That’s what I used to think this scripture was referring to:⁣

“Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.” (D&C 130:18⁣)

Learn as much as you possibly can from school and classes so that you can still be super smart in the next life, too. ⁣

As if you aren’t going to be able to learn anything new in the next life. ⁣

But that doesn’t make sense, because I sure hope I learn tons more after I leave this life!⁣

So what could this mean?⁣

What about emotional intelligence?⁣

Social intelligence?⁣

Spiritual intelligence? ⁣

There are so many different kinds of intelligences. ⁣

I think the Lord is telling us to become well-rounded people. ⁣

To grow in any area we can. ⁣

To figure out how to handle our emotions and not get so angry and reactive. ⁣

To figure out how to make friends and reach out to others in ways that connect. ⁣

To recognize when the Spirit is prompting us and when prayers have been answered.

To learn about new subjects that are interesting to us and keep us engaged. ⁣

To master the right tone while you sing, to get the perfect bake on the cake, to improve your mile time, to finish that difficult project…⁣

Gaining intelligence in any area is encouraged! ⁣

And won’t that make the next life so much more amazing?!⁣

An expanse of people who used their time on earth to grow in so many different ways!⁣

And then can you imagine meeting people from other dispensations and exchanging knowledge? ⁣

I have absolutely no clue what things will be like, but I imagine something beautiful like this. ⁣

Knowing things is always better than not knowing things. ⁣

But we also don’t have to know it all. (Because I have no clue how to get a perfect bake on a cake.)⁣

But I believe that any effort we make to improve any area of intelligence will be worth it because it helps us become more like Him.

“Some of your most important learning will be outside of the classroom.” – Mary N. Cook

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

“When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” – President Ezra Taft Benson⁣

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3)

Or are they our quest and our desire? ⁣

I think this is a HUGE step in our spiritual maturity. ⁣

For me, my spiritual maturity has followed my physical maturity. ⁣

As a teenager, I remember seeing the commandments as lists of things that I can’t do and things that I should do. ⁣

I can’t see that movie. I have to go to church. I should be reading my scriptures. I shouldn’t listen to that music. I should be nice to everyone. ⁣

For me, I feel that each commandment has taken its own journey. ⁣

Watching bad movies slowly moved from being something I shouldn’t do to something that I have no desire to have in my life because I don’t want certain images or words in my mind. It’s literally not even a temptation for me anymore. ⁣

It ceased to be grievous and an irritant and began to be something I naturally and willingly do. ⁣

But there are other commandments where I still know I need to build my spiritual maturity. ⁣

I should reach out naturally and willingly to the people around me. And sometimes I do! I feel pure love and concern and reach out and serve! ⁣

But other times, I turn into a spiritual teenager and revert back to doing things because I should.

What a great concept that John asks us to reflect on!⁣

Which commandments are grievous to you right now?

How can we build that spiritual maturity and learn to love and seek after these commandments?⁣

As with many things, I think the answer is Jesus Christ. And I think John would agree with me in these chapters. ⁣

When we turn to our Savior more and more often, we gain His love for the people around us and we lose the desire to be “of the world”. ⁣

The Savior is our answer to building that spiritual maturity.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

It’s the one where little kids were put in a room with a marshmallow, and told that if they DID NOT eat the marshmallow by the time the adult came back, they would get a second marshmallow. ⁣

Some kids couldn’t resist it and just ate the first marshmallow. ⁣

Others waited patiently (or painstakingly) but received a second marshmallow and got to eat both. ⁣

I honestly can’t think of a better parallel to the commandments!⁣

— Hey, it really would be better if you avoided watching media that depicted unwholesome things. ⁣

But it’s your choice. ⁣

You can just watch it and get pleasure now. Because, yes, it can be very enjoyable. ⁣

OR you can avoid it, feel disappointed for a bit, but then TRUST that I will reward thee twofold at a later time. ⁣

(Repeat the scenario with any commandment that is tricky for you right now: sleeping instead of reading scriptures, doing things on the sabbath that probably aren’t the best, avoiding service opportunities instead of saying yes, getting immediate results from being angry and rude…)⁣

“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” (Hebrews 10:36)

As Latter-Day Saints, we’ve just got to be PATIENT a lot. ⁣

There are so many immediate pleasures that we put off in search of future blessings. ⁣

And that sure takes a lot of spiritual maturity to do. ⁣

So this is a cheer-you-on post!

You’ve got this!

