“Just do your best!”

I know that many people have pure intentions when they say it.

But I have a hard time with it because…

How am I supposed to know if I did my best?

There are some days where my daughter gets a whole lot of screen time or TV time.

And I think… was I really doing my best today?

Sometimes, I’m super sick, or totally overwhelmed, or utterly exhausted, and I think that I did my absolute best for keeping children alive that day.

But other days, I wonder.

Was that really my best, or am I giving myself an out?

It’s hard to know.

But I find comfort in the Lord’s beautiful advice to avoid laboring more than I have strength.

Because I’ve realized that my strength really is different each day.

Some days, I have strength to conquer the world and look good doing it.

And other days I have to muster the strength to keep two children alive, and I look like a hot mess doing it.

And here’s the real kicker –

Every single person has different “strength” each day, too!

Comparing my amount of strength to other people’s amount of strength is the fastest way to feel pretty terrible about myself.

So instead, I’ve started thinking… “Man, good for them. I’m so glad she had strength to organize that for her family today.”

And I recognize that people are probably thinking the same things about me when I have “extra strength” days.

Don’t run too fast. Don’t labor more than you have strength.

But find comfort in the fact that the craziness of mortal bodies and mortal trials give us different levels on different days.

And when we don’t know if we are “doing our best” or just slacking off, we can follow the Lord’s advice in the very next verse.

Pray. Pray always.

And that’s how I get the nudge to push myself a little more, or to take a breather.

Because the Lord knows my strength.

He isn’t judging me on a sum total of my actions each day.

He knows what I can do, what I can’t do, and what I need support on.

And He will gladly send His Spirit to give me this wisdom each and every day.

All I have to do is ask.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post What’s our strength today? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Keep my commandments.

Hold your peace.

And appeal unto my Spirit.

The Lord knew that Hyrum needed this advice, and I think I need it too.

There’s a lot going on right now.

There’s a lot to get done, there are decisions to make, there are goals to meet, there are people to take care of.

And there’s some laundry to fold, too.

And in the middle of this chaos, these three reminders seem to ground me.

KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.

I can stay on the straight and narrow, I can do the simple things that I know are best.

I can also cut out the things that aren’t related to keeping the commandments.

HOLD YOUR PEACE.

What a phrase.

To find that inner peace and then to hold it.

To let the storms of to-do lists and obligations rush around outside of me, but to feel the cool calm within.

To stay focused on my Savior, on my true identity, on my love.

And then to hold it in my heart as I go from thing to thing.

APPEAL UNTO MY SPIRIT.

Actively asking for the Spirit’s guidance, assistance, and knowledge.

Making sure that I’m really in line with what is best for me.

Seeking for his constant companionship, and making adjustments when when I’ve lost it.

Someone asked me recently if the Doctrine and Covenants is really for us to read and apply to our lives, because they sometimes feel like we are just intruding and reading in on revelations that were meant for other people.

I fully understand where this question came from, and I would encourage anyone wondering about that same question to read Section 1 in the Doctrine and Covenants and study how that section came to be.

But it’s also scriptures like D&C 11:18 that confirm to me that God knows what I need to hear, and it just so happened to be what Hyrum needed to hear 192 years ago, too.

He’ll use any words that He can to speak to us.

Keep the commandments.

Hold your peace.

And appeal to the Spirit.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post 3 powerful directions first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I mean, I’m a teacher by profession, but something about sitting in a small room with a small group of youth for almost an hour seemed intimidating to me.

I looked online and found the best resources. I printed things out. I found good discussion questions.

I used all my knowledge of how to engage and educate.

And the lesson went well! I don’t remember the topic I taught about, but I totally remember that it was great! I was spiritually uplifted, the youth seemed engaged, and everything went smoothly.

The next week that I had to teach, I saw that my topic was “scripture study”, and I got so excited!

THIS was a topic I was passionate about.

