There were two different groups of people.

Both oppressed by the Lamanites.

Both wanting to escape to Zarahemla.

The first group, led by Limhi, thought about how they were going to escape.

They brainstormed ideas, listened to Gideon, and came up with a plan.

Their result?

Limhi’s men gave strong wine to the Lamanite guards and escaped while they were in a drunken sleep.

It worked!

The second group was led by Alma.

They prayed for a long time for relief, and finally got an answer:

“Thou shalt go before this people, and I will go with thee and deliver this people out of bondage.” (Mosiah 24:17)

Not knowing exactly what was going to happen, the people packed their belongings and waited with faith.

Miraculously, the Lamanite guards were in a deep sleep, and everyone escaped!

The Lord answers the prayers of His people.

But He answers them in different ways, in different situations, and in different times.

While Limhi had to come up with ideas, talk with others, and execute the plan…

Alma and his people were just waiting in faith, acting on directions they didn’t quite understand yet.

But guess what was the same with both groups?

The result!

They both were freed from bondage because they relied on the Lord.

“Every one of our paths is different.” – Reyna Aburto

No matter the path the Lord takes, He will provide a way to make miracles happen.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Two groups, two paths first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

There are seven blind mice who each try to figure out what the large object in front of them is. ⁣

One feels the foot and thinks it’s a pillar.

Another one feels the trunk and thinks it’s a snake.

And so on. . .

They all are accurate in their assessment of what they physically feel, and draw completely reasonable conclusions. ⁣

But they are all wrong. ⁣

It’s an elephant. ⁣

The Lamanites made a reasonable, but very incorrect, assumption that the people who kidnapped some of their women were the people of Limhi they kept clashing with next door.

“They were angry with the people of Limhi, for they thought it was the people of Limhi.” (Mosiah 20:6)

But they were wrong. ⁣

This is an essential lesson to learn here on earth: ⁣

While we do our best to draw accurate conclusions each day, there are many times when we are very wrong. ⁣

Your ministering sister who didn’t reach out to you when you were clearly struggling, is dealing with brutal anxiety.

Your bishop who completely ignored you when you obviously needed help, had just received some concerning personal news.

Your friend who didn’t respond to your text, saw your message but then got interrupted by her kids and honestly forgot to reply.

We do our best to create the truth of what’s happening around us, but at the end of the day, we are often wrong in our assumptions of other people. ⁣

And other people are wrong about us. ⁣

So what do we do about this?

I think happiness and peace are found in letting go of the frustrating stories we make up when we don’t actually know the whole truth. ⁣

Sometimes I like to come up with my own backstories in my mind that completely and reasonably explain what someone did.

But most of the time, I’ve learned to just give it to God.

I’m naturally going to feel frustrated, confused, let down, forgotten, annoyed. . .

But I can quickly return to happiness and peace when I let that anger go and humble myself before Jesus Christ, the only One who knows exactly what everyone is going through.

Humility, surrendering it to God, and finding love instead.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Seven Blind Mice first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

An event didn’t work out the way I was planning?

I think: How could I have improved the interaction and turn out?⁣

I didn’t get the job?

I think: How could I have presented myself and my experience better?⁣

My kid is developing a bad habit?

I think: How am I contributing to it and how can I help her stop?⁣

It’s honestly a really useful trait in my life that keeps me from playing the victim. ⁣

…But it gets a little tricky when it comes to trials and suffering. ⁣

(I heard once that all weaknesses are just the flip sides of our strengths, and I think it’s totally true!)

Sometimes I need to remember that life is messy, and hard things happen just because they happen. ⁣

Not everything needs to be or even can be solved. ⁣

“Not all the whirlwinds in life are of your own making. Some come because of the wrong choices of others, and some come just because this is mortality.” – Neil L. Anderson

King Limhi’s people were really good at recognizing when their problems were because of their iniquities. ⁣

“For if this people had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this great evil should come upon them.” (Mosiah 7:25)

I can relate! Sometimes I’m not feeling the Spirit and realize it’s because I’ve let some of the important little things slide. ⁣

Sometimes, we need to do better at acknowledging our suffering is because of our own poor choices. ⁣

But other times, we need to remember that all people, good and bad, throughout history have faced trials of all shapes and sizes, just because this is a fallen world filled with mortal people. ⁣

And the cool part is that no matter what causes our suffering – ourselves, people around us, or just circumstances…⁣

The answer is always the same!

Even when we can’t determine the cause— we aren’t sure if we caused it or if it just happened…

We can always turn to our Savior for relief and peace.

More Jesus is the answer, no matter the cause.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Did I cause this problem?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

First group: Limhi thought about how to escape. He asked the people for ideas. Gideon came up with a plan that seemed like a good idea.

So they gave strong wine to the Lamanite guards, and escaped while they were in a drunken sleep. It worked!

