How could they not follow the liahona’s directions with pure faith?!

I’ve certainly thought these questions before.

And while I think pride can be a large contributing factor, Alma tells Helaman about one big sin to look out for:

“Do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way”. Alma 37:46

Saying my prayers every day should be something pretty easy.

It’s just a few minutes in the morning, a few minutes at night, and all I need to do is turn my attention to God for a bit.

That sounds so simple!

And yet, those slothful temptations seem to pile on.

“I’m too tired right now – I’ll do it later.”

“I can’t focus right now – I’ll try again in a little bit.”

“It’s not that big of a deal to skip it tonight.”

And slowly, I’ve built up an arsenal of lazy excuses for not doing the most simple thing I can do – a task that involves zero supplies, and only my mind communing with God for a few short minutes.

When it is so easy to do something that will build up our testimony, strengthen our connection with God, bring our families closer together,
then it is also really easy to not do it.

Over and over.

The good news?

Things that are easy to do are also easy to do!

Once we break down the wall of slothful excuses, we see how simple it is to build righteous habits.

So see what lazy excuse you can break yourself free of today, and look, and live.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Look and live first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had prayed. I had done my research. I had written out pros and cons lists. I had talked with friends.

And I still had no clue which school to pick.

I kept praying.

I started out praying for guidance on which school to pick.

But then I learned that it’s better to have more specific questions, so I tried asking about a specific school, and I still felt nothing.

Why wasn’t I getting the direction I was looking for?

I spent all summer spending way too long, delaying the final decision until the final deadline.

I picked a school.

I prayed for confirmation. And still, I felt no warm confirming feeling.
And yet I went to school.

And it turned into a beautiful experience that was perfect with me, led me to amazing friends, and gave me great academic opportunities.

So why hadn’t I been directed?

I have had countless times when I have felt guided and directed by Heavenly Father in decisions I have made.

But I’ve also had a few of these experiences, where I look to Heaven and don’t hear anything.

And I’ve come to learn that being directed in 100% of my actions would remove the need for agency.

If I prayed every time I needed to make a decision and I got an answer, my faith would be unnecessary.

Heavenly Father knew that I needed to own my school decision 100%.

And He trusted ME to make that decision all on my own.

He trusted me to study, ask, ponder, research, contemplate, and then decide. All by myself.

He probably was so proud that I did all of that hard work, and eventually made a fantastic decision.

But I’ve also learned that I can make decisions a lot faster than that long summer where the options weighed over my head.

That was actually how the Lord directed me.

He was teaching me a valuable lesson that summer. He knew I would figure out the school predicament. But He knew I would need to learn the skill of making decisions quickly and with confidence by suffering through the painstaking opposite.

And so even when I didn’t think He was directing me, He was directing me for the greater good by allowing me to teach myself the lesson I had no clue I was learning.

He is there. He is listening.

Sometimes He needs to intervene and tell us what to do. Sometimes He wants to give us a nudge in the right direction.

And sometimes, He wants us to learn that we can trust ourselves and still learn the lessons He has directed for us.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Are we always directed? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

What’s your reason?

For quite a while, it was to check off my righteous to-do list for the day.

I’m supposed to read and pray every day, so I read and pray every day.

And then I started to wonder… WHY? Why is this something we’ve been asked to do every day?

And more importantly, why was I choosing to do it?

So I started thinking about the benefits of scripture study.

And my list looked a lot like what Alma tells his son Helaman in Alma 37.

Benefits of scripture study:

• scriptures enlarge memory

They give my brain more positive experiences and stories to relate to than just the experiences I’ve had. I am widening my mental database of spiritual stories that point me to Christ and goodness.

• scriptures convince me of the error of my ways

I see myself making the same exact mistakes and sins that people thousands of years ago did. And I see how they overcame it or what their results were if they succumbed.

• scriptures show me the results of incorrect traditions

I see whole groups of people living in sin under the name of “tradition”, and I consider what righteous traditions I want to make a priority in my life.

• scriptures teach me about repentance

Repentance is change, and I see this time and time again in the scriptures. People have changed their hearts and repented, which means that I can too.

• most importantly, scriptures bring me knowledge about my Savior and teach me how to rejoice in him.

I get to know my Savior in these pages. I learn about his character and his goodness. I become familiar with his power and his desires. And I learn how to bask and rejoice in his redeeming love.

The scriptures aren’t just a collection of cool stories. And they aren’t supposed to be read every single day just for the fun of it.

So my challenge to you is to make your own list, and use Alma 37 to inspire you and start you off.

Why do you study your scriptures?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Finding the WHY first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

… great humans are raised.

By eating foods that provide nutrients, by moving your body every day, by loving your body for what it can do…

… great, healthy lives are lived.

By thanking your spouse often, by intentionally connecting with them each day, by comforting instead of criticizing…

… great marriages are created.

By meeting deadlines, by treating coworkers with respect and kindness, by doing your best even when no one is looking…

… great, hardworking individuals are formed.

By being kind to yourself in your own thoughts, by setting healthy mental boundaries, by taking time to do things you enjoy…

… great, fulfilled people are molded.

