In these classes, we would learn different strategies and theories for keeping kids’ attention.

We’d also talk about how to handle behavioral issues.

However, when I stepped into a fifth-grade classroom for my student teaching…

I realized I still had a lot to learn about managing a group of kids!

I felt like I had forgotten everything.

I wanted to go back to my professors and ask for their advice, but that wasn’t an option.

I just needed to give it a try and figure it out.

And after a few weeks…

Things started to click!

I grew my knowledge exponentially by just giving things a try.

The Lord taught the Saints, who had all officially been Church members for less than a year, that:

“He that receiveth my law and doeth it, the same is my disciple.” (D&C 41:5)

Yes, these Saints needed to prepare to receive the law.

But they also needed to be ready to just do it.

Can you imagine if all those new converts waited until they felt completely ready before serving missions?

Certainly, they needed to learn gospel truths.

But they also needed to just get to work.

How do we get more faith?

By doing things that require a lot of faith.

The older I get, the more I realize I don’t usually feel “totally qualified” to do the things I’m doing.

But that’s kind of the fun of it!

We get to learn, figure things out, and grow as we just try.

Learning gospel truths is so important.

But when we pair that learning with just getting out there and doing good stuff, I think we can be unstoppable.

“We should not expect to understand everything before we act.” – Elder Uchtdorf

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

He teaches the Zoramites to cry unto God wherever they may be – refuting their claims that they couldn’t worship due to being cast out of the synagogues. ⁣

Pray anywhere and pray everywhere. ⁣

Have your heart drawn out in prayer continually to Him. ⁣

But then he goes into the most important part of his sermon:⁣

“Do no suppose this is all;⁣

“For after ye have done all these things [praying everywhere], if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance… to those in need…⁣

“YOUR PRAYER IS IN VAIN.” (Alma 34:28)⁣

What a humbling lesson. ⁣

We can’t pray for other people to feel more love, and then ignore them.

We can’t pray for peace in the world, and then share divisive articles that demonize “the other side”.⁣

We can’t pray for our children to change in some way, and then not adjust anything at home to facilitate the change.

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but I think sometimes we have to own up to the fact that we’ve prayed for a result, and then done nothing to achieve that result.

Or maybe we’ve even worked against it. ⁣

That’s what Amulek calls being a hypocrite. ⁣

Yikes. ⁣

(Sometimes there are situations where we literally can’t do anything else other than pray though, and I fully believe that God can still make miracles happen.)

So, as with all things, the best way to repent for past hypocritical actions is to change moving forward. ⁣

What’s a prayer in your heart right now?⁣

Maybe it’s for yourself, or for your family, or for your community, or for the world. ⁣

“Pray as if everything depended on God, work as though everything depended on you”. – Saint Ignatius

If you’ve got the first half of the equation down, and you are realllly good at praying fervently about it, that is beautiful!⁣

And now might be a great time to think about how you can act to make it happen. ⁣

What’s something you can do TODAY in order to move that desire forward? ⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Pray and act  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“If ye teach the law of Moses why do ye not keep it?” (Mosiah 12:29)

They knew the scriptures.

They knew the commandments. ⁣

But they were still lazy and rude and evil. ⁣

Their knowledge didn’t change them. ⁣

Abinadi had the same knowledge of the scriptures and the law. ⁣

But he used that knowledge to open a channel of communication with the Lord, receive the personal revelation that he needed to preach repentance (twice!), and then followed through on the promptings. ⁣

Our knowledge can’t save us. ⁣

Knowing the scripture stories won’t save us. ⁣

Knowing the doctrine won’t save us. ⁣

Our actions will. ⁣

Studying the scriptures and then using that knowledge to change our actions. ⁣

Learning and connecting with the doctrine and then using that to propel us to become more Christlike. ⁣

King Noah, his priests, and Abinadi all had the same knowledge. ⁣

But their hearts were in completely different states.

“In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.” – Dallin H. Oaks

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Knowing versus acting first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve had to make plenty of sacrifices in my life, but none come even close to what this widow was prepared to do.

And yet, here comes a man: Elijah.

He was fully aware that she was making food using the last of her provisions, and yet he still asked to be fed first.

Elijah also promised that her barrel of food and her oil would never run out as long as she needed them.

This all sounds pretty impossible.

And then add on that the land was in the middle of a dramatic drought.

Completely impossible.

But this widow must have felt something in her heart.

She must have felt the spirit whisper that this traveler was not just any random man asking for a seemingly selfish favor.

She decided to trust in the prophet and in the Lord.

Not just in word, but in deed, too!

“And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.” (1 Kings 17:15)

Feeding Elijah could have led to her immediate death, but instead this faithful widow trusted in the Lord, and wasn’t afraid to take a big risk to prove Him right.

Do we have that kind of trust in the Lord that we would be willing to risk it all, knowing that He will fulfill His promises?

When it seems improbable, illogical, or even impossible?

For with God, nothing is impossible.

But we’ve still got to do our part.

Ask the question. Act on that prompting. Say the prayer. Ponder and problem-solve.

And then trust in God.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post  Act and trust first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I honestly didn’t even knowing what that calling meant when my husband and I were first extended the call.

Honestly, it seemed like a small calling. We had just barely moved into the ward so no one knew who we were, and I figured they just put everyone new as a ward missionary.

Pretty soon, the ward mission leader contacted us and asked us to come to a bi-weekly meeting with the missionaries, and then we’d all split up and go on visits to people in our ward.

I was pretty good at attending the meeting sand going on visits for the first little bit, and then there started to be a lot of excuses from me.

I was teaching full time, and crazy busy, and so there was always something else to do.

I remember thinking, “Ah, I know I’m not fulfilling my calling the best that I can right now, but if I got a different bigger calling, I would do better.”

(Ugh, I don’t always love telling personal stories from when I was more spiritually immature. But still, that’s what I thought.)

I did eventually come to the realization that I was never going to magically “do better” if I had more to do!

Heavenly Father wanted me to serve the best that I could, no matter the calling.

Pretty much as soon as I recommitted to my calling, I received a new one.

Do we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that we will be better in the eternities?

That once we have received a large reward, THEN we will follow through on all our responsibilities?

But really the Lord is asking us to show that we can be faithful with just a few things first.

Read: not perfect, but FAITHFUL.

Are we filled with faith and trying to do our best to lead our families? (Even though we make a million mistakes)

Do we keep trying to renew our personal faith through daily habits that draw us closer to the Lord?

Do we try to contribute to our neighborhoods, our wards, our communities in positive and uplifting ways?

That’s where our focus should be right now.

Prove our faithfulness in small and simple ways each day.

“Wake up and do something more than dream of your mansions above!”

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Just a ward missionary 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.