My sister was playing with a toy that I wanted, and I took it out of her hands. ⁣

Immediately, I knew I had done something wrong, and I felt so badly! ⁣

I had already messed up.

I had made a promise at baptism to always remember Jesus, and now I had forgotten. ⁣

Aaaaand I’m pretty sure this was the evening after I got baptized, so I hadn’t lasted very long at all. ⁣

The Israelites made such an eager promise when Moses read what the Lord had taught him: ⁣

“All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” (Exodus 24:7) ⁣

Spoiler alert: the Israelites did NOT keep this promise. ⁣

They broke it many times, just as each of us break the promises and covenants that we have made. ⁣

But the good news? ⁣

Repentance and the sacrament make it possible to re-commit to those promises.

So have you re-committed recently? ⁣

Have you thought about what covenants you’ve made, and decided to keep them again?⁣

Do you trust in the Savior’s ability to really cleanse?⁣

And can you draw on the Savior’s strength to re-commit over and over?⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My sin after baptism  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Make sure she knew that her baptism day was ALSO all about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I wanted her to feel how important it was, and not just an afterthought of the visual baptism.

I mean, most of us even refer to this day as our “baptism day”, right? ⁣

And yet I’ve grown to learn that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is one of the most important things that happens that day.

Enoch had this figured out, though. ⁣

As Enoch taught the wicked people around him, he taught that God wanted them to turn to Him, believe, repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

But then He mentions the reason. ⁣

WHY do we want to have faith and repent and be baptized? ⁣

“If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men…

“Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.” (Moses 6:52)⁣

What a cool perspective, right? ⁣

Obviously, making covenants at baptism is an important part of that ordinance, and I don’t want to minimize baptism at all. ⁣

And faith and repentance have individual benefits on their own. ⁣

But overall, the purpose of these gospel-essential steps are to prepare each of us to be worthy to actually receive the companionship of a member of the Godhead! ⁣

The companionship of a member of the Godhead. ⁣

The ability to be prompted, comforted, guided, taught, protected by One who has the same united purpose with our Father and our Savior. ⁣

I’m so grateful for the day that I was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and I’m grateful my daughter is now able to have this precious gift in her life, too!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Baptism AND confirmation day first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

The “Church” and the “gospel” are technically two separate things.

And we need BOTH.

While we can love belonging to the Church, we have to become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But I also believe that while we can become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we also must fully participate in, embrace, and even love the Church.

Moroni reflected on these questions at the end of his life.

He said that after being baptized, “. . . the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.” (Moroni 6:5)

He also mentions teaching each other the scriptures, taking the sacrament, and getting rid of all iniquity.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is what it’s all about.

But we wouldn’t have this gospel in its fullness without the Church.

I love the Church.

I love that we can coordinate to serve and respond to disasters better.

I love that we can build temples and perform temple work.

I love that we can send out missionaries.

I love that we can make covenants with God and build holy temples.

What else would you add to the list of why you love the Church?

Of course, dealing with mortal humans with pride, weaknesses, sins, egos, and misunderstandings can make things very (very very) tough.

Separating the gospel of Jesus and the Church can often be helpful in rooting our love and commitment to the Savior above all else.

Loving God, Jesus, and Their gospel of truth is absolutely essential.

But administering the gospel in its fullness through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a beautiful and absolutely essential element, too.

“One cannot fully achieve [the doctrine of Christ] in isolation, so a major reason the Lord has a church is to create a community of Saints that will sustain one another”. – D. Todd Christofferson

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why a Church?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

First, have faith in Jesus.

Then repent.

Then be baptized.

Then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

And finally, endure to the end!

“For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Nephi 31:17)

While my brain loves linear thinking and easy checklists, I’ve been wondering lately…

What if these five steps are actually one giant interconnected circle?

I mean, I still need to exercise FAITH in Jesus Christ every day, and I certainly have room to grow.

I have a lot of REPENTING to do, and I know I will continue to need to change every single day.

Although we aren’t BAPTIZED over and over, we do partake of the sacrament each week, where we get to renew those covenants repeatedly.

