I used to wonder why I should really even care about studying history.

I mean, I guess it’s cool to know, but it doesn’t really affect my life.

And if you think about it, that’s really what most scriptures are—

Collections of stories from people who lived a really really really long time ago.

The Title Page of the Book of Mormon gives one of the primary purposes of the book:

“Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers. . . .”

Now THAT is a powerful reason that affects me.

God expects me to study and learn about the great things He has done for people in the past so that I can know what to expect from Him in the future!

He wants me to learn how He works.

The actual stories in the Book of Mormon may seem completely unrelated to what we are dealing with in our personal lives.

But there is so much to learn about how God interacts with people who make covenants with Him and remember Him.

There are so many great stories we will study this year.

And as we study each event, it helps when I pause and ask myself:

How would I have responded in this situation?

What would I have done or said or thought?

What are the emotions and principles here?

Simple questions like these help my brain figure out how the Nephites’ experiences with wars, secret combinations, and

evil kings can apply to my experiences with busy schedules, difficult people, and keeping the commandments.

Studying in the past can seem silly at face value.

But with an unchanging and immovable God, the patterns become meaningful and relevant.

I don’t study the scriptures just for the gripping plot lines and character development—

I study the scriptures to learn how God deals with His covenant children so that I know what I can expect as I create my own relationship with Him.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why do we care about history?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

That’s essentially what Hilkiah, one of King Josiah’s priests, did!

He discovered a lost “book of law”, and when Josiah learned what was contained in these scriptures, he was DEVASTATED.

In 2 Kings 22:13, we read: “Great is the wrath of the Lord that it is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book”. (2 Kings 22:13)

Josiah was realizing how much they had missed out on following the Lord for generations, all because they didn’t have these scriptures.

The scriptures are SO. IMPORTANT.

From a historical viewpoint, there are so many civilizations that didn’t keep a written record of what happened, which means we know virtually nothing about them.

I mean, we don’t have any written record of the 10 tribes from the northern kingdom of Israel after they were taken by the Assyrians, which is why we consider them “lost”.

The scriptures contain our spiritual history!

They keep us grounded in what the gospel really is.

They keep us grounded in what the Lord has promised and done for us.

They remind us of what He did for our ancestors.

In them, we can clearly see the patterns of what He has done over time.

This is why I have fallen in love with the scriptures–

They are like a constant checkpoint I can return to in order to make sure I’m not adding on or taking away from what God really wants to teach me.

I love the scriptures.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why the scriptures first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It seemed like this was a big focus when I was a youth— to write in a journal!

And so I’d write what happened each day for a couple days in a row, and then I’d forget for a few days and try to catch up…

And then it would be months until I had another church lesson about writing in a journal and I’d start the process all over again.

Can anyone else relate?!

Somewhere along the way, I’ve gradually started to “spiritually mature” when it comes to what I believe I need to be writing down.

And I was excited when I saw that the Lord said something similar about John Whitmer, too:

“He shall continue in writing and making a history of all the IMPORTANT THINGS which he shall observe and know concerning my church”. D&C 69:3

The idea that my great-great-great grandchild is someday going to want to know what I ate for breakfast on Wednesday and why that was different than Tuesday doesn’t really appeal to me.

(Although, if you love writing all the details of your life, go for it!)

In fact, the idea of recording my life for future generations doesn’t seem very compelling for me either.

Maybe someday, someone will read what I write, but I’m not necessarily doing it for them.

Instead, I’ve been motivated by two ideas:

I am writing down IMPORTANT THINGS due to the value of writing things down. (Idea formation/memory/pondering)

And

I am writing things down in ways that seem natural and simple to me.

So I’m not writing every detail of my life. Instead, I’m focusing on writing down the important things.

And then I’m writing them down in simple ways.

In my life, this looks like:

A note in my phone where I write down one or two words for what I’m thankful for that day.

A physical journal where I write down my emotions and impressions after General Conference.

An app where I quickly jot down funny stories from my kids that I want to remember.

Social media posts where I document important life events.

The margins of my scriptures where I write down spiritual impressions and ponder.

And so on.

For me, the idea of compiling every detail of my life into a single journal is not something that I’ve been impressed to do.

But when I’ve found my own unique ways to follow the counsel to write important things down, I feel blessed.

I’m able to slow down, process, and see the joy in my life as the Spirit brings certain, important things to my mind.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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