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.

I’ve wondered a lot this week about why Enoch was the guy who created this literal Zion city here on earth.

There have been so many mighty prophets and righteous people beforehand and since, and I don’t think that Enoch was objectively THE most righteous.

But what was his special gift, his spiritual superpower that made him perfect for this particular role of creating a Zion community?

And the word COMPASSION couldn’t help but jump out as I read Moses 7.

This guy wept when he learned of terrible destruction that would happen.

He wept when he saw the Savior crucified.

He wept when he saw latter-day destruction.

But he didn’t just cry and feel sad about these things:

He always tried to do something about it.

He saw Noah’s flood?

Enoch wept, and he also pled with the Lord to make a covenant to bless Noah’s seed who would remain on earth.

He saw even more destruction?

Enoch wept and asked the Lord when our poor Mother Earth would get relief from having to bear the pains of mankind.

He saw more wickedness and the Savior being slain?

Enoch asked if the Lord would come again to bring peace.

What a fantastic example of compassion, right?!

He saw the suffering of others, whether it was his fellow man, the Earth, or the Savior.

And he wept because of the pain they were enduring.

And THEN, he did what he could to try to relieve their suffering, or to at least learn about what would relieve it.

We don’t get many details about what Enoch actually did in his city with the righteous people who lived there.

But I imagine this pattern was repeated day in and day out.

Tough times would happen. Someone would come to battle against them. Someone would lose a loved one. Someone would mentally and emotionally have a rough day.

And people would notice, mourn, and do what they could to help.

Over and over.

Compassion. Enoch showed it, the Lord shows it, and each member of a Zion community shows it, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Enoch’s compassion first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And he wept.

This encouraged him to plead with the Lord for a blessing on Noah’s descendants.

And the Lord made an oath:

Never again would the earth be covered in a flood of water, and Noah’s descendants would be blessed to multiply and stay on the earth.

Ready for some of the most poetic language I think the Lord uses throughout all of scripture?!

I love it.

When He talks about the dark days that will accompany the Savior’s Second Coming, Enoch becomes mournful again.

And so the Lord makes this promise, RIGHT after they had discussed Noah’s flood:

“Righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood” (Moses 7:62).

Righteousness and truth is sweeping the earth like what?!

Like a FLOOD!

The destructive flood waters will not cover the entire earth again.

But now, WE are the flood!

Sharing righteousness and truth across the entire world in unprecedented ways.

Covering literally every corner of the earth with the influence of goodness.

Helping Christ to be known, loved, and worshipped by anyone who desires to.

I am beyond grateful that I am not living in the time of Noah’s flood that Enoch foresaw.

We missed that flood.

But I am also beyond grateful that I am here when another flood is sweeping the earth:

This one filled with truth and righteousness.

And I think this is one I definitely want to be swept away in! 

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Creating Zion requires multiple people each doing really good things.

I can’t just create Zion on my own. Right?

“The Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.” (Moses 7:18)

But I think the real question is…

Am I doing my part to build Zion?

“Love and kindness are at the center of having Zion in our hearts and homes.” Quentin L. Cook

This is the essence of the gospel, right?

Love and kindness.

We say those words so often that sometimes I think I forget what they mean.

Love— like REAL love.

It’s easy to say, “I love everyone!”

It’s easy to think we love everyone from far away.

But I’ve noticed it’s really difficult to actually love someone if I don’t know them or if I haven’t prayed for them.

It’s a lot harder to love up close.

When I’ve needed to love a child more, I’ve prayed like crazy about them.

When I’ve needed to love an acquaintance more, I’ve asked them questions to get to know them better.

Kindness— another overused but such an important word.

Are my outward actions kind?

Even if they “deserved” the response they got?

Even if they made me annoyed?

Being kind to everyone is actually super difficult, especially when I’m running on empty.

Love and kindness.

It sounds too simple, and yet I’ve found it is pretty complicated.

But I’m working every day to be a bit better, to do my part to create Zion.

To lift up those who are poor in spirit and poor in circumstance around me.

Not because I am a perfect person, but because I know who the Perfect Person is.

I’m pointed toward Him, and I can help do my best to point others toward Him, too.

And I think that’s how I’m working to build Zion, a little bit of love and kindness at a time.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

It’s so relatable— thinking our shortcomings disqualify us from the work.

