-meaning sentiments. ⁣

But I’ve been thinking a lot about the real, weighty meanings of those words:

FAITH

and HOPE

Moroni beautifully teaches us:

“Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen;

“Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” (Ether 12:6)

It can be tempting to say we have faith…

And then feel hurt when the result we wanted doesn’t happen.

And it can also be tempting to think that having “hope” in a world like this is naive and too optimistic.

But people will disappoint us.

Others will sin.

Some people will even deliberately offend or harm.

I’ve learned that my faith has to be IN Jesus.

And when I have faith in Jesus Christ, I can have solid hope for good things that will come.

“As we strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, we see beyond our struggles to the blessings and promises of eternity.” – Neil L. Andersen

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Hope and faith first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.