With so many good, important things here on the earth, I personally believe that God gives us desires or allows our own desires to point us in the direction where we can do our part and make a difference.

And I believe that these desires and focuses can change throughout our life, too. ⁣

Nehemiah was a man who had never been to Jerusalem. ⁣

And yet he started feeling great concern about the walls of Jerusalem. ⁣

“Neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:12)

Nehemiah believed the Lord had put this desire in his heart.

And so he acted, and was able to rebuild the wall. ⁣

What desires are in your heart?

“‘Great and powerful convictions of truth’ are found in the hearts of Latter-day Saints in nations across the world. This strength of faith carries the work of the kingdom forward.” – Neil L. Andersen

How do you believe you have been asked to build the kingdom of God in your own way?

How have you found ways to make this world a better place in a way that you feel particularly passionate about? ⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The desires of your heart first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve had my heart prepared to not be accepted into a program at school. ⁣

I’ve had my heart prepared for a struggle my son would have to face. ⁣

I’ve had my heart prepared before receiving a big calling that would affect our family a lot. ⁣

And as I’ve talked with others, many have shared other personal, sacred experiences where their hearts have been prepared for a huge financial setback, a move, or even the death of a loved one. ⁣

I know that God prepares our hearts in ways that are sometimes indescribable, and for experiences that we may be the only ones to know about. ⁣

God prepares hearts. ⁣

I also have learned that I can do my part to prepare my own heart for situations that I do know are ahead of me. ⁣

I’ve found literal priesthood power when I prepare my mind before entering the temple. ⁣

I’ve discovered genuine love when I prepare my heart to love and serve someone who seemed difficult to love and serve. ⁣

I’ve experienced great peace when I’ve prepared my soul to expect miracles. ⁣

“Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it”. (Ezra 7:10)⁣

Life is often busy and stressful and crazy. ⁣

But taking time to prepare our hearts or listening to promptings from God that prepare us for large tasks ahead will bring much more love and peace in the long run. ⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Everyone was taking the sacrament. ⁣

Everyone has gotten dressed up in their best clothes out of respect for the ordinance. ⁣

And I felt like a hot mess. ⁣

Trying to keep a baby from crying, trying not to let my kid flip the bread tray over (like he has before), trying to be at least kind of reverent. ⁣

Just trying. ⁣

But still a hot mess. ⁣

“Everyone else has it all together. Everyone else can handle their kids and keep them reverent. Everyone else is worshiping appropriately.”⁣

Those words started to creep in my head. ⁣

But then guess what happened?⁣

Over the next two hours, all the “perfect people” around me gave talks, led lessons, shared comments, chatted with me in the hallway…⁣

Each person opening up about a sufficient trial they are going through. ⁣

I KNOW this, and yet I still forget!⁣

Of COURSE the pews aren’t filled with perfect people who haven’t got a care in the world. ⁣

We are all a hot mess in one way or another. ⁣

Just because we smile or we wear nice clothes doesn’t mean our hearts are okay. ⁣

“The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)⁣

The Lord knows the sins, the heartaches, the distractions, the loneliness, the overwhelm that fills each seat at church. ⁣

And I think this is how I want to become more Christlike. ⁣

I see the outward appearance, yes. ⁣

But I want to know the hearts around me, too. ⁣

I want to connect and mourn and love. ⁣

So that instead of sitting in the pew, wallowing in self-pity, I can learn to see and love as the Savior does.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Perfect people in the pews first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“I’m reading my scriptures each day, so why am I still struggling to be patient with my kids?”⁣

“I followed that very specific prompting, so why did that friend start pulling away from me?”⁣

I’ve thought these questions, and many more like them, at various points in my life.⁣

Basically, they are all a form of:⁣

If I’m being loyal to God, why aren’t the circumstances of my life awesome?⁣

The Israelites were really good at looking at their outside circumstances. ⁣

And when they looked at what they had physically been through… boy, was there a lot to complain about. ⁣

“Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!… were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:2-3) ⁣

They had endured so much since leaving Egypt, so wouldn’t it have been better to just endure the hard things they had to face in Egypt?!⁣

Why did life seem to be getting harder and more difficult, even though they were following the Lord and the prophet? ⁣

Oh children of Israel, I can relate to that question. ⁣

And this is why I love studying the scriptures. ⁣

Because from far away, I can see the answer that the Lord wanted to teach the Israelites. ⁣

It seems crystal clear and obvious. ⁣

And then I go… “Oh yeah. Duh. He’s doing the same thing in my life, too.”⁣

God doesn’t want us to measure the success of our life by our circumstances. ⁣

He never has, in Old Testament times, New Testament times, Book of Mormon times, and modern times. ⁣

