The people in Nephi and Lehi’s prison were surrounded by darkness.

“They were overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear.” (Hel. 5:28)

Darkness.

And then Aminadab remembered something from his youth.

Someone.

Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ dispels darkness.

And so he told the others to cry until they had faith in Christ.

The cloud of darkness was dispersed.

And they were all encircled by a pillar of fire.

“They were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.” (Hel. 5:44)

Calling upon Christ dispelled darkness in the most literal sense.

And calling upon Christ can dispel every kind of darkness that we have.

But the cool part is that he doesn’t just dispel the darkness.

He replaces the darkness with light and power.

With unspeakable joy and unexplainable peace.

We feel like singing and shouting with the armies of heaven.

It’s that feeling that you just can’t prove to anyone else when you feel it.

And unfortunately, we can sometimes later convince ourselves we never felt it in the first place.

But it is as undeniable in the moment as if fire literally surrounded us and we conversed with angels.

It’s the full presence of the Spirit of God.

And so when we feel that darkness closing in and weighing us down, we need to remember where to turn in order to see again.

And that is toward Jesus Christ.

He dispels the darkness and gives us an abundance of his Spirit in its place.

Artwork by Brent Borup.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Darkness to light first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

As I’ve developed in the gospel, I’ve had times where my testimony has been built on awesome ward members and leaders.

Sometimes, it’s been built on callings that I’ve had, or organizations I’ve been a part of.

Sometimes, it’s been built on “the church”.

None of these are bad things to have testimonies of.

But Helaman wisely warned his sons of the dangers of building their foundations on anything other than Jesus Christ.

Because the winds and the storms will come.

Ward members will be rude.

Leaders will make serious mistakes.

We will get released from callings.

Organizations are re-organized, and re-organized again.

We can’t go to church.

These are the winds!

So where do I build, even when everything I used to love about the church starts to crumble?

Jesus Christ.

He is the rock.

He is who I can trust to ALWAYS be there.

I have worked to rebuild my testimony up from there.

From that sure foundation.

Our ward, our callings, our friends, our church buildings…

They all can point us to Jesus Christ when we have this new perspective change.

But we have to make sure that they are support beams compared to the role that our Savior plays in our spiritual development.

If we build on him, we will not fall.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

He was in a dark and dreary waste.

He had followed an angel in a white robe, but now he was in total darkness.

Wandering for hours.

Can you imagine?

Maybe you can.

You KNOW you are supposed to be here. Something good brought you here.

But now, darkness. The heavens have closed. There’s no happiness. No peace. Just dreariness.

For hours.

Why? What was the point of bringing me here to this wasteland of darkness and nothingness? I thought I was doing what I was supposed to do?

Lehi prayed. He prayed unto the Lord that he would have mercy on him. What a desperate but humble prayer.

He DIDN’T ask why. He DIDN’T complain. He DIDN’T accuse God of anything.

He just asked for mercy.

Asking for mercy shows the ultimate understanding of our true relationship with God.

The abandonment of all entitlement.

True humility.

And after this prayer of mercy? The field and the tree. A clear path to true happiness.

Happy Studying.

-Cali Black

The post Wandering in Darkness first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

When one child expressed a little bit of unhappiness with this new limit, the mother said that she would set the same exact time limits on the same apps on her phone. They would all be in this new challenge together, and she would take the lead. I LOVE THAT SHE DID THIS. 

She was then shocked the next day when her “time limit” alert came much sooner than she expected. She didn’t realize how much she probably needed the time limits, too. 

What a beautiful example of a mother leading by example in her family. She is now able to sympathize and work on her own habits, while setting an invaluable example for her teenagers. 

Who partook of the fruit first in Lehi’s dream? 

Lehi.

This fruit was “desirable to make one happy”. 

Lehi tasted of that happiness and joy first. And THEN he desired that his family should partake of this same happiness. 

I think the order of this is so important. 

He tasted of this joyous fruit, STAYED by the tree, and beckoned his family members to come join him. 

He didn’t tread through the mists of darkness, he didn’t search through the great and spacious building, he didn’t wade through the water. 

He stayed by the tree as an example for his family members to follow. And many of them did follow him!

This is my passionate viewpoint for “Come Follow Me” as well. 

Are WE studying and learning and growing from the scriptures, tasting of that fulfilling JOY that comes from the Book of Mormon, and then beckoning our family members to come join us?