You are not alone!⁣

It is HARD to sometimes sit and stare at that marshmallow when you know other people around you are eating it. ⁣

But you trust! You have faith! You KNOW someone is coming back with another marshmallow (or honestly, a reward greater than any amount of marshmallows!)⁣

We can do the will of God, be patient, and KNOW that we will receive the promised blessings!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Jesus asked us to become as little children.

“Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

And after being around kids for a while, you start to wonder: “Yeah, but not ALL the time, right?!”

Yes, kids can be humble, patient, and full of love.

Those are great qualities to try to emulate!

But there’s also a whole lot of immaturity and defiance and unawareness.

One thing I’ve noticed though is that kids have to learn how to listen to their parents, even when it doesn’t make sense to them.

In the last couple weeks, I’ve had a kid upset because they had to get strapped into their car seat for a long drive, another kid was upset because I wouldn’t give them a lollipop for breakfast, and another was upset because a block wasn’t fitting into the hole she thought it should go in.

From a parent’s perspective, this all makes sense.

My kids need to learn how to be safe.

They need to learn proper nutrition.

And they need to learn that some things just won’t work, no matter how hard they try.

But kids have a limited perspective which makes this frustrating sometimes for them!

I’ve realized that this is actually an essential part of becoming “like a child”!

Learning that we don’t know the bigger picture and trusting that SOMEDAY, we will see why what we had to deal with was necessary.

My kids may grumble about seatbelt requirements, breakfast foods, and toys, but they actually do a great job at also recognizing that there are adults who know more than they do, who are ready to guide and protect and assist.

While there are so many great ways to become childlike, this is one that might be a little less obvious but still so important:

We can be children who trust our Father in Heaven to know what lessons we need to learn when our wills aren’t aligned.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A new childlike way  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And of course, it always took a good couple of minutes, with no cars passing by, for that light to turn green so that I could turn right onto the main road.

I could clearly see the oncoming traffic, and after the groups of cars from the previous light, there would be long stretches of empty road while I just waited.

And so… I turned right on red all the time.

But I started noticing something interesting about myself.

If I was alone and there was no one in sight, I would turn right on the red.

But if there was a car that was following me, I would wait at that red light until it turned green.

Basically, I only cared about following the traffic rules if there was someone else there to watch me or judge me.

My integrity wasn’t strong, and my accountability was to random strangers’ cars and judgments.

It’s kind of a trivial example, but when I realized my patterns of stopping or going, I felt like it really betrayed where my heart was.

The Lord taught the saddened saints in D&C 63:47: “He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world.”

How do we overcome the world?

One way that I’ve noticed is that my accountability has shifted.

Instead of relying so much on the praise or judgment of others, I’m starting to become accountable to God.

And accountable to God alone.

It’s tough sometimes.

It’s still easy to get caught up in that fear of what others will say or think. Especially when they are people that I care about a lot.

But the process of overcoming the world to me has been the process of learning to be accountable to God, and to let all my other worries slide away.

To do the “right thing” because I know that it is something God has asked me to do.

And to avoid the “wrong thing” because I know it’s something that God has advised would not be good for me.

(And ideally, because it’s something I’ve also gained a testimony of for myself.)

And to be honest, when I’m totally aligned and focused on only being accountable to God, my life gets a whole lot more peaceful.

To overcome the world, I am learning to become completely accountable to God.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Accountability and red lights first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And boy, did that make me mad.

I started telling this story of someone gossiping about me over and over to all of my friends.

I told them how rude she was being, how unfair, how she didn’t understand my side of things…

Until it clicked one day that I was now the one talking about HER behind her back all the time!

When it was all said and done, I think this acquaintance said one poor thing about me to a handful of people.

And yet, I spent weeks saying poor things about this person to even more people.

In Doctrine and Covenants 31:9, the Lord is teaching Thomas B. Marsh some personal lessons.

Thomas is told to “revile not against those that revile”.

“Revile” means to criticize in an angry or abusive way.

In other words, don’t criticize the people who are criticizing you.

I’ve been on a lifelong journey to try to control my emotions in a mature way, just as Thomas was taught in this verse.

Someone yelling at me, being rude to me, leaving me out, criticizing me… it may hurt when it happens.

And it means that I probably am not going to hang out around them very much in the future.

We can set boundaries.

That girl in high school never became my good friend.

But it doesn’t mean that I yell, criticize, become rude, or intentionally leave others out in return.

Instead, I focus on living the second great commandment and loving my neighbor as myself, completely regardless of other people’s actions.

The world has enough people who revile, and who feel justified in their reviling.

So I’m going to choose love.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Reviling against reviling first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.