As the crowds that she called for gathered round the fallen King, Queen, Ammon, and servants, they all started to argue. ⁣

Everyone had an opinion for what caused this group to lie there as if dead. ⁣

And the opinions started to get more and more heated. ⁣

Abish had worked so hard to gather this large crowd together, sure that this would finally convert them all to the Savior who she knew so well. ⁣

This was going to be it! ⁣

And instead, it had turned into a mob of chaos, confusion, and blame. ⁣

She was sad. And frustrated. And overwhelmed. ⁣

And so she stood there and cried. ⁣

She cried. ⁣

“…when she saw the contention which was among the multitude she was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto tears.” (Alma 19:28)

And then thought of one thing she could do. ⁣

She went to her friend, the Queen, and took her by the hand. ⁣

And it worked. ⁣

The Queen bore powerful and joyful testimony, raised her husband, and he calmed the crowd. ⁣

I remember in a job interview, I was asked what I would do if I had a work deadline to meet, but then I had a bunch of unexpected things pop up that day.

I responded: “I would probably cry. And then get to work.”⁣

Sometimes, you just gotta cry. ⁣

Life is weird. And crazy. And frustrating. And blah for no reason. And tiring. ⁣

There’s chaos and contention. ⁣

And there’s no shame in a good cry. ⁣

But then, we have to pick ourselves up, and get to work.

We have to figure out that next step, and take it, trusting that the rest of the steps will appear afterwards. ⁣

God doesn’t want us to just feel happy all the time. In fact, we read in the scriptures many times that God Himself feels emotions other than happiness. ⁣

But He does expect us to try to take a step forward.⁣

And that’s where the miracles happen.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Ammon fell in favor with the local ruler and ended up converting many to the gospel. ⁣

Aaron went from city to city finding only opposition and was eventually thrown in prison and deprived of food and clothing. ⁣

Why the difference?

Was Ammon more faithful or more deserving of a successful mission?⁣

“As it happened, it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people.” (Alma 20:30)

It was just the different lots they had been given!

I think about the endless varieties of “lots” that each of us is dealt in this mortal life. ⁣

There are “lots” that I envy.

There are “lots” that I pity.

There are moments of extreme gratitude for my “lot.”

There are moments of disappointment for my “lot.”

But the “lots” that we have been given are not always a reflection of our faithfulness, righteousness, or knowledge.

The Lord knows what each of us is capable of doing and becoming.

The Lord knew Ammon could handle his “lot.”

He knew Aaron could handle his “lot.”

He knows that you and I can handle whatever “lots” we’ve been given in this life.

And no matter the “lot”, He wants us to turn to Him and invite Him to comfort, love, teach, and direct in exactly the way we need it.

“God’s love is not found in the circumstances of our lives but in His presence in our lives.” – Susan H. Porter

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Ammon vs. Aaron  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

As a mom, I think this could be my autobiography title. ⁣

I have studied the scriptures, revelation pouring out upon me, prayers being answered⁣…

and then my baby needs to be fed.

I have shared emotional stories with friends and bonded on a deep level⁣…

until one of our kids begs us to take them to the potty right now. ⁣

Church lessons where I’m feeling so connected to the material being taught…

and then my toddler starts screaming and I have to step out into the hallway. ⁣

I imagine Ammon going to feed King Lamoni’s horses with the same feeling. ⁣

The horses need to be fed. Someone has to do it. ⁣

“And they said unto him: Behold, he is feeding thy horses.

“Now the king had commanded his servants, previous to the time of the watering of their flocks, that they should prepare his horses and chariots, and conduct him forth to the land of Nephi;

“for there had been a great feast appointed at the land of Nephi, by the father of Lamoni, who was king over all the land.” (Alma 18:9)

It doesn’t matter what miracle just occurred, what powerful General Conference talk you just listened to, what message you just shared…⁣

someone always needs to eat. ⁣

Whether it’s the King’s horses or my little messy kids’ faces. ⁣

But that’s the way I want it now. ⁣

Because in the mundane, I also find the miraculous. ⁣

The making oatmeal, the rocking to sleep, the millionth load of laundry⁣…

is all really sanctified service.⁣

When I’m in the right mindset about it, I’m showing my love.

I’m showing pure love to these small humans who can’t do much on their own. ⁣

And so I go back and forth, from miraculous to mundane. ⁣

But I can do it all with LOVE.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Everyone’s gotta eat first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

What a weirdly simple sentence.

But behind that sentence is a whole wave of emotions and truths.

So sometimes I try to be more specific.

“I know that Jesus Christ lives and atoned for my sins.”

