Cramped conditions.

In a jail.

Terrible food.

Poor lighting.

Freezing cold.

Isn’t it tempting to consider our outside circumstances as a sign of how we are doing in life?

“How are you doing right now?”

“Terribly. Because of all these things that are going wrong…”

But Elder Cook made a wise assessment at Conference a few weeks ago:

“Joseph’s time in Liberty Jail demonstrates that adversity is not evidence of the Lord’s disfavor nor a withdrawal of His blessings.”

If we look at the physical trajectory of Joseph’s life, it doesn’t really look awesome.

A humble farmer boy. A poor young couple, accepting financial support from others. Moving to Ohio and getting a little more established. Being beat up by a mob. Reputation ruined by false rumors. Serious financial distress. Forced to move to Missouri with a hopeful promise for the future. Hope quickly being turned to conflict and fear. Arrested and stuck in a miserable jail for months.

This trajectory looks terrible, honestly.

But as with virtually everything, the Lord looks on the heart.

What was the trajectory of Joseph’s heart throughout his life?

Consistent spiritual enlightenment. Moments with the Divine. Priesthood power. Peace and certainty. Forgiveness and meekness. A growing love and concern for all. Teaching others and sharing his light. Inspired scriptures that have touched millions. Peace and comfort found in a miserable little jail cell.

Our physical circumstances have virtually no indication of how blessed we are.

It’s all about the status of the heart.

Has your heart been growing, softening, turning to the Lord throughout your life?

Then might I humbly suggest that you are living a very blessed life indeed, just like the prophet Joseph.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Joseph didn’t seem very blessed first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Your life on earth has ended.

You get to meet God the Father, face to face.

You are waiting right outside the door. (Or gate? Or garden?)

What is your mind doing?

Really think about that for a second.

What are you thinking about?

Maybe your mind is going to some of your shortcomings on earth. The times you forgot about Him.

Maybe you have some stories you want to tell Him that would make Him smile.

Maybe you have questions you want to ask.

Maybe you don’t know if you’ll say anything at all.

Maybe you are excited out of your mind. Maybe you are nervous.

I’ve thought about this reunion a lot, and how it will go changes pretty dramatically in my mind all the time.

But I’ve always been fascinated by this promise of what we can feel in God’s presence:

CONFIDENCE

Not pride or superiority. But a righteous and humble confidence.

And where does this confidence come from?

“Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God”. D&C 121:45

The confidence comes from our thoughts. Virtuous, loving, God-focused thoughts.

But it’s actually not so much about that future, glorious moment, as it is about right now.

We can be in God’s presence here, even though we may not see Him.

So what are our thoughts like on a daily basis? What are our thoughts like in the temple? What are our thoughts like at home?

Because we can’t fake those. Our thoughts often reveal our heart.

And the great news about thoughts? If our thoughts aren’t always where we want them to be right now, if they aren’t always virtuous and loving, we can change them.

And when we slowly change our thoughts to reflect the most important things on our heart, we gain confidence before the Divine.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Let virtue garnish your thoughts first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“If the problem can be solved, there is no use worrying about it;

“If it can’t be solved, worrying will do no good.”

I’ve always resonated with this idea that I don’t want to waste any of my personal peace worrying about things that are outside of my control.

But anytime I share this quote, someone always says:

“Yeah Cali, that’s great. But you can still DO things to change outcomes or influence decisions.”

And I’m 100% on board with that, too!

I think we can do both.

We can do absolutely everything that we can to solve problems or enact change.

AND we can be at peace with the things we cannot control.

And I think this beautiful scripture sums it all up:

“Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.” D&C 123:17

Just this week, I hit what seemed like a pretty major roadblock due to the decision of someone else, completely out of my control.

I was trying to figure out whether to lean into my inner calm, be at peace with the decision, and move on…

Or if I could resolutely, but cheerfully, problem solve ways around the issue.

It was a matter of prayer and a lot of discussion with other trusted confidants.

And I felt the nudge to get creative and try to make it work, still.

But either way, I knew I could feel peace no matter the outcome!

What a beautiful promise that we can find in Christ!

He wants us to act! He wants us to do everything that is in our control. He wants us to take that class, to send that email, to have that difficult discussion, to make a dramatic change.

And He wants us to do this CHEERFULLY.

Not so that we can fake it and look like nice people who are happy all the time.

But so that we can realize that we can still feel cheer and joy and peace while also standing our ground or setting boundaries.

It really is possible!

And then, we can stand still. We can trust that the arm of God will be revealed.

And we can believe that all things will work for our good.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Cheerfully do all things first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And I’ve really felt this as my spiritual superpower.

It’s so tempting to think that if we have faith in God, our circumstances will be calm.

But the Savior didn’t come to the earth bringing peace to all nations.

He came to share a message of personal peace.

And Joseph Smith was given a similar message in the depths of Liberty Jail.

“My son, peace be unto thy soul”. D&C 121:7

Not “Hey, you’ll get out of here tomorrow. Enjoy your new peaceful circumstances.”

But instead, “I understand this is brutal. And yet you can still feel peace in your own soul.”

The answer can be found in one of my favorite songs:

“When there’s no peace on earth,

“There is peace in Christ.”

Christ is the answer.

Peace on earth is a great thing to hope for, but it is not something that we have been promised.

Personal peace is a blessing available to each of us.

No matter your kids’ choices.

No matter what your friend did.

No matter the activity that got cancelled or the new restrictions.

No matter any political decision.

No matter the family drama.

No matter death, financial struggles, or separation.

We can understand what’s going on around us, and still feel peace on the inside.

It can be found in any difficult circumstances, including after three months of confinement, starvation, and mental torture.

Peace can be found in Christ.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Peace in Christ first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I usually kept things super high energy and busy on the first day, so that the kids didn’t have an option but to be engaged and get to know me.

And within just a few minutes, this particular student was already being defiant and apathetic.

So I made it a goal to say 5 positive, non-behavior-related comments to him each day.

I complimented his shoes. I asked him what they did in P.E. today. I asked him to help me hand out pencils. He wrote a sentence about a movie when I had asked for a paragraph, and I talked to him all about my favorite parts of the movie.

He seemed surprised at first.

But he started to warm up to me.

Then, I slowly introduced buddy-buddy conversations about his behavior.

“Hey, I get that you were trying to be funny when you made that comment earlier, but it really derailed the entire class for a while. Could you help me out and save those kinds of comments til after class or when we have some free time?”

And then, when he’d start to talk out in class again, I’d give him a little “knowing” look.

He caught on.

Honestly, he was a good kid. He really struggled academically, but the behavior issues subsided to the point that they weren’t so disruptive.

I made A WHOLE LOT of mistakes while teaching.

But I never let a child leave my classroom without knowing that they were seen as a real human being, and that they were loved.

I LITERALLY thought of this scripture often, and even taught a training to my co-workers using this “saying that I once heard”… 

“Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;” D&C 121:43

I now use this in my parenting all the time. When the positive comments VASTLY outweigh the corrective or negative, no matter how many there are, there is a feeling of love and “I’m on your team”-ness.

God sees us as more than our mistakes, and I think He wants us to emulate that, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post More than our mistakes first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.