Second group: Alma and his people prayed, and the Lord told them to just wait a little bit longer. Finally, the Lord told Alma that they would escape that night, and that everyone should gather their things.

The Lamanite guards were in a deep, unexplained sleep, and Alma’s people all escaped.

The Lord answers the prayers of his people.

But He answers prayers in different ways for different people, situations, and times.

Limhi had to figure it out. He had to use the people and the resources he had, come up with a plan, and execute it.

How empowering!

WE can solve it own problems! WE can wrestle and come up with ideas, consider them all, and then execute the best plan of attack!

Alma had to rely on the Lord. It seemed impossible, but THE LORD came up with the plan. HE told them what to do. HE made the solution possible.

How faith-promoting!

The Lord will make a way, even when it seems impossible! He will make miracles happen! We just follow the promptings we receive, and the rest will be taken care of.

I’m grateful for the times in my life where I’ve been allowed to figure things out. To struggle to learn new skills, to be creative, to make scary decisions and then move forward with them.

And I’m also grateful for the times when I feel lost and I can feel the Lord guiding me and proving the miracles that I need in order to move forward.

Different times. Different people. Different answers.

But still the same result.

Artwork by James Coates

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Different answers, same result first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

There are seven blind mice who each try to figure out what the large object in front of them is.

One feels the feet and thinks it’s a pillar, one feels the trunk and thinks it’s a snake, etc.

They all are accurate in their assessment of what they physically feel, and draw completely reasonable conclusions.

But they are all wrong.

It’s an elephant.

The Lamanites surrounding Limhi’s people had sworn an oath to not attack.
But then some of the Lamanites’ daughters were taken.

The people of Limhi had caused them trouble before. They weren’t happy in their current situation and didn’t like how much they were taxed.

So clearly, Limhi’s people were to blame for this horrendous crime.

The Lamanites went to battle to get their daughters back and show that they wouldn’t stand for this evil.

They fought like lions.

But they were wrong.

This is an essential lesson to learn here on earth:

While we do our best to draw accurate conclusions each day, there are many times when we are very wrong.

Your ministering sister who didn’t reach out to you when you were struggling has been dealing with anxiety and couldn’t find the mental energy to do anything.

Your Bishop who completely ignored you had just received some concerning news and was just trying to get through the meeting.

Your husband who didn’t load the dishwasher the correct way doesn’t know what your version of “correct” means.

We do our best to create the truth of what’s happening around us, but at the end of the day, we are often wrong in our assumptions of other people.

And other people are wrong about us.

Happiness and peace are found in letting go of the frustrating stories we tell ourselves when we don’t actually know the whole truth.

Happiness and peace are found when we let our anger go, and humble ourselves before Christ.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

An event didn’t work out the way I was planning? How could I have improved the interaction and turn out?

I didn’t get the job? How could I have presented myself and my experience better?

My daughter is developing a bad habit? How am I contributing to it and how can I help her stop?

It’s honestly a really useful trait in my life that keeps me from playing the victim.

…But it gets a little tricky when it comes to trials and suffering.

Sometimes I need to remember that life is messy, and hard things happen just because they happen.

Not everything needs to be or even can be solved.

King Limhi’s people were really good at recognizing when their problems were because of their iniquities.

I feel connected to them when I’m not feeling the Spirit and realize it’s because I’ve let some of the important little things slide.

Sometimes, we do need to better at acknowledging our suffering is because of our own poor choices.

But other times, we need to remember that all people, good and bad, throughout history have faced trials of all shapes and sizes, just because this is a fallen world filled with mortal people.

And the cool part is that no matter what causes our suffering – ourselves, people around us, or just circumstances…

We can always turn to our Savior for relief and peace.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post What is the cause? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

These people were worn down.

They had been driven out of their homes by the Lamanites.

They had been taxed fifty percent of everything they possessed.

The Lamanites came to war against them.

Many of their family and friends had been killed.

They had lived under good and not-so-good kings.

I can picture them – tired, worn down, confused, on their last thread of hope waiting for people from Zarahemla to find them and save them.

Sending out search parties to find Zarahemla.

Praying for people of Zarahemla to find them and save them.

And then King Limhi calls them all to the temple.

The people of Zarahemla had come! They had found them! Their deliverance from the Lamanites would be coming soon!

I can imagine their joy! Their saviors had come.

But Limhi had just been taught King Benjamin’s words by Ammon and the others from Zarahemla. His heart had been converted. 

And so Limhi helps his people point their hearts and their trust in the right direction.

These people from Zarahemla? They are not your saviors.

Our trust should be in God.

Lift up your heads! Rejoice! Because we don’t need to put our trust in mortal men.

We have a loving God to put our trust in.

Our rejoicing and our happiness come when we put our trust in God – not in people coming from Zarahemla, not in restrictions being lifted, not in your health changing, not in your kid mastering potty training…

Our joy and happiness can be found NOW when we put our trust in GOD.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Where is our trust? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.