I had prayed and studied for a long time about how to improve my scripture study.

I felt like I had so much life experience to share, and real, practical advice.

I wanted to search online for resources again, but I decided this time to just create something from what I knew.

I wrote down a basic outline, and my mind kept running.

When I taught that lesson, it was mostly just me talking. I shared stories and experiences and I asked questions to the youth.

And it was POWERFUL.

Not just a “good lesson” – it was transformative. I had sincere gratitude shown by many of the class members at the end of the lesson. And I still remember it to this day.

Do you wanna know one of the reasons I started Come Follow Me Study over 2 years ago?

Because when I searched for “Come, Follow Me” resources, I only found ways to teach your kids about the lessons, or how to teach a church lesson on the topic.

And I have gained such a strong testimony that we have to learn for ourselves first.

In fact, I think that’s the best way to teach – to share what we have learned from the heart. From real life experiences. From real struggles and testimonies and tests.

Authenticity.

This is not a knock at lesson-helps – I actually have tried and currently use many that I love. They totally have their place, and I am so grateful for those who use their talents in that area.

But… are we TOO concerned about how to teach a topic? How to give a good talk? How to keep our class engaged?

Or is our focus on how WE can gain a better understanding of a concept?

And I think that’s the point the Lord wanted to share with Hyrum Smith in Section 11.

The Lord knew Hyrum wanted to get out there and preach the word as a missionary.

But Hyrum needed to obtain it first. He needed to learn of the doctrine and keep the commandments all by himself before he could go out converting others.

Obtaining first is better than declaring first.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Obtaining the word first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But I don’t think I’ve ever talked specifically about this one.

We can pray in order to conquer our temptations from the adversary.

Conquer Satan!

What a powerful and true promise.

But sometimes… not quite as easy as it may seem.

A few years ago, I had a certain temptation that was bothering me.

I knew I needed to pray, and so I did.

A lot.

But the temptation was still there.

I knew it couldn’t be that simple – God can’t just remove every temptation from my path after a single prayer.

But then I started thinking about solutions to avoid this temptation.

How to remove this temptation from my life on my own.

I started making some changes, and then suddenly, the temptation wasn’t as strong.

And that’s when it clicked – THAT was my answer to my prayers.

My pleading for this temptation to be removed was answered by my mind being enlightened on how to remove myself from the situation to lessen the temptation in the first place.

We can conquer Satan and those who uphold his work.

But it takes constant connection with heaven in order to welcome the Spirit in exactly the way that we need.

In fact, we need to pray a lot in order for this temptation to lessen.

Pray always.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Come off conqueror first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

This Joseph Smith was clearly lying to the public about the gold Bible that he had.

He was deceiving many people into supporting and believing him as he went through a “translation” process.

And it made these men mad.

But then the idea came and stayed:

Why don’t we steal the transcripted pages, alter them, and then frame Joseph after he re-translates!

Sure, it involves lying and deception on our end, too, but it’s okay because we are exposing lying and deception.

And thus the plan was put in place, and a book of scripture was lost to our generation.

It’s so tempting, right?

If someone is angry with me, I’m going to become angry at them, too.

If someone is outraged at something, I’m going to become outraged at how outraged they are.

If someone complains a lot to me, I’m going to complain to other people about how much they complain.

It’s so tempting to fight sin with the same type of sin, and feel justified doing it.

But that’s exactly what it is… a temptation.

From the great tempter.

Satan wants us to believe that we are justified in sinning, and he’ll use any strategy to get us there.

And I think he has succeeded quite a bit with this strategy in particular – sinning with the illusion that it will help cancel someone else’s sin.

Or that it is a normal reaction to someone else’s sin.

It’s an overwhelming reality to recognize that we are fully in charge of our own actions.

And that we will be judged according to what we know and what we do.

I also think that fully overcoming this temptation takes a lifetime of effort, love, and commitment to integrity.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Fighting with fire first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.