All in the space of one chapter.

My thoughts were always…

Really, Nephites?

You are going to forget the word of God and turn to wickedness that quickly? It seems a little ridiculous.

Until I examine my own life.

Circumstances can change super quickly.

And when circumstances change…

Habits can change FAST.

Hearts can change FAST.

This is not-so-great news.

And, this is great news.

We can make fast changes in our lives.

I can suddenly stop going to church.

And I can suddenly start reading my scriptures.

I can suddenly decide that I’m not going to initiate family prayer anymore.

And I can suddenly text a friend and ask how I can help.

Although most of us probably aren’t cycling between extreme wickedness or extreme righteousness every single week, we do find our lives and habits to be cyclical in nature.

And we can decide pretty quickly whether we are headed in one direction or another.

So what’s a quick change you can make right now?

Is there a decision you’ve been putting off? Is there a habit that you’ve been waiting to start? Is there a sin that you’ve been waiting to stop?

Make the fast decision now.

Because if the civilizations in the scriptures teach us anything, it’s just how quickly people can change.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

We talk so much about how he can poison by degrees.

In Helaman Chapter 1, we learn that Moronihah has his troops positioned in the outermost areas of the Nephite lands.

That makes sense, right?

The land closest to the Lamanites = greatest fortification.

In my life, I tend to put the greatest fortification on the things that I assume will be attacked the most, too.

I know how easy it is to have my spirit numbed by watching offensive media – so I make sure I’m attentive.

I know how easy it could be for Satan to get me to dwell in self-pity, jealousy, or hatred – so I unfollow anyone who evokes those emotions.

My efforts are there because I know those are easy wins.

But…

Sometimes, Satan is bold.

Sometimes, he skips the easy wins and goes straight for the heart.

I’ve had two major experiences like this in my life. Where suddenly and unexpectedly, my very core beliefs were being attacked and I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to hold up.

Coriantumr led the Lamanite armies past the outskirts of the Nephite lands. He didn’t even try to attack those first. Moronihah had all of his defense in the outer cities, and the Lamanites marched with great speed right past them.

They went straight for Zarahemla. The capital city.

The city fell.

And sometimes Satan marches past the little sins, the small temptations…

And he goes straight for those core beliefs.

And so I’ve learned to nurture my core beliefs. To place some guards there so it won’t fall at the first sign of distress.

Do I really believe in God?

Do I believe that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for me?

Do I believe in a well-designed plan that is meant to bring me growth and joy?

Do I believe that the Book of Mormon is true?

Do I believe that this Church is the correct church?

These core questions that I often think are safe and secure from enemy attacks, actually need reinforcements from time to time.

Yes, the outskirts are important. The “easy wins” are where the enemy attacks most of the time.

But don’t forget to build up those core, essential questions, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Not a sneaky enemy first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot.

Someone posted a picture recently that said, “I miss the toilet paper memes/stimulus check part of quarantine. Things are just getting dark now.”

I laughed, and then I got a little sad.

Everyone’s been navigating the past few months seemingly blindfolded – and then thrown a bunch of heavy social, political, and moral conundrums on top of that.

So what are we letting everything do to our souls?

At the end of the long, drawn-out, devastating war between the Nephites and the Lamanites, Mormon noticed two groups of people who emerged:

• Many people became hardened.
• Many people humbled themselves before God.

Same war. Different personal outcomes.

I’m sure each Nephite had different individual experiences with the war. Some had family members in battle, some lost loved ones, some were displaced, some dealt with political turmoil and rebellion, some had to change jobs. Some barely had anything change.

But at the end of the day, some people chose to harden their hearts because of the war.

And others chose to humble themselves.

Have you felt your heart get a little harder or a little softer these past few months? Have you made more enemies or more friends? Have you empathized more or judged more? Have you been a creator of joy and peace or of confusion and anger?

I think it’s perfect, not-so-coincidental timing that we are studying the end of the great Nephite-Lamanite war right now.

How will we reflect on our 2020 when it’s all over?

Which group will we be in?

The good news is that we’ve still got plenty of time left.

If we’ve felt hardened, if we’ve felt less love for others, if we’ve felt distant from God, we can practice humility.

And boy, does it take practice.

Praying to remove any pride. Feeling true empathy. Turning to our Savior.

And when presented with the ever-growing variables for the future, we can face them with love and faith. We can reach out in love and kindness to our neighbors. We can serve with love to our God.

The outside circumstances? Really, “it mattereth not.”

What matters is how our heart responds.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post What is the year doing to our soul? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

A few weeks ago, I set a personal goal for myself to make sure I wasn’t on my phone as often.

I wanted to improve my interactions with my family members and be more present, and I felt like my phone was holding me back a bit from that.

So I decided to do better.

Notifications would pop up and I would ignore them. I let emails go unread. I stopped scrolling just because I had “down time”.

But then I got a notification that looked really important.

And then I got an email that was super interesting and I just had to open it.

And then my phone was once again in my hand more often than it should be.

Finally, I decided I needed to tether it to a charger across the room with the sound on only for texts or phone calls – the actually important alerts.

And it worked.

I forgot about all of the missing notifications, and I was in the moment.
And when I intentionally picked up my phone later, all my notifications were still there for me to peruse.

Resisting my go-to sin started out strong, but I kept finding “reasonable” excuses until I was back to where I was before.

Resisting my sin was really easy when I removed the temptation. In fact, I didn’t really have anything to “resist”.

So yes, I am comparing my cell phone to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies’ swords. (I told you this would be a #millennialprobs post!)

But you can fill in the blank with whatever your go-to sin is right now: anger, inappropriate media, word of wisdom issues…

What makes you want to indulge in your sin?

A notification? A group of friends? A certain habit or routine? A social media account?

Try removing it.

Or at least try changing it.

Although we can ask for the strength to resist our favorite sins, often Heavenly Father asks that we take the initiative and remove the temptation altogether (or as much as possible).

And if we have great faith, we can bury that temptation deep in the earth, never to dig it up again.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Removing instead of resisting first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Zeniff’s people had to fight against the Lamanites.

Zeniff helped his people become good, righteous, and industrious.

And still, the Lamanites came.

He armed them with all sorts of weapons.

And still, people died.

And each day, on large and small scales, we are facing battles.

No matter how righteous we are.

No matter how much we have prepared and defend ourselves.

Real damage is done to our lives from these battles of all sizes that we are up against.

The difference between the wicked Lamanites and the righteous people of Zeniff?

The people of Zeniff went forth with God’s might.

Both groups experienced the battle.

But only one had God’s might and power with them.

I find this so comforting when going through all of my personal battles, both physical and emotional.

I have God on my side.

To strengthen me. To make the damage not quite as bad as it could be. To help me prepare even more.

And I feel that calm and peace as I go forward, into battle, with his might.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Bringing his might into battle first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.