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.

Or even giving them a prophecy that if they didn’t repent, their entire civilization would be destroyed.

And Coriantumr sure didn’t respond well.

He sent his guards to kill Ether.

Ether was able to escape back to his cave, but I’m sure he spent some time thinking, “That was pointless. The king wasn’t ready to hear anything that I said.”

Fast forward a few years and a few brutal wars, and we find Coriantumr on the battle field, watching his friends and loved ones being slaughtered by Shiz’s army.

And all of a sudden, he remembered Ether’s words.

Which then caused him to reflect on all the words that previous prophets had spoken, and how every prophecy had come true.

And he began to repent. To change. To turn his heart to the Lord.

It didn’t matter that Coriantumr’s heart wasn’t ready to hear the message when Ether was ready to preach.

It didn’t matter that Coriantumr thought Ether was crazy and rude.

It didn’t matter that Ether might have thought he was wasting his time.

I think there is an important distinction to make, though.

Ether listened to the Spirit when he went to cry repentance.

Tact and timing and sensitivity can be important. Essential even.

But the Spirit can tell to override our usual reasoning and share the gospel. Or give that advice. Or give that warning. Or tell that story. Or share that talk.

When we listen to the Spirit, he will do his part to bring it to their remembrance at the time that they need.

Have you ever had an experience where the Spirit brought something to your remembrance that you disliked at the time, but were ready to hear later?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Crying repentance 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 ask for a divorce.

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, it’s possible to 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.

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 #givethanks.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Bad things happen to righteous people first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

That’s a difficult phrase for me to believe sometimes.

I’m a fixer. I solve problems. I come up with solutions and implement them. I take charge and plan.

So when I am reminded of my weakness, I like to put a plan into place.

I want to fix it.

And sometimes I do!

For a little bit. And then it comes creeping back in.

Again?!

And then every Sunday, I feel like my sacrament pleading is the same. For the same weakness. For the same help. For the same promises to do better this next week.

It feels like something is wrong.

But… nothing has gone wrong.

I was given the weakness of being a fallen human being on earth.

And that weakness will manifest itself in many different ways, from being lazy to being rude to being judgmental to being selfish…

It’s all part of being a human.

It’s easy to get bogged down by our imperfections.

In fact, prophets throughout time have mourned their own imperfections and weaknesses.

But the point of seeing weakness is to humble ourselves.

Not just humble us to the dirt – but to humbly turn ourselves to the Savior.

Our weakness in the flesh was designed to turn us toward the Savior over and over. To bring us to the sacrament table with broken but determined hearts.

Our Savior wants us to turn to him constantly, and that’s why we are in this fallen and weak state.

Nothing has gone wrong.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Nothing has gone wrong 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. (Ether 12:25)

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

And 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.

(Not that these examples apply to everyone, but you get the gist.)

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.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Weakness and compassion first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

There are a lot of unknowns.

We tend to toss around “faith” and “hope” like candy these days.

“I have faith that you can finish that!”

“I hope that goes away soon!”

It’s all fine – often sweet, well-meaning sentiments.

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

FAITH.

Men’s (and women’s) hearts shall fail them.

People will disappoint, sin, get better and then fall off the tracks again. Even deliberately offend or harm.

And I sometimes fail myself.

So I’ve learned that my faith has to be in my Savior.

Not that my kid will be healed. Not that we’ll meet this goal. Not that I’ll finally figure out how to overcome a weakness.

But my real faith is that my Savior lives, he loves me, and that he will be my advocate with the Father.

HOPE.

We don’t know what’s coming.

Now more than ever.

We don’t know what the future holds. But I can still hope for a bright future for the things that I can control.

The unknowns are countless.

But my hope can keep me looking forward.

Not with blind, naive optimism. But with pure, distinctly chosen faith.

Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen.

I have faith that my Savior will make all things right. I have faith that my Savior will bring me peace. I have faith that my Savior loves me in the ways that I’ve been taught.

I can’t see it.

But I’m not just guessing. I feel its truthfulness in my heart.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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