“I don’t know if I have any of those?”⁣

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said this many years ago, and it’s an idea that I heard taught recently that really resonated with me. ⁣

“Spiritual gifts are endless in number and infinite in variety”. ⁣

In other words, the approximately 13 gifts listed in Section 46 do not begin to even scratch the surface of actual spiritual gifts.⁣

So… how are we supposed to know what our spiritual gifts are if we don’t even know what all of the options are?⁣

Here is something I’ve noticed. ⁣

When I am making a concerted effort to live according to the gospel principles, when I’m showing love, and patience, and kindness, when I’m keeping my covenants and pondering on Christ…⁣

Then I feel like there are certain things that I am really good at. ⁣

In other words: When I feel the Spirit in my life, I am more aware of my spiritual gifts. ⁣

Gifts that are given to me and enhanced by the Spirit. ⁣

So if you are still feeling lost about what spiritual gifts you could possibly possess, here are some questions. ⁣

When you are praying and immersing yourself in the scriptures, and you KNOW that you have the Spirit with you, what do you feel like you are really good at doing?⁣

Maybe you are really good at crying when you feel the Spirit. ⁣

Maybe you are really good at noticing what your family member needs and wanting to serve them. ⁣

Maybe you are really good at sending texts to people who need them. ⁣

Maybe you are really good at preparing and teaching a lesson to a primary class. ⁣

Maybe you are really good at feeling calm.⁣

Maybe you are really good at being a mediator in disputes or disagreements. ⁣

Maybe you are really good at understanding concepts that are really complicated but then explaining them in simple ways. ⁣

There are INFINITE possibilities. ⁣

When you are really feeling the Spirit, what are you really good at doing? Those are your spiritual gifts. ⁣

What is one of YOUR spiritual gifts? I’d love to hear!

“For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.” (D&C 46:11)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

When she said her name, I thought, “Oh, that’s a memorable name! I will definitely remember that one!”

And then, as soon as my husband asked what her name was later that day…

I had completely forgotten.

Even though I think I will remember important things, my memory is not always the best.

Memory fades.

But guess who can help us remember things perfectly?

The Holy Ghost!

In fact, it’s one of my favorite roles of the Holy Ghost.

He can help us remember important things that have happened to us.

David Whitmer was a new acquaintance to Joseph Smith.

The Smiths were now living at the Whitmer home.

In a revelation to David, the Lord tells him:

“. . . you shall receive the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance, that you may stand as a witness of the things of which you shall both hear and see.” (D&C 14:8) 

I truly believe that we see the hand of God everywhere, every day.

We are surrounded by miracles and tender mercies.

And yet, even if we think, “Oh, what a beautiful tender mercy,” during the day…

We might find ourselves getting to bedtime and feeling that nothing special happened that day.

The Holy Ghost can help us remember the miracles we have seen and heard.

We just need to ask, wait, and listen to hear what He is ready to bring to our minds.

When we are reminded, our hearts are filled with gratitude for the abundant spiritual experiences all around us!

“The Holy Ghost brings back memories of what God has taught us.”⁣ – Henry B. Eyring

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post What was her name again?! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

As I stood a little bit speechless on the doorstep with chaos behind me and a husband who still wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours, she said:

“I felt a prompting that you needed dinner tonight, and I just had to act!”

I graciously accepted the meal, thanked her profusely, and held my tears back until the door had shut.

I wanted to feel embarrassed that I hadn’t even started thinking about dinner yet, but I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude and love.

The sister who brought the dinner had redirected all the credit I wanted to give her to the Lord, and that made a big impact on me.

She didn’t want any of my praise that I tried to give her.

She was just following through on what I know to be one of her spiritual gifts— acting immediately and confidently on promptings.

In Joseph’s time, everyone was starting to recognize him as the dream interpreter.

The butler and the baker learned about him in prison.

And now the pharaoh was learning about his skill, too.

But each time that someone tried to label Joseph as the one who could interpret dreams, he was always quick to point out:

“It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” (Genesis 41:16)

God was the one giving Joseph the ability to do this.

