“Man, that Moroni is the worst writer ever.”⁣

Right?!⁣

Like, it’s almost laughable. ⁣

But clearly, to Moroni, this was a serious issue. ⁣

He believed that he wasn’t great at writing.

He believed that this was a big weakness of his.

“When we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.” (Ether 12:25)⁣

He didn’t want to be mocked or compared. ⁣

Now THERE’S a feeling I think we all can relate to. ⁣

We see a little kid, afraid to perform at a piano recital…

And we tell them that it’s totally fine if they make mistakes because everyone is proud of them just for getting up to perform. ⁣

But we ourselves are paralyzed by a fear of messing up. ⁣

We go to someone else’s house and tell them not to worry about it no matter how many times they apologize for “the mess”.⁣

And yet we don’t want anyone to see our house unless we clean. ⁣

We encourage our friends to accept a new calling, telling them that this will be a new opportunity to grow and expand their talents. ⁣

And we think the Bishop’s got it all wrong when we hear of our new assignment. ⁣

(There are so many more examples like this…)

We feel such loving compassion for Moroni talking about his weaknesses. ⁣

And yet we sometimes spare ourselves that same loving compassion. ⁣

So let’s try to be more compassionate, forgiving, and patient with our own weaknesses this week. ⁣

To look on our shortcomings the same way a tender, loving parent would. ⁣

The way a loyal friend would. ⁣

The way our perfect, divine, Heavenly Parents do.

Weaknesses are an opportunity for growth and a new chance for us to turn to the Lord and experience a miracle.

“Many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.” -Elder Uchtdorf

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post “He’s the worst writer”  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Bosses can be inconsistent.

Friends can be selfish.

Spouses can be forgetful. ⁣

Prophets (like Moroni admits) can have terrible writing or speaking skills.

It’s all normal. ⁣

In church, we like to say, “Nobody’s perfect.” ⁣

We say it matter-of-factly, throw it into lessons and talks, and sometimes even chuckle while we say it. ⁣

But then we have to actually interact with each other!

Those imperfections can become roadblocks ranging from frustrating to full-on impossible to work with. ⁣

This is life. ⁣

⁣But Moroni reminds us of an important element to dealing with imperfections in other people:

“⁣Condemn me not because of mine imperfection.”(Mormon 9:31)

While we most certainly are aware of the weaknesses of the people we interact with every day, we should not CONDEMN others because of them.

Judging, criticizing, or labeling people by the worst things they’ve done isn’t what the Savior does.

We honestly just can’t avoid noticing other people’s imperfections.

But we can avoid using other people’s imperfections to condemn them.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

It’s common to hear: “Don’t judge others”.

And I agree with that 100%.

We have absolutely no business judging others.

But we still need to judge.

I can see someone making a choice with what they are doing on the Sabbath day.

And I can think, “Hmmmm. I don’t think that represents the sign that I want to give to my Heavenly Father on the Sabbath.

“That’s not something I will choose to do on Sundays.”

And it has nothing to do with my feelings about that other person.

I may not know the whole story of why they made that choice; that choice may have actually been right for them in their circumstance; they might be struggling with their testimony… It’s not my business to know it all.

I can still feel so much love for them.

And make the judgement call about MY behavior.

I can repeat this over and over with different examples, like choosing when to wear garments, choosing different political candidates, choosing how to fulfill callings, etc.

It’s so easy to go too far in the wrong direction.

To see someone making a choice and then judging them, harboring bad feelings, and thinking that we know better.

Alma counseled his son to “judge righteously”. (Alma 41:14)

And modern leaders have echoed with similar messages:

“We are to judge righteously, never self-righteously, never unrighteously.” – Jeffrey R. Holland

Judging righteously is focused completely on ourselves and our own relationship with God.

It’s taking in information from the examples around us, observing the fruits of others’ labors, dealing with the results of other people’s choices.

And then using that information to refine our own actions, desires, and motivations.

We have to judge.

But we do not judge others.

We just get to love.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Basically, we learn one person’s story.

And then we assume that everyone who has a similar characteristic must also have a similar life.

Our brains unfortunately do this with skin color, how people are dressed, hair styles, gender, religion…

We assume.

We assume that everyone at church is doing great, and we are the odd ones out.

We’ve learned the single story of a “perfect member” and apply it to everyone sitting around us, alienating ourselves as the “other.”

Or we assume that “less-active” people have lost their testimonies because we think we know their full story.

Learning an individual person’s single story is a great way to know THAT person.

The danger comes when we use it to make negative assumptions and unfounded judgments.

Because at church, we have such a variety!

I have learned to truly love the diversity of life experiences, personalities, gifts, interests, and education that I’m surrounded by each Sunday.

We DO have many similarities when we belong to this church.

We are asked to become one in purpose. ⁣

But that doesn’t mean for a second that we all come to the table with the same experiences. ⁣

And I love it!⁣

“We, being many, are one body in Christ… Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us”. (Romans 12:5-6)

Becoming unified as a church means recognizing the variety of talents, life experiences, stages of testimony, and education that we each have.

And we celebrate it!

And we use it to uplift each other and connect with each other! ⁣

We truly get to know people instead of assuming and judging. ⁣

Connection.

The body of Christ is all connected in one whole.

The more we can connect and share, the closer we become, unified in Christ.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The danger of a single story 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 cast 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 The hearts in the pews around me first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.