And Enoch felt that his poor command of language disqualified him.

But did you catch what change had happened by the next chapter?

It’s SO COOL.

Enoch is now leading righteous people as enemies come to battle against them.

Enoch is causing the earth to tremble with his great faith.

And the nations of the earth fear Enoch.

Why?

“So powerful was the WORD of Enoch, and so great was the power of the LANGUAGE which God had given him.” (Moses 7:13)

Where’s Mr. “slow of speech” now?!

He’s using such powerful language and words that he is able to control elements, display mighty faith, and gather righteous people together.

His weakness became his strength.

But we can’t skip over that last part of the verse, because Enoch’s weakness didn’t become his strength just because he wanted it to.

“… which God had given him.”

The lesson of Enoch’s story isn’t that if we work hard enough, we can turn our weaknesses into strengths.

Instead, this is a lesson that God can do anything.

He needed Enoch to be mighty in speech and in language, and so he worked a mighty miracle to grow this faithful man’s talents.

But Moses also felt that he was slow in speech, and God directed him to Aaron instead of changing Moses’ abilities.

Even thinking of latter-day prophets, there have been some who have been powerful orators, and others who seem less comfortable at the pulpit.

It’s an interesting lesson to internalize— we don’t all get blessed with the same gifts just because we want them, even if they are for a righteous purpose.

Why?

It’s up to God.

Maybe we will have the chance to grow our weakness into a strength.

Maybe our weakness will stay our weakness.

Maybe we will use our strength to complement others’ weaknesses.

Maybe we will learn to rely on others more.

God can give us anything!

And sometimes that takes a lot of trust to believe that He knows what we need more than we know.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Weaknesses to strengths first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

All my plans, my new-year-organization strategies have been thrown out the window as I’ve been knocked sick.

I do a lot each week that requires everything to run pretty close to clockwork.

There were many times this thought has run through my head as I’ve seen deadlines pass, work pile up, house projects left undone:

“This has all gone wrong.”

This isn’t how my new year, just a few months away from having a new baby, was supposed to start.

Have you ever thought this before?

“This has all gone wrong.”

There have been a few, much more serious times in my life when I’ve thought this, too.

But what I’ve learned is one of the most comforting, eternal truths:

“All flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.” (Moses 6:32)

God is in control.

And if God is in control, nothing is going to “go wrong”.

Now, don’t misunderstand: I’ve learned this does NOT mean that nothing will ever go wrong in my little mortal point of view.

But in the grand, eternal scheme of things, God isn’t letting any little decision I make, any sickness, any bump in the road throw a wrench into any of His plans.

God can do anything at any time.

So if I believe that, then how can I change my perspective right now?

“If I give this all to God, nothing can go wrong.”

Nothing goes wrong when I give it to God.

Deadlines will work themselves out. Or maybe I’ll miss them and things will be fine. Or maybe I’ll get clarity on things I need to drop anyways.

And it feels SO much better to think this way.

He’s got my back.

Nothing can go wrong.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post It’s all gone wrong! 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.

I love this!

I’m very aware of all my weaknesses and struggles.

And I love working to improve them!

But again… I’m VERY aware of all my weaknesses and struggles.

And I think this is why I love Enoch so much.

The Lord called him to preach repentance to those around him.

Enoch’s first response?

“He bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying:

“Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?” (Moses 6:31)

Isn’t Enoch all of us?

We get asked to serve.

Maybe it’s an official calling that’s extended to us.

But maybe it’s a general calling from the Lord that we feel when someone gives a talk about missionary service, or ministering, or temple service, or family history.

Or maybe it’s a unique calling you feel the Spirit has told just you.

It’s easy to immediately go to all of our shortcomings.

“I’m too young!”

“I’m not that popular.”

“That’s not something I’m good at.”

Do you think God doesn’t already know all this? The loving Creator and Father of our souls?

He’s not looking for servants who think of every reason they can’t serve.

He’s looking for His children who will get to work.

Despite their age. Despite their lack of talent. Despite their fears. Despite their limitations and busy schedules. Despite their pride.

He’s looking for people who aren’t concerned with the HOW.

He’s just looking for people who are ready to serve in their own imperfect way, with God as their guide.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Enoch’s imperfections first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.