“I know that I have loving Parents in Heaven.”

“I know that families can be together forever.”

This is what it comes out as.

It’s really hard to put the enormity of what I feel into words.

The sentences sound much too simple when I say them.

Because even these statements carry deeper feelings and experiences to support them.

It’s the weird part about sharing testimonies, right?

Most of the time, the person speaking the actual words of the testimony is the only one who truly understands the uniquely complex and powerful intricacies of what they are trying to convey.

Because, really, how can you describe the Spirit?

We try.

I try.

But at the end of the day, I echo Ammon’s sentiments.

I can’t say (or write) the smallest part of what I feel.

Which is why we can’t transfer our testimonies to others, right?

I can’t describe everything I know and feel, and so I can’t pass that perfectly on to another person.

We try. We get as close as we can. We describe and share. We keep it simple.

But only the Spirit can really teach what the Spirit does.

So I keep trying to get close with my words. I try to at least describe a small part of what I feel.

But I fully rely on the Spirit to fill in the rest.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Testimonies are just words first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Completely sword-less.

They began to praise God.

I imagine they lifted their voices in prayer.

I imagine they pondered on the goodness and mercy of God.

I imagine they thought about His all-knowing power, and accepted His will be done.

I imagine some of them started to sing some hymns.

I imagine they sat there, solemn and happy.

And they never stopped.

Even in the very act of perishing, their hearts were still communing with God in gladness and peace.

While they were perishing.

What an impressive but important feat – to be able to praise God at all times, completely independent of what we are going through.

Even when we feel like we are perishing.

We can still find joy in pondering on, speaking of, singing about, and praying to our loving God.

We can praise His goodness and His mercy.

Even as we perish.

Many are mentally and emotionally perishing. Especially right now.

And it’s hard. And painful. And we can plead for a different cup than the one we’ve been asked to drink.

But we can still choose to praise God, even in the hardest of times.

Because ultimately, our praising and our worshipping is for our benefit.

Praising brings us peace, and joy, and happiness, independent of what we are enduring.

Praising allows God to send His Spirit to stay with us and bring comfort.

And so we, as these brave men did long ago, can praise God in the very act of perishing.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Praising and perishing first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

A few weeks ago, I set a personal goal for myself to make sure I wasn’t on my phone as often.

I wanted to improve my interactions with my family members and be more present, and I felt like my phone was holding me back a bit from that.

So I decided to do better.

Notifications would pop up and I would ignore them. I let emails go unread. I stopped scrolling just because I had “down time”.

But then I got a notification that looked really important.

And then I got an email that was super interesting and I just had to open it.

And then my phone was once again in my hand more often than it should be.

Finally, I decided I needed to tether it to a charger across the room with the sound on only for texts or phone calls – the actually important alerts.

And it worked.

I forgot about all of the missing notifications, and I was in the moment.
And when I intentionally picked up my phone later, all my notifications were still there for me to peruse.

Resisting my go-to sin started out strong, but I kept finding “reasonable” excuses until I was back to where I was before.

Resisting my sin was really easy when I removed the temptation. In fact, I didn’t really have anything to “resist”.

So yes, I am comparing my cell phone to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies’ swords. (I told you this would be a #millennialprobs post!)

But you can fill in the blank with whatever your go-to sin is right now: anger, inappropriate media, word of wisdom issues…

What makes you want to indulge in your sin?

A notification? A group of friends? A certain habit or routine? A social media account?

Try removing it.

Or at least try changing it.

Although we can ask for the strength to resist our favorite sins, often Heavenly Father asks that we take the initiative and remove the temptation altogether (or as much as possible).

And if we have great faith, we can bury that temptation deep in the earth, never to dig it up again.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Removing instead of resisting first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Why do we all get completely different “lots”?

The sons of Mosiah all went to the Lamanite lands.

Each initially went to a different city.

Ammon fell in favor with the local ruler and ended up converting many to the gospel.

Aaron went from city to city finding only opposition, and was eventually thrown in prison and deprived of food and clothing.

Why?

Was Ammon more faithful? More deserving of a successful mission?

“As it happened, it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people” – Alma 20:30

It was just their different lot.

I think about the endless varieties of “lots” that each of us is dealt in this mortal life.

There are “lots” that I envy. There are lots that I pity. There are moments of extreme gratitude for my lot. There are moments of disappointment for my lot.

But the lots that we have been given are not always a reflection of our faithfulness, righteousness, or knowledge.

Someone with an easier lot does not have their easier lot because they have greater faith than you.

And conversely, someone with a really difficult lot was not given that difficult lot because they have more faith to endure than you.