Or do we sometimes try to push them towards the tree while forgetting to stay by the sweet, white, happy tree ourselves?

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s a whole lot easier to teach a lesson about being kind and patient than it is to actually be kind and patient all the time. 

But when we make the journey to the tree, taste of the happiness, and then beckon others to join us, we make a much more compelling argument than if we have tasted it and then left. 

Taste the joy FIRST, and then stay by the tree.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Beckoning from the Tree first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But I am so grateful for the few glimpses we get into how Lehi and Sariah interacted.

We have the famous account of Sariah complaining and murmuring that her sons were probably killed in the wilderness, and that she can’t believe she trusted her “visionary” husband.

Tons of lessons can be and have been taught about this account of Sariah. 

But I want to look at the little glimpse of interaction between Sariah and Lehi AFTER the complaining and BEFORE their sons return.  

Sariah complains. She complains that her sons are gone, and probably dead. She starts to put the blame on her husband and his visions. 

She’s clearly not in a good place. And honestly, for very understandable reasons. No shade being thrown to Sariah. I have complained and put blame on my husband for MUCH less offences than leaving our home and losing my children in the wilderness. 

But how does Lehi react?

He reaffirms the truth of the “visions” he has had…

And then he COMFORTS her. 

How beautiful. 

Lehi doesn’t try to call her out. He doesn’t turn around and put the blame on her. He doesn’t say, “You should probably pray harder about this”. 

He just comforts his grieving and frustrated wife. 

What an example of grace and pure love.

Sometimes in marriage, it becomes easy to point fingers. To tell your spouse exactly what they are doing wrong in detailed note form, with backup sources. 

But often, what we all need is just comfort.

To know that we are loved and cared for, no matter what our weaknesses are in the moment. 

Shoutout to my fantastic husband who is literally the perfect example of just loving and comforting me, even when I’m clearly in the wrong or dealing with some major shortcomings. Pregnancy ain’t easy on me (not that it’s easy for many people!) and one of his biggest strengths is his ability to COMFORT without any judgement. 

Marriages really are composed of two imperfect people. But how we react to our spouse’s imperfections makes a big difference. Do we chasten and correct more often, or do we just comfort and love? 

What a great pattern Lehi and Sariah give us to follow!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

Artwork by Joseph Brickey

The post When your spouse is WRONG first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It was also suuuuuper dry in Arizona last summer. 

14 days before the first day of Stake YW Camp, we received word that the stake needed to cancel the camp. The fire hazard was too much and the surrounding forests were being closed. 

YW Camp Cancelled. 14 days before. Yes, it was as dramatic and shocking as it might sound. 

But here’s the more dramatic part: Camps were turned over to the ward level. But the only days that everyone had already blocked off of their busy summers were… 14 days away.

So with 14 days’ notice, our ridiculously talented YW Presidency threw together a Ward YW Camp at a cabin that was randomly available. Planned food, activities, horseback riding, crafts… 

The girls loved it.

But let’s go back to those 14 days of chaos before everything turned out well.

There was a little bit of murmuring at first, from girls, parents, and leaders. We had spent multiple mutuals planning everything out. Girls had used their time and resources to create beautiful and creative decorations that went along with our stake theme. Budgets had been spent.

The Sunday before this new Ward Camp, our Bishop came to speak to the YW. 

What he said was so poignant to me.

“The Lord knew this would happen the whole time. He knew the whole time you were spending hours prepping for a lip-sync battle that would never happen. He knew the whole time you were shopping for gifts. He knew the whole time you were coming up with cheers and painting banners.

“This was the plan the whole time. This was no surprise to Him. 

“So what lessons do you think He wants you to learn from this?”

I think attitudes were changed in both the hearts of the leaders and the girls that day.

We knew this was a “hard trial” that we needed to have good attitudes about. 

But it changed our perspectives to remember that this was no “wrench in the plan” – this WAS the plan all along. 

And knowing that it really was the plan made it a whole lot easier to adjust our attitudes and find the beautiful and intricate lessons that we needed to learn. 

Why did Lehi’s sons have to “go back” to Jerusalem two different times after leaving it? It was the plan all along. It was meant to happen that way. Which means, there were lessons to learn. What lessons do YOU think they were supposed to learn? And what lessons can WE learn when we feel like we are being asked to “go back”?

The Lord will not be surprised.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Lessons from a cancelled YW Camp first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.