By opening your book every single day, by taking time to ponder and write, by reading supplemental materials…

… great, passionate scriptorians are born.

It’s easy to lose perspective when we are in the thick of the little things.

But looking back, we can see where our habits and actions have led us.

And so we can look forward with that same foresight and purpose.

The little things you do today, from mundane to meaningful, from exciting to expected, are adding up to greatness.

The little things seem so little, but are truly little pieces of greatness.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Small and great things first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had my outfit all picked out in my head and was waiting to get changed.

And as it was time to get ready to go, I went to my closet to get dressed… and the blouse I wanted was curled up in a ball on the floor by the dirty clothes hamper.

It hadn’t been washed, it was wrinkled beyond repair, and I couldn’t wear it.

Panic set in.

This was a disaster. This was going to ruin my chance at this job. (In my mind!)

Immediately, I folded my arms and said a quick prayer.

I found a new shirt I felt confident about and was in my car just a few minutes later.

As I was driving to the interview, I was praying that I would interview well, that I would get the job if it was His will…

And then I laughed a bit.

Had I really just prayed about what shirt I was wearing?!

The silliness of it hit me. The shirt I was wearing at that point was totally fine – why did I freak out when the other shirt was dirty? Why did I feel like I needed to pray about it?

This is my favorite thing that I’ve learned about my loving Father in Heaven!

There’s nothing too big and nothing too small for Him to care about.

If it matters to you, it matters to Him.

In that moment, the loss of my “perfect” blouse was really important and devastating to me.

And it may have seemed silly, but I believe with that little prayer that I said in my closet, I was guided toward another shirt that I would feel confident in.

Every single kind of trial and trouble that we can have – from losing a loved one to not being able to wear a particular shirt – our Savior will support us though.

Not solve the problem or take away the pain necessarily.

But He supports us.

I bet He looked down at me with a little smile when I prayed about that shirt, but He still cared enough to help.

I, too, as Alma, have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Trials and troubles of every kind first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Invite someone over!

???? It’s foolproof! Instead of a big open-ended never-finished task, you’ve now placed a deadline, and then you just magically get it done in whatever time you have!

To all my friends, yes, this is honestly why I like hosting play dates at our house so much. #truestory

Because I am a procrastinator!

So what’s so wrong about procrastinating our repentance?

First of all, we don’t know when the deadline is.

We have no clue when all this repenting needs to be complete. And so we can’t wait until right before the deadline, because then we’d probably miss it.

But much more importantly, what does repentance mean?

To change.

And God doesn’t want us to wait to change.

Because that’s literally why we are here on earth!

I’m actually working on getting better at doing small cleaning habits so that I don’t even have to rush before friends come over.

And I’m getting better and better at doing that! Taking care of little messes as soon as they happen, cleaning up toys as we go, doing dishes more often… those little things all add up to not needing to scramble as much when someone comes over.

And that’s what we really want in our spiritual lives, right?

Making small little daily changes in order to just be more spiritually mature as we go, instead of trying to “grow up” later.

Seeing sin that has taken root and doing the daily maintenance to keep it at bay.

Or when things get really bad, and our lives need a “deep clean” – we just get it done. We scrub the baseboards and the corners and the back of the fridge.

Instead of sitting with the weight of feeling dirty, we realize we have the agency to start casting off that weight and moving toward freedom and cleanliness. We rely fully upon the Savior for his cleansing power, but we have the agency to START that process.

Little sins, big sins, bad habits, weaknesses…

It’s an everyday maintenance.

And I think that when we realize this, it makes the Sacrament that much more meaningful.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Procrastination cleaning tips first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

He teaches the Zoramites to cry unto God wherever they may be – refuting their claims that they couldn’t worship due to being cast out of the synagogues.

Pray anywhere and pray everywhere.

Have your heart drawn out in prayer continually to Him.

But then he goes into the most important part of his sermon:

“Do no suppose this is all;

“For after ye have done all these things (praying everywhere), if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance… to those in need…

“YOUR PRAYER IS IN VAIN.” (Alma 34:28)

What a humbling lesson.

We can’t pray for more income, and then not improve our skill set or apply to new jobs.

We can’t pray for peace, and then share divisive articles that demonize “the other side”.

We can’t pray for a child to regulate their emotions, and then refuse to regulate our own.

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but I think sometimes we have to own up to the fact that we’ve prayed for a result, and then done nothing to achieve that result, or even worked against it.

That’s what Amulek calls being a hypocrite.

Yikes.

So, as with all things, the best way to repent for past hypocritical actions is to change moving forward.

What’s a prayer in your heart right now?

Maybe it’s for yourself, or for your family, or for your community, or for the world.

If you’ve got the first half of the equation down, and you are realllly good at praying fervently about it, that is beautiful!

And now might be a great time to think about how you can act to make it happen.

What’s something you can do TODAY in order to move that desire forward?

Here’s mine for right now:

I’ve been praying to manage my time more wisely for quite a while, but I’m realizing I haven’t actually changed what I’m doing. So I’m setting time boundaries for accomplishing certain tasks, and I’ve been reading up on some new strategies (like the Pomodoro 25-minute method) that I’m going to start. Changing my “wishful prayers” into real effort! And then I have faith that my productivity will increase, or I’ll be led to discover the right routines that will work for me!

