“We all sin.”

All of us.

Me. You. The last person you spoke to. The person you think that has a perfect life. Your loved one. Your church leader. The prophet.

Save our Savior, every single person on the earth has sinned and commits sins.

So… what sets righteous people apart?

There’s a giant spectrum of righteousness, so how do we move closer and closer to our Elder Brother’s example, if we are all sinning anyway?

Saints are sinners who repent.

People who feel remorse from a sin and then have a strong desire to never do that again.

And their desire is so strong… that they change their nature. They refine that rough edge just a little bit more.

As Joseph was returning from his mission to Missouri, there was drama and contention between some of the men.

And, in a surprisingly transparent moment, the Lord told the men about Joseph:

“He has sinned.” D&C 64:7

It interesting to see that written out about the prophet of the Lord, huh?

Joseph sinned.

But what allowed Joseph to still hold the keys of the kingdom and not be removed?

“Nevertheless, he has sinned; BUT verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, forgive sins unto those who confess their sins before me and ask forgiveness”. D&C 64:7

So what made Joseph unique?

He would sin. And then he would bring that sin to the Lord through confession. And then he would ask forgiveness.

The Lord wants to help us to change, so this sounds like the ideal situation.

He asks us to talk with Him about sin in our prayers.

And then He asks us to leave that sin behind as we ask for forgiveness in return.

Everyone sins.

So do we let the sin fester?

Or do we immediately confess and ask for forgiveness?

Because, I think that that decision makes all the difference.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

A few years ago, EVERYONE knew who our family history consultants were.

They were amazing.

They came in and taught Sunday School lessons, hosted youth activities, made goals, and did home visits.

I did family history work, and took my own names to the temple.

It was awesome.

Our consultants especially impressed me because that calling is a pretty vague one. Not every ward even has them, and I don’t think I could have told you who held that calling previously. Not that that’s a bad thing.

But I was just so impressed by how they chose to magnify a calling that could be perceived by others as small, insignificant, or unnecessary.

They made it large by using their unique talents and strengths.

What callings do you have right now?

Sure, what calling do you have at church.

But also, what other callings do you have?

A mom, a teacher, a parent, a ministering sister, an actual sister, an honorary grandma, a leader, a spouse, a child, an organizer…

I was shocked (okay but kinda really) when I took my first baby girl home from the hospital that there was no handbook on how to be a mom.

I get to just… figure it out.

But I feel this motivation to not just “figure out” how to be a mom, but to instead MAGNIFY that calling.

How to think for myself and create the best “mom” that I can with my personal talents and strengths.

I think about my Savior.

I don’t think there was an exact blueprint that His life here on earth had to follow.

Instead… He just went about doing good in quiet but powerful ways.

He created how He would fill the calling of the Savior by using His kind and eternal talents and strengths.

Creation isn’t just for artists, writers, and musicians.

We all get to create.

We get to create exactly how we are going to fill the roles that we have. The callings we’ve been given. The assignments we receive.

We get to magnify what we’ve been given to create even more.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Magnify with your talents first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It had been one of those really busy days.

And I wished that I could just take a day off the next day to watch Netflix and rejuvenate, because boy, did I need it.

But of course, I couldn’t do that.

Now, I’m pretty good at removing the fluff from my life. It’s definitely a strength of mine to be able to say “no” to things that I don’t need to be doing.

But my packed to-do list for the following day was still there.

I felt exhausted and prayed for strength to get through the following day.

And here’s an example of when the Lord used my scripture reading to answer my prayers and needs in an immediate way.

As I was reading my scriptures that night, I happened to read D&C 64:33.

Here, the Lord says:

“Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing”.

That phrase, that I’ve heard a million times before, hit me like lightning.

Doing good things and being a good person is literally the whole point of this life.

NOT to get my work out of the way so that I can watch Netflix as much as possible.

Yes, I need to make sure I’m not running faster than I have strength and that I’m sleeping well.

But then… I WANT to let the good things that I’m doing energize me instead of drain me.

And it may sound overly-simplistic, but that’s what I chose in that moment.

I simply CHOSE to let the good things that I’m doing ENERGIZE me instead of drain me.

