It’s a scripture I’ve read and heard quoted throughout my life.

But I would venture to say that anyone who has asked a question during a prayer has experienced a time when no answer was received.

So… what advice does the Lord give to David Whitmer in his time of struggling? (D&C 30:3)

INQUIRE

and then

PONDER

Ask the Lord, of course.

But then ponder.

I can think of times where I pray and then my mind is brought to events way in the back of my memory. I usually view it as my mind randomly wandering…

Until I ponder about why the Spirit would bring that event to my remembrance.

And all of a sudden, the connection is made. The answer is clear. Or at least, a little more clear.

I can think of other prayers where my mind doesn’t seem to be brought anywhere. And then I have a very normal day. And then I ask the same question again in a different prayer, and suddenly my mind thinks about that random conversation I had with a friend at the park.

There was my answer to my prayer, and I didn’t even realize it.

And other times, I’ve asked. And asked. And asked.

And it feels like there’s nothing, although I have faith that there’s something.

Until finally, a year later, I look back and realize that my prayer was totally answered, piece by piece, day by day.

The Lord answers prayers when we ask.

But sometimes, and more often than I’d like to admit, I don’t even notice the little answers, the nudges, the guidance.

Pondering is that missing piece for me.

It’s that opportunity for the Lord to give answers, yes.

But it’s also the opportunity for the Spirit to show me that answers were already given in ways that I didn’t even notice.

Seek. Ask. Inquire.

PONDER.

And then, ye shall receive and find.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Inquire and ponder first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Heading out on the first mission for the tiny church.

Heading west, with 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.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Did God really prevail? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I mean, I had gone to BYU for 4 years, earned my education degree, and then taught full-time for 4 years, and now I was just quitting?!

But I knew I needed to do it.

I had just given birth to my first daughter, and I felt strongly to quit my job, despite my previous plans to continue working.

But even though I felt terrified…

I remember on those final few days of work, I was actually filled with excitement for the future.

I felt this weight of anticipation.

I knew that something amazing was about to happen.

Maybe I was going to open a piano studio that would influence tons of kids’ lives.

Maybe I would fall in love with online teaching and dive into that.

Maybe there was something else I was going to discover.

I even told my husband: “I feel like something really great is going to happen in my life after I quit teaching, and I’m so excited to figure out what it is.”

In Doctrine and Covenants 35:3-4, the Lord is telling Sidney Rigdon, who just effectively quit his former preaching job and trekked across a few states to completely turn his life around, that:

“I have… prepared thee for a greater work. Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things.”

What an unforgettable blessing!

Most of us are not being asked to quit our job or stop our schooling or move across the country on a moment’s notice right now.

But I do think the promise is still extended to us.

There is something greater in store for you.

Do you feel that excitement?

There is more that the Lord wants you to do in order to help gather Israel in a way that only you can.

It might look really small to the world, or it might leave a huge mark, but there is something greater that you can do.

I feel like there’s more in store for me, too, and it keeps me motivated every day.

I have been prepared for a greater work, and I have full faith that the Lord will help me discover and create it, with His tender guidance and my agency working together.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Something greater first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And boy, did that make me mad.

I started telling this story of someone gossiping about me over and over to all of my friends.

I told them how rude she was being, how unfair, how she didn’t understand my side of things…

Until it clicked one day that I was now the one talking about HER behind her back all the time!

When it was all said and done, I think 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.

In Doctrine and Covenants 31:9, the Lord is teaching Thomas B. Marsh some personal lessons.

Thomas is told to “revile not against those that revile”.

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

In other words, don’t criticize the people who are criticizing you.

I’ve been on a lifelong journey to try to control my emotions in a mature way, just as Thomas was taught in this verse.

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

And it means that I probably am not going to hang out around them very much in the future.

We can set boundaries.

That girl in high school never became my good friend.

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

Instead, I focus on living the second great commandment and loving my neighbor as myself, completely regardless of other people’s actions.

The world has enough people who revile, and who feel justified in their reviling.

So I’m going to choose love.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Reviling against reviling first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

This is a lesson I have inadvertently learned and internalized.

Anyone else feel this way sometimes?

This idea that if I can’t handle taking care of my two 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 All on my own first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.