I’m always working on improving how I keep the SPIRIT with me and recognize promptings, because it actually takes a lot of effort.

And I’m constantly working on joyfully ENDURING!

Even though all these steps are interconnected and repetitive, I’m still working on improving the quality each time I need faith, repent, renew my covenants, and draw closer to the Spirit.

I get a little better each time, I hope.

“Living the doctrine of Christ can produce the most powerful virtuous cycle, creating spiritual momentum in our lives.” – Russell M. Nelson

The doctrine of Christ reinforces itself with each step beautifully.

And it is the best way to help us become even more Christlike!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The cycle of the doctrine of Christ first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Do you know what I think SHOULD be the easiest part of our baptismal covenants…

But is actually so difficult for our mortal brains?!

To ALWAYS REMEMBER Jesus.

That is WAY more difficult to do in practice than it may seem.

We have endless things our brains can dwell on: to-do lists, food, desires, TV shows, conversations, plans…

And yet, Jesus invites us to always remember Him.

I love the story of Peter walking on water for more reasons than I can say.

But I also love so much what happened when Peter starts to sink into the water.

“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him”. (Matthew 14:30-31)

How quickly did Jesus react after Peter cried out to the Lord?

IMMEDIATELY.

Not immediately when Peter started sinking.

But immediately after Peter cried out for help.

I think Jesus is ready to help us. He wants to let us feel peace. He wants to take away our fears and anxieties.

But He won’t infringe on our agency.

Those who have made baptismal covenants know that we get the extreme privilege of having the constant companionship of the Spirit, a literal member of the Godhead who is ready to prompt and warn and guide and teach.

And what is our role?

What is the small action that we need to do in order to hold up part of our end of the covenant?

We need to always remember Jesus.

When we talk with a friend, while running errands, while putting your kid to bed, while going to youth activities, while planning out the week…

Always remember Jesus.

Because when we always remember Jesus, we are perfectly poised to call upon JESUS when we start to drown.

We don’t look back to the ship, we don’t ask our friends, we don’t try to trust our own strength.

We ASK for help from Jesus because He’s already been in our mind.

Cry out to Jesus for help, and He will immediately save in the exact way we need it.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

Artwork: “Hand of God” by Yongsung Kim

The post Always remember, and Jesus saves  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

When we are listening to a spiritual message or reading our scriptures, any of these three things can come to us:

1) Something we should start

2) Something we should stop

3) Something we should continue

This blew my mind because I think the third one is often overlooked.

I feel like I learn plenty of new things that I should start.

Start serving more. Start adding more authentic intent. Start saying better prayers.

And I get prompted often of things I should stop.

Stop being on your phone so much. Stop being prideful. Stop ignoring the important stuff.

But that third one is awesome:

What should you continue?

Do you think God is pleased with anything you are doing in your life right now?

Sometimes we focus so much on becoming better people that we forget we are already doing great things! ⁣

When Jesus chose to be baptized, God the Father expressed how pleased He was with His son’s actions.

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

It was the ultimate, divine ‘pat on the back’.

God knew He didn’t need to correct anything that was going wrong.

He instead wanted to draw attention to what was already going right.

So what’s something good you are doing right now that you can continue to do?

If you come up a little blank, try taking this question to the Lord in prayer, and see what comes to mind.

When I’ve asked God what things I should CONTINUE doing, I’ve given Him a chance to show me personally what He approves of in my life.

And there’s always a lot more goodness than I expect.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Start, stop, and continue  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

We’ve had many friends in our ward turn 8 and choose to be baptized, and it’s been so fun to attend and celebrate each one.

I’ve noticed some patterns though.

First of all, grandparents give the sweetest baptism and Holy Ghost-themed talks, and it’s so fun to see how each person puts their own spin on it.

But secondly, I’ve remembered how simple the baptism ordinance is.

It’s over in literally just a few seconds.

This powerful, soul-saving essential ordinance accompanied by everlasting covenants is so…

Simple.

Pure.

Un-complicated.

It’s little 8 year olds who love Jesus, want to follow Him, and choose to keep a commandment.

It’s so simply beautiful.

“Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” (Isaiah 52:11)

When these young children take upon themselves the name of Jesus and receive the Holy Ghost, they are bearing the vessels of the Lord.

These girls and boys have access to the priesthood power of the Almighty God as they keep their covenants.

Life is going to get a whole lot more complicated for these 8 year olds as they navigate what it’s really like to be Christlike in a world filled with fallen mortals and temptations everywhere.

But the premise is still pretty simple.

Whether it’s our initial baptism, or whether it’s the weekly renewal in another simple ordinance, we are invited to be clean so that we can access our priesthood power and bear His holy name.

Scrub off that sin, that tarnish, that anger, that hard heart, and just be clean.

And when that cleanliness doesn’t stay too long, we can try it again next week. 

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post It’s simple to be clean first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

My sister was playing with a toy that I wanted, and I took it out of her hands.

Immediately, I knew I had done something wrong, and I felt so badly!

I had already messed up!

I had made a promise at baptism to always remember Jesus, and now I had forgotten.

Aaaaand I’m pretty sure this was the evening after I got baptized, so I hadn’t lasted very long at all.

The Israelites made such an eager promise when Moses read what the Lord had taught him:

“All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” (Exodus 24:7)

Spoiler alert: the Israelites did NOT keep this promise.

They broke it many times, just as each of us break the promises and covenants that we have made.

But the good news?

Repentance and the sacrament make it possible to re-commit to those promises!

So have you re-committed recently?

Have you thought about what covenants you’ve made, and decided to keep them again?

Do you trust in the Savior’s ability to really cleanse?

And can you draw on the Savior’s strength to re-commit over and over?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I also remember him teaching me that when I was dunked under the water, it was as if I was being buried and then coming back to life, just like Jesus.

I thought that was pretty cool, because it’s as if we were acting out what was happening!

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that a lot of ordinances are accompanied with physical actions.

Like when we take the bread and water for the sacrament!

But I’ve also learned that the action itself isn’t what causes me to make a covenant.

Just eating bread and water itself isn’t what’s renewing my covenants each week.

Yes, ordinances are formal acts that are super important.

But we also have to make sure our mind is engaged with what we are actually promising!

Our heart and our mind have to be involved with some level of intention.

When Moses was instructing the children of Israel on how to perform the Passover to avoid their firstborn sons dying, he referred to the act of painting their door frames with lamb’s blood as an “ordinance”.

So the Passover was an ordinance for the children of Israel!

The physical act of what they did was so important… but so was what their hearts were doing at the same time.

Look at what they were thinking about as they reflected on this ordinance:

“It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt… And the people bowed the head and worshipped.” (Exodus 12:27)

They worshipped.

I think it is so cool that so many ordinances have physical acts associated with them that can help us ponder even deeper on the covenants being made.

But I also know that just “going through the motions” isn’t what saved the firstborns during the Passover.

And “going through the motions” isn’t what will help our hearts become molded to what the Lord wants them to be.

The sacred action + engaging our minds = true worship and lasting change!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Ordinances and actions first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I remember the beautiful dress I got to wear, I remember the family who came into town, and I remember that I only had to be dunked under the water once. (Whew!)

What I’ve realized now is that we often refer to this day as our “baptism day”, right?

And yet I’ve grown to learn that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is one of the most important things that happened to me on that day.

Enoch had this figured out, though.

As Enoch taught the wicked people around him, he taught that God wanted them to turn to Him, believe, repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

But then He mentions the reason.

Why do we want to have faith and repent and be baptized?

“If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men…

“Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.” (Moses 6:52)

What a cool perspective, right?

Obviously, making covenants at baptism is an important part of that ordinance, and I don’t want to minimize baptism at all.

And faith and repentance have individual benefits on their own.

But overall, the purpose of these gospel-essential steps are to prepare each of us to be worthy to actually receive the companionship of a member of the Godhead!

The companionship of a member of the Godhead.

The ability to be prompted, comforted, guided, taught, protected by One who has the same united purpose with our Father and our Savior.

I’m so grateful for the day 22 years ago when I was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why are we baptized? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.