So why would I think my life would be the exception?⁣

Boom. I love studying the scriptures for this exact reason. I see the PATTERNS the Lord has worked with for centuries. ⁣

Why does the Lord care if we keep His commandments with sincere intent?⁣

Because He cares about the journeys that our hearts take. ⁣

Are we becoming more devoted? More dependent? More likely to align our will to His?⁣

That’s what a successful disciple’s life has looked like, dispensation after dispensation. ⁣

He wants to see where our hearts go and what they become.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Better to stay in Egypt!  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Kids would ask me a question and I felt like I needed to know every answer. ⁣

I needed to be the knowledge authority in my classroom, right?!⁣

But the best and worst part of teaching sixth grade is that the kids would start to (respectfully, for the most part) call me out when I said something incorrect. ⁣

It took a few months, but I finally realized how ironically empowering it was to admit that I didn’t know something to my students. ⁣

“Mrs. Black, why did you say THAT part of the story is the climax? Wouldn’t it be THIS part instead?”⁣

I figured out that it felt SO much better (and by the way, MUCH more effective for teaching) to say:⁣

“Oh interesting! Why do you think that? I could totally be wrong!”⁣

The discussions that comments like this would spur were AMAZING. And tons of class members would start to chime in with their opinions, too. ⁣

Real learning would occur. ⁣

I loved it. ⁣

And I feel like right around this same time at the beginning of my teaching career was when I started to adopt this humility into my personal life, too. ⁣

Instead of thinking I had the right answer in my marriage, or in my church callings, or in other decisions that I had to make, it was so much more empowering to recognize that I COULD be wrong.⁣

Replacing pride with humility one little step at a time has brought nothing but peace to my life. ⁣

In a gospel context:⁣

“Humility enables us to have broken hearts when we sin or make mistakes and makes it possible for us to repent.” —Elder Steven E. Snow⁣

I have found that it’s actually so freeing to acknowledge that I’ve been wrong. ⁣

I’m not perfect at it at all. ⁣

There are some sins that I want to cling to, like an insecure middle school teacher who insists they know the right answer. ⁣

“How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?” (Exodus 10:3)⁣

I hope I don’t take too long, though, to loosen my grip on those favorite sins, those rationales, those prideful tendencies. ⁣

Humility is much more freeing than pride.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I have to be right! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

The Lord speaks to us in so many ways, and the one He teaches in Section 8 is one of my favorites. ⁣

My husband and I recently had to make a decision that we were going back and forth on. ⁣

We prayed about it a lot, but our hearts weren’t telling us anything yet. ⁣

We finally logically came to the conclusion that we should go in one particular way. ⁣

After we had made that decision, our hearts started to feel at peace.

We felt super confident moving forward with our choice, and we knew we had our answer.

In one of the most famous scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord tells Oliver Cowdery:⁣

“Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.”⁣ (D&C 8:2)

In other words – the Lord likes to send us his Spirit through both our mind and our heart. ⁣

Both!⁣

That feeling in your heart is the Spirit, but that thought in your head that seems so logical is the Spirit, too. ⁣

However, I’ve learned they don’t always speak at the same time. ⁣

With this financial decision, the logical journey came first.

I wanted to feel it in my heart. Desperately. ⁣

But I needed to make up my mind before the confirmation came. ⁣

I needed to trust my agency and use it wisely. ⁣

And then other times, I feel it in my heart before I can work through the logic. ⁣

I want it to make sense, but it doesn’t really make sense yet.

So I have to move forward in pure faith that my heart is right, and wait for the logic to catch up. ⁣

I want the heart and the mind at the same time, but I think the Lord likes to give me opportunities to practice with just one or the other. ⁣

Practice my agency with my mind, and practice my faith in God with my heart. ⁣

And eventually, sometimes much much later, I feel it in both.

The post Heart and mind first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I love looking at all the styles and sizes and colors and backyards as they build!

But there are a few SUPER nice neighborhoods being built that I drove by the other day.

Every house seems to be a mansion.

The exterior walls are trendy white with dramatic black accents.

Raw wood beams.

Pools and pool houses.

Beautifully green landscapes that are in contrast to the brown desert.

HGTV’s dream.

And mine, too.

As I drive past, I picture the “someday”.

Wouldn’t it be so nice to live there?

To have room for everything and more? To throw all the parties and host the receptions? To have “made it”?

But every time my mind starts to go there…

I like to try something.

Do I want that black and white house, or do I want to be in the temple more?

I want the temple. 100%.

