“I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost” – 1 Nephi 10:17

My scripture study habits have transformed in the past few years of my life. 

It all started when I decided I really wanted the Spirit to teach me through the scriptures EVERY TIME I read them. I was done only having spiritual experiences at big, important events in my life, and I wanted to invite the power that I knew I could claim into my scripture study even more. 

So I started asking “So what?” when I read. 

Instead of just reading cool stories and inspiring accounts and powerful verses – I would ask, “So what can I do in my life right now because of what I just read?”

And if you’ve been following this account for any amount of time, you know that is the entire premise of everything that I write and share. 

Lehi told his family all about his extensive dream and vision. 

For Laman and Lemuel, that’s where the story ended. I don’t know if they were touched by the spirit while listening to it, or if they felt that prick in their hearts that they needed to change… but they just heard the story and that was it. 

Nephi turned to the Spirit, and I imagine, asked his own version of, “So what?”. And he was filled with the desire to experience the vision himself. He heard the dream and decided to act – and his action was to request the vision for himself. 

Asking “So what?” has truly transformed my scripture study experience, which has naturally rolled over into my Come Follow Me studies.

But I’m working on asking “So what?” from every good thing that I experience! 

A sacrament meeting talk by a 12-year old. A session in the temple. An inspirational podcast. A General Conference talk. An uplifting conversation with a friend. A spiritual prompting.

Instead of having these experiences and thinking, “Wow, that was cool!” and then never thinking about it again (or even worse, but still common, “I got NOTHING out of that”)…

… I’m trying to think more and more, “What does the Spirit want me to learn from this? What is my ‘so what’ on a personal level?”

Nephi KNEW that the Holy Ghost would give him that personal instruction, and our current prophet has continued to make that his theme song.

The Holy Ghost will be our personal tutor. He will teach us exactly what WE need to know from everything we go through. BUT – we have to give him a chance to teach us. We have to ask for his help. And that transforms everything! 

The post “So what?” first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

The main character, Punchinello, is filled up pretty much entirely with gray dots and goes through this process of meeting with his “woodmaker” creator in order to learn his true worth. 

But my favorite character is Lucia – the Wemmick who didn’t have a single dot OR star on her.

The reason? Lucia honestly did not care. She knew that the woodmaker had created her, and she literally did not care about the judgments of the other Wemmicks. 

Let me remind you, though, this means she didn’t care about the dots. But she also didn’t care about the stars. 

Her example has always stuck out to me. 

Because often, I think we try to teach this lesson by only focusing on not caring about the “dots” or poor judgments of this world. And then we smother each other in praise to prove that “we are good enough”. 

I DO NOT THINK IT IS BAD AT ALL TO PRAISE THE PEOPLE AROUND US. 

It feels really good to give someone a compliment, and it feels great to receive a compliment, too!

But when we put SO much weight in other people’s praise or lack thereof, we are hitting on two different symptoms of the same exact problem.

We are “heeding” what other people think. We are letting the stickers stick. 

Where does our true and lasting joy come from? 

From tasting the fruit of the tree. From partaking in the love and glory of God and our Savior. 

Not from being cheered on by people at the tree – although this can be helpful!

But from actually going and partaking, without casting our eyes around to see if anyone is proud of us for making it there, or mocking us for actually getting it. 

Salvation is a personal matter. 

And I think it is good to sometimes stop and check if we are heeding either the dots or the stars a little too much.

Are we concerned that others’ dots will make us seem lame or detached from reality? 

Are we hopeful that others are giving us gold stars for the great progress we are making?

Or are we ONLY focused on our maker, and the happiness that the tree has to offer?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Don’t heed the dots – OR the stars first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had been the long-term sub for 6 weeks, all the other teachers were telling me admin would be silly to not just hire me on, and I was starting to really click with my students. 

The principal called me in for a meeting, where I was SURE that the full-time position would be offered to me, as a brand new BYU grad. 

Instead, she told me that someone else had been hired before I had even started subbing, they just couldn’t start until January. I had been the place-holder. 

