I was paying attention… then I zoned out. ⁣

And then he finished the training. ⁣

“Any questions?” ⁣

Purely to protect my pride, I said “Nope, that all sounds great!”⁣

But I had no clue what to do for most of the tasks. ⁣

I’ve found this dichotomy interesting to reflect on:⁣

My supervisor did exactly what he was supposed to do. ⁣

He taught me everything. He was very kind. ⁣

But I had completely disengaged as a learner, and it was reflected in how much help I needed the first few days of the job. ⁣

Had he failed his training because I struggled? ⁣

I don’t think so. ⁣

A lot of emotions run through my mind when I read this statement in the Family: A Proclamation to the World:⁣

“Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.”⁣

But one thing I’ve been focused on is: ⁣

The effectiveness of my teaching is not always reflected in how well the students learn. ⁣

Both the teacher and the learner need to be willing in order for true understanding to occur. ⁣

This doesn’t excuse poor or half-hearted teaching, but it takes away our complete dependence on results in order to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching. ⁣

We, as parents, are asked to teach our children how to love, to serve, to work hard, and to keep the commandments. ⁣

Not to make them be loving, service-filled, hard-working, commandment-keepers. ⁣

We have a solemn responsibility to teach as well as we possibly can, pleading with the Lord to know exactly what our children might need from us. ⁣

Nothing more and nothing less.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My job training failure first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

In these classes, we would learn different strategies and theories for keeping kids’ attention.

We’d also talk about how to handle behavioral issues.

However, when I stepped into a fifth-grade classroom for my student teaching…

I realized I still had a lot to learn about managing a group of kids!

I felt like I had forgotten everything.

I wanted to go back to my professors and ask for their advice, but that wasn’t an option.

I just needed to give it a try and figure it out.

And after a few weeks…

Things started to click!

I grew my knowledge exponentially by just giving things a try.

The Lord taught the Saints, who had all officially been Church members for less than a year, that:

“He that receiveth my law and doeth it, the same is my disciple.” (D&C 41:5)

Yes, these Saints needed to prepare to receive the law.

But they also needed to be ready to just do it.

Can you imagine if all those new converts waited until they felt completely ready before serving missions?

Certainly, they needed to learn gospel truths.

But they also needed to just get to work.

How do we get more faith?

By doing things that require a lot of faith.

The older I get, the more I realize I don’t usually feel “totally qualified” to do the things I’m doing.

But that’s kind of the fun of it!

We get to learn, figure things out, and grow as we just try.

Learning gospel truths is so important.

But when we pair that learning with just getting out there and doing good stuff, I think we can be unstoppable.

“We should not expect to understand everything before we act.” – Elder Uchtdorf

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I said this my freshman year at BYU.

I grew up in a household of all sisters and football seemed like a weird, confusing sport.

It wasn’t just “score a goal”— there were tons of weird rules for how to get there and all sorts of strange hand motions and formations.

So I was the stereotypical clueless girl attending football games, yelling “first down” when everyone else did, just having fun.

“Football is so confusing! None of it makes sense!”

But I actually hate not knowing what’s going on, so curiosity got the best of me.

I started asking questions.

“Why is everyone booing?” “What do the downs even mean?” “What position is that guy playing?”

And surprisingly… football started to make sense!

I “got it”. I could attend a game and make a comment while sounding vaguely educated.

It turns out that if you never ask questions about how football works, it will always seem confusing.

And it turns out that as soon as you start asking questions, you start learning and things make sense.

It reminds me of the classic exchange between Nephi and his brothers:

“And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

“And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” (1 Nephi 15:8-9)

AKA— I don’t know how football works because no one has told me.

Even Zephaniah prophesied:

“And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him.” (Zephaniah 1:6)

He’s teaching us that the people who turn away from the Lord are the ones who aren’t inquiring for Him.

They aren’t seeking Him. They aren’t yearning for a relationship with Him. They aren’t asking Him the questions in their hearts.

If we want more knowledge, a stronger relationship, or more devotion, we can’t forget how essential it is to inquire from the original Source.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Inquire and seek  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Do you think he ever drove his parents crazy and made big messes?

Oh, I’m sure.

Did you know his parents weren’t active in the Church? He wasn’t baptized until he was 16 years old.

I think it can be tempting to look at our beloved prophet, Russell M. Nelson, and think, “Wow, he is different. His gospel knowledge and spiritual strength are unparalleled.”

Now of course, President Nelson has received gifts of the spirit and powerful abilities from his mantle and priesthood keys.

But… he also had to grow and develop like anyone else!

He had to figure out his relationship with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He had to decide if he thought it was true.

He had to study the scriptures and pray and learn how he best receives personal revelation.

He had to endure heartbreaking trials and devastating setbacks.

He had to practice serving others and communicating well.

He learned how to teach and speak with the priesthood authority.

We aren’t all aspiring to become the prophet, but we can still grow in the Lord!

David was the king of all Israel… who started out as a sheep herder.

“And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him.” (2 Samuel 5:10)

David had to learn to be great, too!

Knowing how to study the scriptures isn’t just for the old guy in your gospel doctrine class.

Loving and understanding the temple isn’t just for that sister who’s been serving for 20 years.

We can all grow great!

What are the next steps for you? How do you want to “grow great” next?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I was paying attention… then I zoned out.

And then he finished the training.

“Any questions?”

Purely to protect my pride, I said “Nope, that all sounds great!”

But I had no clue what to do for most of the tasks.

I’ve found this dichotomy interesting to reflect on:

My supervisor did exactly what he was supposed to do.

He taught me everything. He was very kind.

But I had completely disengaged as a learner, and it was reflected in how much help I needed the first few days of the job.

Had he failed his training because I struggled?

I don’t think so.

A lot of emotions run through my mind when I read this statement in the Family: A Proclamation to the World:

“Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.”

But one thing I’ve been focused on is:

The effectiveness of my teaching is not always reflected in how well the students learn.

Both the teacher and the learner need to be willing in order for true understanding to occur.

This doesn’t excuse poor or half-hearted teaching, but it takes our complete dependence on results in order to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching.

We, as parents, are asked to teach our children how to love, to serve, to work hard, and to keep the commandments.

Not to make them be loving, service-filled, hard-working, commandment-keepers.

We have a solemn responsibility to teach as well as we possibly can, pleading with the Lord to know exactly what our children might need from us.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post We can teach but not force learning first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.