Elder Rasband gives us a small but powerful glimpse at the answer:

“The Lord knows what each of us is capable of doing and becoming.”

He knew Ammon could handle his lot. He knew Aaron could handle his.

And he knows I can handle my lot as I rely on Him.

So at the end of the day, it doesn’t do any good to over analyze WHY we have our lot. Because there might not be a simple cause or an easy answer.

But we can trust that the Lord has given us a lot that we can bear.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Our unique lots first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

As the crowds that she called for gathered round the fallen King, Queen, Ammon, and servants, they all started to argue.

Everyone had an opinion for what caused this group to lay there as if dead.
And the opinions started to get more and more heated.

Abish had worked so hard to gather this large crowd together, sure that this would finally convert them all to the Savior who she knew so well.

This was going to be it!

And instead, it had turned into a mob of chaos, confusion, and blame.

She was sad. And frustrated. And overwhelmed.

And so she stood there and cried.

She cried.

And then thought of one thing she could do.

She went to her friend, the Queen, and took her by the hand.

And it worked.

The Queen bore powerful and joyful testimony, raised her husband, and he calmed the crowd.

I remember in a job interview for a work-at-home position, I was asked what I would do if I had a work deadline to meet, but then I had to spend all day at an unexpected doctors appointment with my kid.

I responded: “I would probably cry. And then get to work.”

Sometimes, you just gotta cry.

Life is weird. And crazy. And frustrating. And blah for no reason. And tiring.

There’s chaos and contention.

And there’s no shame in a good cry.

But then, we have to pick ourselves up, and get to work.

We have to figure out that next step, and take it, trusting that the rest of the steps will appear afterwards.

God doesn’t want us to just feel happy all the time. In fact, we read in the scriptures many times that God Himself feels emotions other than happiness.

But He does expect us to try to take a step forward.

And that’s where the miracles happen.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

As a young mom, I think this could be my autobiography title.

I have studied the scriptures, revelation pouring out upon me, prayers being and answered

and then my baby wakes up from his nap and needs to be fed.

I have shared emotional stories with friends and bonded on a deep level

until one of our kids begs us to take them to the potty right now.

Church lessons where I’m feeling so connected to the material being taught

and then my toddler starts screaming and I step out into the hallway.

I imagine Ammon going to feed King Lamoni’s horses with the same feeling.

The horses need to be fed. Someone has to do it.

It doesn’t matter what miracle just occurred, what powerful General Conference talk you just listened to, what message you just shared…

someone always needs to eat.

Whether it’s the King’s horses or my little messy kids’ faces.

But that’s the way I want it now.

Even when I think back to my child-free days, where people would whisper, “This is the quietest you’ll ever hear Sacrament meeting!”

I wouldn’t trade it.

Because in the mundane, I also find the miraculous.

The making oatmeal, the rocking to sleep, the millionth load of laundry

is all really sanctified service.

When I’m in the right mindset about it, I’m showing my love. I’m showing pure love to these small humans who can’t do much on their own.

And so I go back and forth, from miraculous to mundane.

But I can do it all with LOVE.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Miraculous and mundane first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Which is why the reunion in Alma 17 seems so sweet.

After fourteen years apart, Alma runs into Mosiah’s sons while traveling on the road.

Fourteen years ago, these boys caused chaos together, and then had a miraculous conversion together.

And then, 14 years later, they ran into each other again!

How random!

Except, we know that God doesn’t do random.

God does “divine design”.

Although this might have seemed random to Alma, the sons of Mosiah were actually desperate to find a home for the newly converted Anti-Nephi-Lehies that they were leading away from the rest of the Lamanites.

They needed help, and God put Alma in their path.

“You and I may call these intersectings ‘coincidence.’ This word is understandable for mortals to use, but coincidence is not an appropriate word to describe the workings of an omniscient God.” – Neal A. Maxwell

Running into a friend at the store is never random.

Connecting with someone over Facebook is never random.

Seeing a job opportunity, applying, and getting it is never random.

Moving to a new place is never random.

My current life has been created by thousands of little puzzle pieces, each one seeming to connect with another by sheer coincidence.

I still often refer to starting this Instagram account and website as “random” decisions I made after a prompting, but I’m working on changing that mindset.

Because each little puzzle piece is designed by a God who knows everything and who loves me. He even knows how I’m going to use my agency.

He sees the big picture, and He makes sure each little piece will build off of the previous one.

Because God doesn’t do random.

Share your favorite “no such thing as random” story below, and take some time today to reflect on the small “coincidences” that have shaped you.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post God doesn’t do random first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.