I had finished up my freshman year, and had to make the pretty dramatic decision, at least to a 15-year-old, about which school to attend.

I knew my two options.

And I had faith in the power of prayer, so I prayed all summer long.

But… no answer.

But I knew the answer would come at some point, right? So I kept just praying.

Still… no answer.

My parents started to counsel me that I needed to get some more information about the two schools.

I needed to learn information, and that as I did, I would probably feel inspired for which school to attend.

I ended up getting course lists for both of the schools and mapping out my grad plan.

And all of a sudden, one of the schools seemed like a way better fit.

I was drawn to their huge offering of elective classes that matched my interests, and it just seemed like the right way to go. It seemed obvious!

And that’s when I realized… that was my answer.

When Joseph and other leaders were trying to make a decision together, the Lord taught them to make their decision: “inasmuch as it shall be made known to him by the voice of the Spirit, and according to the counsel of the order, and by the voice of the order.” D&C 104:36

Did you catch that? The Lord wanted them to come to their answer by listening to BOTH the voice of the spirit and the counsel of the people in the room.

President Nelson has even recently said: “I know that good inspiration is based upon good information”.

I’ve seen this time and time again since my teenage years.

Praying for inspiration AND learning from people who may know more than I do is the way that my mind is usually enlightened.

My husband sees this in his calling, too.

So, if you’ve been waiting for inspiration to strike, it might be worth it to start gathering information, and see where that takes you!

Have you had an experience like this before? Where good information or counsel led to better inspiration from the Spirit?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Information and inspiration first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Every Monday, I would write all my posts for the week for this account.

But this time, I wrote Monday’s post, I wrote Tuesday’s post… and then my mind went blank.

I could tell it wasn’t just writer’s block.

It was a true stupor of thought. And I literally could not think about any insights from the scriptures to share.

I started to pray. The time I had set aside was slowly ticking away.

I started to get frustrated. “I’m trying to be more organized and use my time more wisely so that I’m not multitasking so much! Please can you help unblock my mind?” I pleaded to Heaven.

I kept asking for that inspiration to come. Why wasn’t He answering my prayers?

And yet, I still couldn’t write.

It was a really weird experience, and it made a big impression in my mind.

And then, on a week in March 2020 that I’m sure you all remember, the world started to shut down that Wednesday.

By Thursday, everything had changed.

I sat down to write the remainder of my posts for the week, and my ideas and thoughts were bubbling over the surface. I couldn’t write fast enough to contain the messages from my heart and the scriptures.

When I finally had a chance to ponder on this situation, I had a powerful and clear thought come to my mind.

“You were not doing anything wrong on Monday. I wasn’t ignoring you. You just had to wait until something outside of your control happened before it all made sense.”

I just had to wait.

There was no giant spiritual lesson or divine ignorance.

It was literally just that the world hadn’t shut down yet.

This was so powerful to me because it was one of the most poignant times when I realized how little I know compared to God.

I was trying to counsel God, to make Him give me in the inspiration I usually received.

“Seek not to counsel your God.” D&C 22:4

I thought He wasn’t listening to me.

But in reality, I didn’t even know what I didn’t even know.

Sometimes, we just have to wait for other things to happen before we can receive a clear answer for our prayers.

God knows what He is doing.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Timing is everything! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

We don’t know exactly what this process was like for him…

But, based off of other patterns that Joseph spoke about, I have a feeling his mind kept getting drawn to certain topics, he would have questions come to mind about those topics, he would ask the questions in sincere prayer, and then he would receive some form of direction or inspiration.

So when Joseph started teaching the saints about everything that he had learned, he felt confident about what he was saying because he had felt the original INSPIRATION.

But those saints?

These people who had gotten glimpses of the spirit from the Book of Mormon or from hearing a sermon and wanted to learn more?

These people who all had unique backgrounds and stories, but still felt led to learn more?

They needed to have Joseph’s inspiration CONFIRMED to them.

It’s a pattern that I’ve seen my whole life, both in the church and in families.

Someone who is qualified receives inspiration.

A new family habit that mom and dad think should be implemented; a calling that needs to be extended by a Stake President; an idea from a committee member about how this Relief Society activity could be more effective.

And then others work toward receiving confirmation of their inspiration.

Sometimes, that confirmation is immediate.

It’s in the moment the idea or teaching is spoken.

I remember the first time President Nelson spoke as the prophet. I immediately felt confirmation from the Spirit that his call had come through divine inspiration.

But other times, that confirmation takes a while.

That new counsel or calling takes a bit to settle. Emotions may get in the way of an initial confirmation, and so we have to wait.

But when it comes, it is powerful.

As the Lord taught in D&C 20:10, “Which was given by inspiration, and is confirmed to others”.

Sometimes we receive the inspiration, and sometimes we wait in patience for the confirmation.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Inspiration and Confirmation first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

By Friday, I had gotten to know the girls in my group extremely well, but I was still a little nervous about this lesson.

I mean, I had taught them tons of times by that point, but I felt the weight of this particular lesson for some reason.

I prayed a lot and pondered a lot, and eventually I had a story pop into my mind to share and center my lesson around.

Friday came, and it was a beautiful experience. The Spirit was felt, girls opened up about their feelings, and I knew that I had followed the promptings of the Spirit.

The next week came, and I felt so excited for Friday’s lesson that time! I had the thought to re-plan my lesson, but I pushed it aside, because the previous week had been so successful.

Friday came, and I taught the lesson the same exact way.

And it was a total flop. I didn’t feel the Spirit, I could tell my girls weren’t feeling it, and I just felt confused.

Until the Spirit quietly reprimanded me:

“I am not a calculation.”

I’ve thought about that moment a lot.

The Spirit will not always tell us to do the same things.

It isn’t some exact calculation that tells us that if we sing this hymn, or read this scripture, or tell this story, or conduct our meetings in this exact way, we will automatically bring the Spirit.

Some of us might be in leadership or teaching callings right now that require us to constantly ask for the Spirit’s guidance on how to fulfill our assignments.

But I also thought about my role as a mother. As a wife. As a daughter of God.

Am I clinging to, “This is how it worked for me in the past, so I’m going to keep doing it!”?

Or am I constantly relying on the Lord to teach me through His Spirit how to best study my scriptures TODAY?

How to best pray, how to teach my children, how to grow my marriage, how to serve others… today?

Because I think it changes all the time.

Effective scripture study today looks a whole lot different to me than it did 2 years ago.

And that’s just fine.

So my reflecting question is – am I guessing I know exactly what the Spirit wants me to do?

Or am I waiting for His constant recalculation?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Recalculating the Spirit first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.