Not being moved.

Elder Holland so eloquently taught:

“It is inevitable that after heavenly moments in our lives, we, of necessity, return to earth, so to speak, where sometimes less-than-ideal circumstances again face us.”

Holy moments are precious.

Sometimes they are big and notable.

But more and more often lately, they’ve been really small and mighty.

A quick prayer offered in a time of need met with immediate assistance.

Glancing at my kids’ faces during a particularly difficult moment and seeing their divine potential.

Pondering that leads to life-changing realizations.

Writing my gratitudes down and seeing how obvious the Hand of God is in my life.

I do all that I can to stand in holy places throughout the day. To create holy moments.

And then… a kid starts crying.

And I get a headache.

And someone asks me if I’ve finished that project yet.

And the dishes need to be done for the millionth time.

And I have an awkward moment with someone I meet.

And all of a sudden, I’m down, off the mount.

Back to real life and all the weird, lame, uncomfortable, frustrating moments.

To stay in a holy place all the time seems impossible.

But I at least have the desire to experience holy moments all of the time.

And… God actually tells us that He will bless us for our desires, as we strive to do so.

So even when the world is in chaos around me after I come down off the mount of my holy moment, my desire to keep holiness with me can be strong enough to carry that feeling in my heart.

Because even though I am moving from the holy place…

My desires are not moving.

My intentions are not moving.

My Savior is not moving.

That is what can stay constant. My desire to be good. Even if I’m on a roller coaster of what my actions look like, my desires of my heart keep me tethered to Christ.

I can stand in holy places as often as I can, and my thoughts and righteous desires can never be moved.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Standing and then moving first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But do you know what I love??

Logic and reasoning are huge parts of the gospel, too.

For me, a HUGE fan of logic and reasoning, when I take a step back, the whole Plan of Happiness is filled with order and reason.

If we do what we have been commanded by God to do, then we will be blessed with eternal life in His presence.

It’s even completely reasonable that we need to experience hardships and trials while here on the earth.

We’ve gotta learn and grow, so we’ve gotta have obstacles to overcome.

Totally makes sense.

And the Lord even teaches us many times that certain blessings are predicated on our obedience to certain laws.

Obey the law of tithing? The windows of Heaven will be opened.

And it makes sense that we can make covenants through ordinances that we perform here on earth.

If we always remember Him, then we will have His spirit to be with us.

It even makes sense that we needed some kind of a Savior to perform an atoning sacrifice that would satisfy the needs of justice so that He could extend mercy to us when we repent.

Reasonable. Logical.

I love it.

The Lord teaches in D&C 45:10 that:

“With him that cometh I will reason as with men in days of old, and I will show unto you my strong reasoning.”

And again in verse 15:

“Wherefore, hearken and I will reason with you”.

The tricky part is when I lose sight of this in day-to-day living.

When I wonder why the spirit isn’t my constant companion, completely forgetting that I have to make a greater effort to keep my Savior in my thoughts and heart in order for that to happen.

When I wonder why God is punishing me with some difficult trials, completely forgetting that He has never ever promised that I would be given an easy and comfortable life.

And there are many moments, unspeakable and sacred moments, where logic is defied and miracles are performed.

But overall, God’s logical and reasoning nature is a great comfort to me.

It always makes sense. And most of the time, when I step back, I can see that.

And for the moments where I’m not quite sure how everything fits together, then faith and hope and trust step in to bridge the gap of my understanding.

I am grateful for a Lord who reasons with me.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A reasonable gospel first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God”.

Doesn’t that sound great?!

But what does that mean for me right now?

In President Nelson’s signature talk, “Let God Prevail”, he said something that stood out to me when I relistened recently:

“Anytime we do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel.”

I know that my mind usually goes toward missionary work and temple work when I hear that statement.

But, it recently clicked that this has SO MUCH to do with my family and home RIGHT NOW.

Anything that I do in order to help my family members make and keep sacred covenants, helps to gather Israel.