I love two things about this:

First, that Joseph recognized where his gift came from.

But secondly, that he seemed to point this out to other people, too!

I think most of us know that we should be showing gratitude to God for our gifts and talents.

We try to redirect our minds to give God credit and to show how grateful we are.

But how often do we mention that to others?

YOU may know that your gifts come from heaven, but do other people know that you know that?

What a sweet and simple way to bear testimony.

The woman who brought me dinner wasn’t making me feel her love.

She was helping me to feel God’s love.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Gratitude and credit to the Lord first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Growing up, I was asked to play the piano for everything.

Sight-reading has always been my strength, so I could play all the hymns or learn accompaniments super quickly. I was the one playing for seminary, every fireside, ward choir, musical numbers… you name it.

I wasn’t asking for these opportunities.

But I’d always say yes and was willing to play for anything.

And so I was shocked one day to learn that someone started talking about how jealous they were that I could play everything so easily, and that it wasn’t fair that I was the only one asked to play the piano all the time.

I was honestly surprised at how much it hurt me to learn that someone else was jealous of me.

I wanted to explain all the hard work that went into practicing the piano for hours and hours each week.

I wanted to explain that I knew that sight-reading was also a gift that I had when it came to music (don’t ask me to improvise or compose anything!).

I also wanted to explain that I was not volunteering for these opportunities. Adults and other youth were probably just asking me because I had done it before, and they knew they wouldn’t have to ask me if I had the ability to play something or not.

Basically, I did not like being envied.

And then I realized… I envied other people.

I mean, I was a teen. I envied other people for their natural beauty, their fashion, their humor, their wealth, their talents…

I had this realization that each person I envied would probably also have some sort of explanation for why they were that way.

Envying does no good.

Envying leads to separation.

Separation from that person and separation from God for not feeling gratitude for what we have.

Joseph had a tough time with his brothers because “his brethren envied him” (Genesis 37:11).

It seems like Joseph had lots of explanations for why.

He couldn’t help that he was the firstborn of his father’s favorite wife. He clearly had a natural talent for interpreting dreams. He obviously had a close relationship God, so he likely worked hard to develop his gifts.

And instead of embracing Joseph for his uniqueness, his brothers turned their feelings into envy, which boiled into hatred.

Who do you envy right now?

How can you cheer them on instead?

Because love is always better than envy.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Envying and separation first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’m sure that Bishopric was overwhelmed with having to meet 180 18-19 year olds all at the same time, and issue callings as quickly as possible. 

Of course, one of the questions was:

Do you play the piano?

I remember talking to a friend who immediately said:

“There is NO way I’m admitting that I can play the piano. Because that would get me stuck with a piano calling!”

I laughed and totally empathized with her not wanting to play the piano for everything at church.

And… I was even tempted to fill it out untruthfully too.

But I also remembered the lessons my parents had taught me about sharing my talents with everything at church. They were great examples of sharing their strengths with their ward.

I filled out the survey, saying that I did play the piano.

The Lord was talking to many of the men who had traveled to Missouri in D&C 60:2, he said that:

“But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man.”

These men were hiding their talents because of the fear of men!

I’ve learned that anything fear-based is not coming from God.

If I’m afraid of people judging me, or comparing me, or if I’m afraid of getting a certain calling, or if I’m afraid of being asked to volunteer in some way…

That doesn’t feel generous and loving to me.

It probably means that I have some jealousy to work on.

In fact, this makes me think of what I shared about the Law of Consecration a couple of weeks ago.

ALL of my talents and gifts come from God anyways.

Anything that I do to increase my talents and gifts, whether it’s a musical gift, or it’s just opening my mouth and talking about the gospel…

Anything that I can do to increase any gift, is showing gratitude to the Lord anyways. 

Gratitude is the key.

When I’m filled with gratitude, then I don’t have any fear.

I want to be so ridiculously generous with my time and all of my talents, because I want the Lord to know I would give it all back to Him!

No fear. Only gratitude.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Fear and talents first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.