I was crushed. Why?! This would have been PERFECT!

And then I was frantic. 

I applied for jobs like crazy because I knew a lot of positions open up at the end of December. 

Within a few days, I had been offered my first full-time teaching position at a school that would be my home for the next 4 years. I would make lifelong friends and meet students who would change my life. 

Luckily, my period of “not knowing” lasted only a few weeks – from finding out I didn’t have the first job to discovering I felt “at home” at the new one. 

There are many other times when I’ve had to wait a lot longer in that “not knowing” phase. A lot longer. 

Nephi was an older man, living in the promised land, when he started to write a complete record of his people. 

And then, he received direction from the Lord that he should write another account of the same exact time period, but instead focus on spiritual matters. 

His response? 

I know that God knows more than I do, and that He has a wise purpose for me doing all of this extra work that doesn’t seem logical.  

Have you ever considered that Nephi died without ever knowing why he was writing these second plates?

That’s a long time to dwell in “not knowing” limbo. 

It’s always fun and inspirational to tell our stories where “not knowing” turned into “perfect timing” after some hindsight.

But sometimes, we are asked to just stay in “not knowing”. Maybe even for the rest of our lives. This is really hard. 

Luckily, Nephi teaches us a beautiful, simple, but faith-filled lesson through his example: 

The way to happily survive “not knowing” is to “know” that God has a wiser purpose than we could ever imagine.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Are we okay “not knowing”? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

He was in a dark and dreary waste.

He had followed an angel in a white robe, but now he was in total darkness.

Wandering for hours.

Can you imagine?

Maybe you can.

You KNOW you are supposed to be here. Something good brought you here.

But now, darkness. The heavens have closed. There’s no happiness. No peace. Just dreariness.

For hours.

Why? What was the point of bringing me here to this wasteland of darkness and nothingness? I thought I was doing what I was supposed to do?

Lehi prayed. He prayed unto the Lord that he would have mercy on him. What a desperate but humble prayer.

He DIDN’T ask why. He DIDN’T complain. He DIDN’T accuse God of anything.

He just asked for mercy.

Asking for mercy shows the ultimate understanding of our true relationship with God.

The abandonment of all entitlement.

True humility.

And after this prayer of mercy? The field and the tree. A clear path to true happiness.

Happy Studying.

-Cali Black

The post Wandering in Darkness first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

When one child expressed a little bit of unhappiness with this new limit, the mother said that she would set the same exact time limits on the same apps on her phone. They would all be in this new challenge together, and she would take the lead. I LOVE THAT SHE DID THIS. 

She was then shocked the next day when her “time limit” alert came much sooner than she expected. She didn’t realize how much she probably needed the time limits, too. 

What a beautiful example of a mother leading by example in her family. She is now able to sympathize and work on her own habits, while setting an invaluable example for her teenagers. 

Who partook of the fruit first in Lehi’s dream? 

Lehi.

This fruit was “desirable to make one happy”. 

Lehi tasted of that happiness and joy first. And THEN he desired that his family should partake of this same happiness. 

I think the order of this is so important. 

He tasted of this joyous fruit, STAYED by the tree, and beckoned his family members to come join him. 

He didn’t tread through the mists of darkness, he didn’t search through the great and spacious building, he didn’t wade through the water. 

He stayed by the tree as an example for his family members to follow. And many of them did follow him!

This is my passionate viewpoint for “Come Follow Me” as well. 

Are WE studying and learning and growing from the scriptures, tasting of that fulfilling JOY that comes from the Book of Mormon, and then beckoning our family members to come join us?

Or do we sometimes try to push them towards the tree while forgetting to stay by the sweet, white, happy tree ourselves?

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s a whole lot easier to teach a lesson about being kind and patient than it is to actually be kind and patient all the time. 

But when we make the journey to the tree, taste of the happiness, and then beckon others to join us, we make a much more compelling argument than if we have tasted it and then left. 

Taste the joy FIRST, and then stay by the tree.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Beckoning from the Tree first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.