If you feel comfortable sharing, I’d love to hear what your ACTION goal is in the comments!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Pray and then ACT first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I watered it once.

And then I forgot about it and it died.

The end.

Was I shocked that it died? Absolutely not. Because I had done nothing to nourish that poor little plant.

I neglected it, and it died. No surprise!

Just like this short-lived plant, Alma asks us to consider if we are NOURISHING or NEGLECTING our seeds of faith.

From a logical standpoint, it makes sense, right?

If we do nothing to nourish our testimony every day, it will eventually wither away.

But when we are actually down in the trenches, living life every day, it seems easy to lose sight of this logic.

When we stop reading our scriptures because we are tired, and we are just a little too busy to pray, and church has been cancelled for forever so we haven’t had a lesson in a while…

We seem to get really down.

And we look for signs of God’s love.

But we can’t seem to feel the Spirit.

And so we throw our hands up for a bit and say there’s no use in reading, praying, or finding other good stuff.

And then we get even farther away.

If we let this cycle continue for too long, we start to think we never really had a good seed in the first place, because it’s obviously not bringing any good fruit.

But that’s when we need to really step back and consider: am I doing my best every single day in order to nourish my testimony?

Reading even when it doesn’t make sense? Praying even when we don’t feel a connection?

Watering the plant, even if it doesn’t immediately perk back up, but having faith that if we continue to add more every single day, life will come again?

We are either nourishing or neglecting. There is no middle ground.

And we have to play the long-game, because just like plants, testimonies take a lot of little consistency, and not grand gestures once a week.

So what can you do today to nourish? And what habits of neglect can you throw off?

Give the seed the time and attention it needs in order to prove it can bring good fruit.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Nourish or neglect first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

What does “humble” really mean?

Many of us know “humble” and “humility” as the opposite of pride.

So if you think of “pride” as considering yourself better than everyone else, you start to think that “humility” means considering yourself worse than everyone else.

But pride really means seeing all of God’s children at different lengths from God’s love – some being “more worthy” and thus closer, and others being more distant and thus less worthy.

So the opposite of pride is really seeing all of God’s children lined up in an equal line – all equally distant and equally worthy of His love. No matter what we do/say/accomplish/earn.

Isn’t that powerful?!

We are all equal. We all are equally loved by God.

Literally everyone on this earth.

Including the people you don’t like. And the people you admire. And the people who annoy you. And the people who have made choices that have brought them to terrible situations. And the people who are filthy rich and powerful. And the people who are doing amazing, inspiring things with their time.

We are all equally loved.

And we all require God’s strength to do anything.

When we realize this, when we recognize that no one is better than anyone else, and that we all are given our breath from God…

It is transformational.

Alma taught, “He that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed”. (Alma 32:15)

True humility leads us to repentance, because we realize that we can not do anything without Him.

And so we give our hearts and our wills to Him.

We gain humble hearts.

But living in this pride-sick world, this has to be an ongoing process, right?

Rooting out the pride that creeps in, most of the time unintentionally, as jealousy, pity, division, anger, envy, hatred…

And humbling ourselves constantly by turning to God, remembering our utter dependence, and falling back (or stepping up) to our equal place in the realm of His love.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

There are quite a few theories out there, but no scientist has ever figured out how to prove that the law of gravity is 100% true 100% of the time.

But living daily life has shown everyone on earth that things fall toward the ground – they are being pulled downward by some sort of force. We’ve got an overwhelming body of evidence.

The scientific community has done many experiments, and gravity seems to always hold up.

But we still can’t see gravity. We can’t prove that it always happens or that it will always happen. We can’t explain exactly why it works.

You see where I’m going, right?

Alma is preaching to the poor and lowly amongst the Zoramites. They have an extremely toxic view of religion at this point, and need to learn how to grow their faith.

And so Alma gives the beautifully famous analogy comparing our faith to planting a seed and nourishing it.

But then he addresses the question that I think many of us have grappled with in our self-development:

How do we turn from FAITH to KNOWLEDGE?

Why do some people bear their testimony and say, “I KNOW…”?

How can we possibly KNOW while here on this earth?

Because we’ve planted the seed, given it a chance, and it’s brought forth good fruit.

And we’ve seen others plant the same seeds, given it nourishment and time, and it’s brought forth good fruit, too.

And eventually, we notice that this has happened so many times: people hearing about Christ, having a desire to believe, nourishing their faith, holding fast while the sun scorches, and then bringing forth beautiful lives filled with service and happiness…

It becomes like a law of nature to us.

We may not know WHY this happens, we may not have proof that would stand up to the scientific community.

It’s on a longer time frame. These experiments take months or even years to carry out, unlike gravity that can be displayed with the drop of a hat.

But we’ve seen it happen enough times to just KNOW that it will always continue to happen.

That’s how we move from faith to knowledge.

We run the experiment enough times. We see others have the same exact results.

And we know that the seed is good.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post How can we KNOW?! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.