I had zero intention of hiking down into the canyon and was very content staying up on the rim and taking nice shuttle rides around the park.

But there are warnings EVERYWHERE for those who are intending to hike down into the canyon.

Every brochure, every sign, every trailhead.

They say, basically, “Do you have a realistic plan?

“Lots of people hike down into the canyon and are unprepared for how difficult it is.

“We have to do a lot of rescues, either by ranger or by helicopter.

“Make sure you really know what you are getting yourself into, and that you are extremely physically fit to do this hike.”

I can only imagine the kinds of stories that have caused these warnings to be plastered everywhere.

Physically active people who choose to hike down into the canyon (the easy part), and then get caught off guard doing the uphill climb while they are already exhausted.

And then realize they completely miscalculated their abilities.

And that they need a lot of help.

And the park service has to spend a lot of manpower and expenses to get them out.

Thanks goodness the Lord is with us to the end, right?!

Sometimes, life is like a walk down into the Grand Canyon.

But other times, it seems like we’ve been asked to hike out of a giant hole in the ground in scorching noonday Arizona heat.

(Or maybe we are just riding the shuttle around in the rim, with air conditioning.)

But literally no matter what our pathway is, our Lord is with us to the end.

“I will be with them even unto the end.” D&C 75:13

For those who ask for the Lord to travel with them, He will be there the entire time.

He isn’t rolling His eyes when He has to come rescue us again. He isn’t frustrated that He has to stop what He’s doing to give help in a situation you got yourself into in the first place.

He’s just there. Whenever we ask.

What a kind, wise Heavenly friend.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A kind, wise heavenly friend first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But…

Other times I realize how intimate and vulnerable that thought really is.

It’s what’s in the depth of my soul that matters most, and I have a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior who know everything that I really, truly hold dear to me.

Which means, it’s my desires that I really want to purify the most.

I’m a big believer that when I get my desires in order, my actions always (eventually) follow suit.

I want to find every evidence of murmuring and dread for righteousness and work to weed them out.

The murmuring in my heart when my husband says it’s time to read scriptures, even though I was in the middle of something important.

The murmuring in my heart as I wrangle two kids on a church pew all by myself.

The murmuring in my heart when that person asks for my help, again.

I might not be saying anything out loud.

I still participate in family scriptures, go to church, and serve that friend.

But if my Heavenly Father is looking at my desires, at the deepest thoughts of my soul, then I have some pruning to do.

The Lord warned William McLellin in D&C 75:7:

“I, the Lord, chasten him for the murmurings of his heart”.

It’s what was in his heart that mattered most, and it wasn’t revealing the most Christlike and loving intentions.

And so I’m working on molding the actual desires of my heart, what I really enjoy or despise, deep down, to align with where I know my heart needs to be.

It’s a vulnerable place to be in when I realize this.

But what I really want, what I’m really thinking…

That’s where I’m ready to get to work.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Murmuring in my heart first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Either parents feel the pressure to subtly act like their kid is the best in every way.

Or parents feel the pressure to nag on their kids and hate on all the bad things they do.

(This is, of course, a huge overgeneralization, but I’ve noticed that these really are the two biggest trends: brag on them or complain about them)

But… what if there was a different way?

What if there was a different way to view our kids that didn’t involve us getting prideful and jealous, or annoyed and demeaning?

What if we viewed our children as holy individuals who we need to teach, and who we expect will make plenty of mistakes along the way as they learn?

Of course, I’m not even close to the first person to suggest this.

The Lord reminded us in D&C 74:7:

“Little children are holy”.

This certainly doesn’t meant that their actions are always holy.

But it does mean that they, their souls, who they really are, are holy.

They are literally protected from Satan’s influence.

Former Primary President, Joy D. Jones, gave a powerful talk in the most recent conference about little children, and this stood out to me when she said:

“There is a uniquely special time in children’s lives when they are protected from Satan’s influence.

“It is a time when they are innocent and sin free.

“It is a sacred time for parent and child.

“Children are to be taught, by word and example, before and after they have ‘arrived unto the years of accountability before God’.”

Now, this doesn’t mean that kids younger than 8 aren’t capable of doing something that they know is wrong.

I think any parent of a 3-year-old can tell you that!

But… they aren’t held accountable for them yet.

It flips the narrative on parenting just a bit, and I love what the repercussions are.

Yes, let’s share our kids’ amazing accomplishments and vent to a friend after a super frustrating day.

But let’s also help remind each other that our children are holy.

And we have a sacred responsibility to teach them in word and in deed. Setting positive examples and treating them with love.

These kids are holy, and they deserve our best.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Holy kids first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Joseph and Sidney Rigdon were doing great work.

Day in and day out, they worked in John and Elsa Johnson’s home in Hiram, Ohio, translating the Bible.

They were truly the example of being anxiously engaged in a good cause.

But then…

Ezra Booth was causing problems.

He had become disaffected with Joseph on their journey from Missouri to Ohio a few months previously, and even though all of the other men had forgiven each other and moved past it, Ezra did not.

He left the church and began writing pretty malicious letters about Joseph and the church, and publishing them in local newspapers.

And now, a lot of their neighbors in Ohio, who really had been welcoming and totally fine with the saints’ presence thus far, were starting to worry about who these church members really were, and who this Joseph really was.

So, the Lord told Joseph and Sidney, these two men who were working on a great, eternally important project to stop “for the space of a season” and preach the gospel around in Ohio.

They had to stop the good thing they were doing in order to put out the urgent fire of discord that was spreading in Ohio.

I wonder if Joseph or Sidney ever felt annoyed.

Or frustrated.

They had to stop their good work to go put out the consequences of someone else’s bad decisions.

But they did it anyways.

They spent about a month traveling around Ohio, preaching true doctrine and showing the people in Ohio who they really were.

And guess what?

It worked. The people in Ohio calmed down and a lot of rumors were squashed.

And in Section 73, we get to see the other end of this.

The Lord tells Joseph and Sidney that “it is expedient to translate again”.

Sometimes, we have to stop doing really good things that we are doing.

We have to put life on pause to deal with a medical emergency. We have to stop cooking dinner to deal with a frustrated child. We have to stop our normal routines to help a friend in need.

Sometimes, we need to put out the urgent fire for just a season, and then we can get back to the good things we had planned.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Pausing the good things first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Why didn’t He give Joseph a flow chart with all the callings and the priesthood offices?

Why didn’t He give all the commandments and revelations that the whole church would need one right after the other, so that they could then move forward with all the knowledge they would need?

It can be so frustrating.

Why?

Why aren’t there clear answers and straightforward directions?

Even in my own life.

When I’ve wondered about a job or a move or a marriage or a friend or an opportunity…

I’m not very often given the big picture.

No matter how badly I want it.

The Lord even gave Joseph and Sidney some instructions, and then abruptly said:

“Now I give no more unto you at this time.” D&C 73:6

Just a little reminder that they should start translating the Bible again.

And nothing else for right now.

He knows what we actually need to know.

And a word jumped out at me just a couple sections later when I read what the Lord taught again:

“Calling on the name of the Lord for the Comforter, which shall teach them all things that are expedient for them—“ D&C 75:10

Expedient.

What is expedient for me to know?

God knows.

I know what I think I want to know.

But God knows what is expedient for me to know in order to become the person I need to be.

We were sent through the veil for a reason.

Knowing it all is not part of the plan.

But also, God will not let us wander.

When there are things that are expedient for us to know, and we ask in faith, He will reveal that to us.

And nothing else at this time.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Nothing else for now! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.