And… it worked.

I know, I know, it sounds too easy. But I think the mind is a powerful thing.

Deciding to not complain about all the good things that I’m doing opened the door for gratitude and energy to come in to my life in an even greater capacity.

And I even gained some clarity on a few things in my life that I thought were the best, but were not necessary.

Piece by piece, I’ve started finding that joy even more.

I’ve stopped glorifying my “busy-ness” and my fatigue.

I’ve got a lot of really great, really important things on my plate.

And I’m gonna keep on going and finding the joy.

Because God wants me here on earth to DO good and BE good, AND have joy.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Weariness and joy first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

He pulled on it and thought he got most of it out.

Years and years went by, and a painful bump formed on his finger.

He put some softening ointment on it with a bandage every day, and eventually a small portion of the sliver popped right out!

Elder Duncan made the cool connection that I’ve seen in my life:

When we refuse to forgive other people, we are holding on to so much needless pain, just like this sliver that stayed in his finger, giving him pain for years.

The Lord taught some of the saints, some of whom were having a particularly contentious time, in D&C 64:9:

“Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.”

It can be SO difficult to forgive someone else.

And sometimes it can feel like forgiving them means that you are saying that it’s okay that they did what they did, or that you feel like they don’t need a consequence.

And I think that’s the real root of why God asks us to forgive everyone.

Because He knows exactly what the needed consequence is.

He knows when someone needs the full punishment with justice. He knows when someone needs His full mercy. He knows everything.

And we THINK we know everything about someone else’s situation– especially if we are close to them.

But we don’t.

And so we are asked to forgive. To take out the splinter from our finger.

We don’t know what the splinter deserves. Maybe it meant to get stuck in your finger and cause you a lot of harm. Maybe it was just having a bad day. Maybe it feels terrible remorse now and never wants to cause that pain again. Maybe it just needs a small sanding so that it won’t stick out like that again.

Only God knows.

And so we? We deserve the peace that comes from taking the splinter out, no matter how big.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Splinters and peace first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I started having a conversation with someone and I really wanted to know how she was doing…

And then my little boy crawled out of sight and I had to run after him.

I saw a new family at our linger longer after church that I wanted to get to know better.

And every single time I started walking their way, one of my kids desperately needed my urgent attention. And then the family got up and left.

I started catching up with another friend I hadn’t seen in a while.

And then I had to go stop by kid who was trying to climb all over the organ in the chapel.

I wanted to be friendly. I wanted to meet new people. To connect. To show love.

And my kids kept distracting me and throwing obstacle after obstacle my way.

I honestly left church feeling pretty bummed out.

I kept praying for a new perspective and some clarity all afternoon.

Eventually, the spirit brought two things to my mind.

First, I remembered the different uplifting interactions I had with people BECAUSE my kids were being a little crazy.

New friendships being made. Other people serving ME.

And secondly, the spirit brought to my mind this scripture, that I had already been pondering as one of my favorites from this Come, Follow Me week:

“Out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” D&C 64:33

I felt like I missed out on some great things at church yesterday.

Because I was instead stuck doing a bunch of little, insignificant things.

Pulling out a Jesus book to distract, opening another pack of fruit snacks, pulling a hand away from a cord, picking up the kid trying to lick the A/C vent (again), picking up the goldfish, talking out of a meltdown, teaching about reverence in the chapel that seemed to go in one ear and out the other…

I did a lot of small things.

But I did them for two little kids that I love. Because they are so so so little. And right now, they need the fruit snacks. They need the carrying. They need the teaching. They need the constant attention.

And all of these small, little things…

Comes all the REALLY great stuff.

Seriously, these kids are going to be amazing grownups. I can tell already.

And because I will become greater as I step into my role as their mother.

Parenthood is doing a lot of the small stuff. The diaper changes, wiping up the spill, giving a hug, over and over.

Small stuff. All day, every day.

But it’s out of these small things.

The songs sung during the diaper change, the invitation to help mommy clean up the spill, the loving smile and little tickle when I give the hug.

Out of these small things proceedeth that which is great.

Artwork by Megan Lindsey, @huesandbluesart

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Small things at church first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.