Which means that I’m picturing my home becoming a place exactly like the Lord described in verse 66.

A land of peace. A city of refuge. A place of safety.

As I work to create this type of environment in my home (peace, refuge, and safety), I am participating in the gathering of Israel in a truly essential way.

So that’s what I’m pondering on today.

How can I create more peace in my home?

Not just “keeping the peace”, but actually creating true, sublime peace.

How can I ensure my home is a refuge?

Keeping it different from the rest of the world, purposely.

How can I make my home feel like safety?

Filling it with so much love, that any outside harm doesn’t find a place to stay.

If you are a parent, teen, young adult, or grandparent creating peace, refuge, and safety in your own home, then you are helping to gather Israel and create Zion.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Peace, refuge, and safety first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

After a strong performance, my mom and my sisters would say, “Wow, they were so good!”

And my dad and I would start analyzing everything.

“Well, on that big note, she was actually a bit under the pitch.”

“You could tell he was totally out of breath there.”

For sure, it was obnoxious to watch American Idol with us. Sorry fam.

But… we just had an ear for that kind of stuff. Things that other people didn’t even notice.

And just to prove that I’m not THAT prideful, I’m the exact opposite with cooking.

If I’m eating food with someone and they start commenting on the exact texture that didn’t turn out properly, or the salt that’s missing, I’m usually oblivious. If it tastes good enough to me, I’m fine with it.

In Doctrine and Covenants 45:28-29, the Lord teaches the Saints that out of the darkness, there will be light that will shine through.

BUT! There will also be some who receive it not. “For they perceive not the light”.

So here’s the question I’ve been thinking about recently:

Am I perceiving the light around me?

I KNOW that there is light and goodness all around me, in my scriptures, in the temple, in my interactions with others, in my family…

But am I tuned in to all the nuances enough to even notice the light?

Do I recognize a really good singer because they seem “good enough”, or is it because I actually notice all the little techniques they have mastered in order to actually be amazing?

Do I eat a meal thinking it “tastes great”, or do I actually recognize the balance of flavors, texture of the meat, and savor the seasonings?

Am I walking through my day, thinking that it was a “good day”, or am I constantly seeing the hand of God reaching out, filling my mind with clarity, my heart with peace, and strengthening me?

I am surrounded by light.

So am I aware enough to perceive it?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Perception is everything first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

My French skills were dismal at best, but each morning, I would pull out my English-French dictionary and write the best paragraph that I could.

After a couple weeks, she asked for us to turn in our notebooks. The next day, she handed them back.

I opened mine and found tons of red marks.

And then I realized… She had underlined everything I had written CORRECTLY in red pen.

She had also responded in very simple French to each entry with encouraging words or a personal connection.

I felt so empowered!

She was pointing out everything that I was doing right.

My accuracy was definitely below 50%.

But I suddenly felt that my teacher really wanted me to learn French.

She was on my side.

It’s a silly little story, but it’s stayed in my mind for over a decade.

She cared about me, she was on my side, and she made me want to learn French even better.

On a much grander, and much more serious scale, this is what our Savior does.

“Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him”. D&C 45:3

He is looking for every single thing that we do correctly.

Every righteous desire. (Even if your actions didn’t totally line up.)

Every righteous effort. (Even if the results didn’t turn out the way we wanted.)

Every righteous action. (Even if someone else took offense.)

He is PLEADING and ADVOCATING.

For you.

He is underlining in red every single good thought, effort, action, ordinance, sacrifice, service…

He is giving you the benefit of the doubt even when the rest doesn’t quite make sense.

And the irony in it is this:

Christ being on my side and looking for every good thing that I’ve done, doesn’t make me feel like I’ve got a free pass.

In my French class, I suddenly had a natural curiosity to learn French even better so that I could communicate more clearly.

And this knowledge about my Savior motivates me to add even more goodness in my life.

Because He is my personal advocate.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My personal advocate first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.