It changes my perspective immediately.

“How often are we so focused on pursuing the so-called good life that we lose sight of eternal life?” -Sheri Dew

Maybe we’ll be in a starter home our whole lives, but we’ll be so dang happy and serve the Lord every chance we get.

Maybe we’ll have to even downsize.

Or maybe that black and white mansion will become a (distant) reality!

In the end, it doesn’t matter nearly as much as where my heart is.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

Sometimes my brain needs a little reminder that my heart is on Jesus.

And if my heart is on Jesus, then my real goals and treasures in life become much more clear!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The black and white mansion  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I spent all summer feeling very divided.

I made the pros and cons lists, I did my research, I talked with my friends at each school…

But I still felt divided. I could not decide.

Finally, I had a friend at one of the schools that started inviting me to lots of things.

She knew the school counselor and had me go in and meet with her to see what classes I might take.

My friend was involved with Student Council and had me attend one of their summer planning meetings. (They even offered me the role of class secretary because the person who had won the election had dropped out!)

She told me about the teachers, the traditions, the rallies…

Guess which school I ended up choosing?

The one that my friend had pretty much immersed me in!

When Hosea was teaching about the wicked people in the land, he described them by saying: “their heart is divided”. (Hosea 10:2)

Do you feel like your heart is divided right now?

Do you have a part of it for the Lord, but also part of it on something else that keeps taking you away from Him?

I’ll give you the same advice I ended up doing that summer in high school:

Give yourself more experiences with the one you WANT to choose.

Talk about Jesus with your loved ones even more. Read even more about Him. Listen to other people talking about Him. Watch shows that promote the things that He taught.

Being divided is tough when you don’t know which way to go.

But if you KNOW which way you WANT to want, and your heart is still divided…

Give your heart all the evidence it can take to sway it to the Lord.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Give your divided heart evidence  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had this question come to my mind recently, and it has completely reframed how I, an already devoted Christian, have seen some issues in my life.

Do I really, really believe that following commandments, keeping covenants, and living by certain principles will make me a better person?

Or do I sometimes think that I know better?

We talk a lot about this idea of having the law “written upon our hearts”.

Really believing Jesus with our whole heart.

Jeremiah taught the same idea:

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

But what does it really mean to have the law, the commandments, our covenants, written in our hearts?

I think it means being able to wholeheartedly answer that first question with a resounding YES.

Believing that 5 more minutes of being in the scriptures and communing with God is better for my life than 5 more minutes of sleep.

Trusting that taking that first awkward step toward reconciliation is better than sitting in contention.

Knowing that turning off that TV show will be better for my soul than the few fleeting moments of entertainment.

Hoping that attending the temple will far outweigh anything else I could be doing during that time.

I would bet that the majority of people “know” with our minds that it’s good to keep the commandments.

It’s good to follow God’s law and keep our covenants.

But Jeremiah is encouraging us to think…

Do we REALLY, deep down, in our hearts, believe that life is better with Jesus?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Better with Jesus? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It was over a year ago now, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

“I know everyone says that bishops aren’t perfect, but I didn’t realize they would call someone so normal like us!”

“Oh no, we are going to be judged a lot.”

“This isn’t a convenient time in our life.”

“Will I ever see my husband again?”

“Hey this actually might be a lot of fun!”

… and a lot more weird, conflicting thoughts.

But it’s like our stake president could read my mind as we sat there in his office, processing the call.

He very wisely said:

“The Lord didn’t call you guys because you are perfect. Or even near-perfect. The Lord has called you because you are willing to serve.”

Prophets, apostles, bishops, RS presidents, counselors, leaders of any kind throughout time have never claimed to be perfect.

I’ve loved reading in the Old Testament this year about flawed, VERY FLAWED, humans that God used to spread His message and accomplish miracles.

But He was able to use them because they were WILLING to serve.

Isaiah, the man that we often revere as some kind of special guy who could spout off powerful prophecy that is complicated and deeply spiritual, felt unworthy for his call, too!

He felt so inadequate.

But then the Lord cleansed Isaiah from his sins, and he had a change of heart:

“I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

Now Isaiah was ready to accept the call.

Not because he no longer had any weaknesses or desire to sin.

Not because he would always make good decisions in the future.

But because he was now willing to accept the call.

That’s all God really wants from us.

Willing moms and dads, not perfect moms and dads.

Willing ministering brothers and sisters.

Willing missionaries.

Willing musicians.

Willing scriptorians.

Willing hearts.

He wants you, not in some future, perfected state.

But exactly as you are right now, if you are willing to give your heart to Him.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Bishops and willing hearts first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.