This is something I have internalized and believed for a long time.

Anyone else feel this way sometimes? ⁣

This idea that if I can’t handle taking care of my three kids in our comfortable home filled with good food and lots of toys, then I’m clearly not mentally strong enough. ⁣

And yet… that’s not even close to the message that the Savior teaches me. ⁣

David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, was chastened by the Lord in D&C 30:1:⁣

“You have feared man and have not relied on me for strength as you ought.”⁣

The Lord WANTS me to rely on Him for everything that I do each day. ⁣

He doesn’t want me to feel like I have to do everything alone. ⁣

Because He knows that my life will improve as I turn to Him. ⁣

When I’m sitting in my comfortable air-conditioned house and I’m having to clean up the third spill in the last hour while another kid has a meltdown over I’m not even sure what…⁣

He wants me to rely on Him. ⁣

To send up pleading prayers, asking for guidance and comfort and peace. ⁣

Am I living up to my privilege?⁣

I feel like my life is already dripping with privilege, and yet I think I’m missing out on obtaining the full power of the most essential privilege of all. ⁣

The Savior is not disappointed when I have to ask for help. ⁣

He doesn’t think that I’m not strong enough. ⁣

Or that I’ve failed. ⁣

He is disappointed when I DON’T ask for help. ⁣

When I try to rely on my own strength. ⁣

So how can I make my Savior pleased with me?⁣

I can ask for help. I can rely on Him for strength. ⁣

I can realize that I cannot do it alone, but that when I invite His divine assistance into my life, we are unstoppable.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Do it on your own  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was in high school.

And someone told me about what someone else was saying.

And boy, did that make me mad.

Why was she saying bad things about me that weren’t even true?!

I started telling everyone about how rude she was.

How unfair she was.

How she didn’t understand my side of things.

Then, one day, it clicked.

I was now talking about HER behind her back!

When it was all said and done, this acquaintance said one poor thing about me to a handful of people.

And yet, I spent weeks saying poor things about this person to even more people.

The Lord taught Thomas B. Marsh some personal lessons.

Including that he should “. . . revile not against those that revile.”(D&C 31:9)

“Revile” means to criticize in an angry or abusive way.

Someone yelling at me, being rude to me, leaving me out, or criticizing me may hurt when it happens.

But it doesn’t mean that I yell, criticize, become rude, or intentionally leave others out in return.

I’ve been on a lifelong journey to try to control my emotions maturely, just as the Lord taught Thomas in this verse.

Instead, I try to focus on living the second great commandment:

Loving my neighbor as myself, completely independent of other people’s actions.

“We move toward loving our adversaries when we avoid anger and hostility toward those with whom we disagree.” – Pres Oaks

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Behind my back first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Heading out on the first mission for the tiny church. ⁣

Heading west, with a strong end goal, but not sure how the details would play out. ⁣

They were going to share the Book of Mormon with the Native American tribes west of Missouri. ⁣

And the Lord told them He would be in their midst. ⁣

And that if they decided to let God prevail in their personal lives, that He would prevail against any obstacles they met. ⁣

And within a few months, they would return back home…⁣

WITHOUT converting a whole bunch of Native Americans to the restored gospel. ⁣

A failed mission. ⁣

So… where was God?⁣

Why had they failed if God said that He would prevail?⁣

Because their mission resulted in the doubling of church membership. ⁣

DOUBLE. ⁣

It wasn’t the Native Americans. ⁣

It was the people they visited in Ohio along the way. ⁣

It was Sidney Rigdon. It was Edward Partridge. It was countless other faithful new Saints who were converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. ⁣

God most certainly prevailed. ⁣

Because not ONLY did church membership double, but the next location for all the Saints to travel to was established. ⁣

A place that would be home to numerous essential revelations. ⁣

A place that would house the first temple of the Lord in this dispensation. ⁣

A place where the Savior, Jesus Christ Himself, would visit. ⁣

The Lord most certainly prevailed on the sacred mission that these four men faithfully embarked on. ⁣

But we can’t define “prevailing” as accomplishing the end goal that we had in mind. ⁣

I mean, even the Lord told them that their mission was to the native tribes!⁣

But how else would He had gotten these four faithful men to His beloved children in Ohio who were ready to hear the gospel?⁣

It wasn’t a failure. Not by a long stretch.⁣

When we let God prevail in our personal lives, nothing will prevail over us.

“I myself will go with them and be in their midst… and nothing shall prevail against them.” (D&C 32:3)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I searched all the usual suspect places.

I asked my kids.

I looked in unusual places.

And then I did what I think most of us have learned to do in these types of situations:

I said a quick prayer and kept searching.

The Spirit loves action, right?!

Surely I’d be led to my keys now.

But……… nothing.

And I really had to leave to go somewhere.

I decided to say another prayer, but this time, I was going to be really sincere and then pause to listen for promptings.

I was surprised that when I prayed and paused, a calm but certain thought came to my mind that I WASN’T going to find my keys.

I knew that I needed to find another way to get where I was going.

When David Whitmer struggled, the Lord gave him this advice:

“You are left to inquire for yourself at my hand, and ponder upon the things which you have received.” (D&C 30:3)

Yes, we need to ask and inquire as we say prayers.

But we also need to ponder!

I was so sure that the Spirit would help me find my keys as I searched…

That I forgot to wait and listen for an answer.

And there have been other situations in my life when I’ve prayed, pondered, and then had my mind brought to an earlier conversation that suddenly seemed like an answer.

The Lord answers prayers when we ask.

But sometimes, and more often than I’d like to admit,

It’s possible I’m missing the little answers, the nudges, or the guidance because I’m not leaving time to ponder and listen.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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