I wanted to be someone who “loved Conference,” even though I had no idea how to get to that point.

But I figured it would take a lot of effort, so I got to work.

I spent time reviewing previous talks. ⁣

I prayed with very specific purposes beforehand. ⁣

I did a lot of work beforehand so that I wouldn’t have to run errands or anything during that weekend. ⁣

And guess what happened when General Conference weekend arrived?! ⁣

I felt so immersed in every talk that I heard! ⁣

It truly was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life, and I felt like I was hearing the Lord speak, quite literally. ⁣

There was something powerful about really PREPARING for a spiritual experience. ⁣

The Lord even warned Moses to “Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.” (Exodus 19:10-11) ⁣

The Lord wanted the Israelites to PREPARE for the amazing spiritual experience that awaited them. ⁣

He didn’t want to just spring it on them. ⁣

He gave them three days to prepare. ⁣

Preparation takes work. It takes effort to do things ahead of time. ⁣

But Bonnie Oscarson put it perfectly when she said:⁣

“Where much is required, much more will be given.”⁣

We choose how much to prepare. ⁣

How much to ponder about our covenants BEFORE sacrament meeting starts. ⁣

How much to do physically and mentally BEFORE walking through the temple doors. ⁣

How much to do BEFORE we open our scriptures to study. ⁣

How much to search for intention BEFORE serving in our calling.

But I have found that the more that I choose to prepare before what I anticipate to be a spiritual experience, the more that the Spirit is poured out upon me. ⁣

Preparation is for my own benefit.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The effort of preparation  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I hear this constantly from my kids.⁣

Sometimes they CAN do something by themselves and I get to see them grow in their development. ⁣

Buuuuut a lot of times they can’t really do it by themselves. ⁣

Or it would be so much easier or faster if they let me help. ⁣

Don’t we feel that same pressure as adults?⁣

“Oh no, I can do it all by myself.”⁣

Whether or not we actually can. ⁣

Or whether or not it would be easier or faster if we let someone help. ⁣

We don’t want to bother anyone. ⁣

“The thing that thou doest is not good. ⁣

“Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: ⁣

“for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.” (Exodus 18:17-18) ⁣

I’ve recently watched my ward family rally around someone in need in truly epic ways. ⁣

I think that’s one of the real purposes of small, local congregations. ⁣

To see the immediate, too heavy burdens, and to step in and mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort. ⁣

I’ve had friends, family members, and ward members help to bear my burdens in too many ways for me to number. ⁣

There have been some beautiful experiences where the Lord has helped me release my pride and ask for or accept help that others selflessly give. ⁣

But even when others fail. ⁣

When people don’t help or support in the ways we wish. ⁣

The Savior is always there. ⁣

Saying, “You will wear away if you keep trying to do this all.⁣

“It’s too heavy for you alone. ⁣

“Let me help bear the burden with you.⁣

“Because I’ve already been through it alone.”⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I can do it all by myself!  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve had this experience recently, and I’ve been praying constantly for how to help solve this person’s problems so that they aren’t in so much pain. ⁣

But the impression that keeps coming back to my mind is: “This is their trial to deal with. What you can do is support and love and lift.”⁣

And I’ve taken that to heart. ⁣

I can’t take away the trial or the pain or the heartache.⁣

But I can love and support and lift this person through little acts of service, communication, heart-to-heart conversations, and lots of prayer. ⁣

So often, the story of Moses raising his hands in prayer to help the Israelites win their first battle in the wilderness is interpreted one specific way.⁣

But these words touched my heart as I read Exodus 17:12: ⁣

“But Moses’ hands were heavy; ⁣

“and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; ⁣

“and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; ⁣

“and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”⁣

Two friends. ⁣

One of them a brother, in fact. ⁣

Staying by Moses’ side until the sun set. ⁣

They couldn’t take away the heavy task that had been given to Moses, of staying with his hands raised in prayer. ⁣

But they knew that they could be there to love, support, and lift.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Love, support, and lift  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It was towards the end of the day and she was crying from the pain. ⁣

She’s a super logical kid, so my husband and I comforted her and explained that the best way for sprained ankles to get better is to give them rest. ⁣

We told her that when she slept that night, her ankle muscles would start to relax and heal. ⁣

She eventually calmed down and went to sleep pretty soon after. ⁣

But when she woke up the next morning, she was not too happy to discover that her ankle still hurt! ⁣

“I rested it all last night, so it’s supposed to be better now! Why does it still hurt?!”⁣

I realized I needed to better explain that even though it is amazing that our bodies heal themselves, often it takes a lot longer than we want. ⁣

Within a few hours, she was running around like normal again and hasn’t mentioned her ankle since.⁣

But how often do we tell the Lord our own timetable for healing?⁣

“Okay, I took a nap, did some service, and prayed about it. Why is my emotional pain still here?”⁣

The Lord taught the Israelites: ⁣

“I am the Lord that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26)⁣

He has blessed us with beautiful bodies that are, for the most part, able to heal ourselves when we have injury. ⁣

He heals the wounds of sin. ⁣

He heals emotional hurt. ⁣

He heals broken hearts and broken trust. ⁣

He heals pride and contention. ⁣

He heals quickly and miraculously. ⁣

He heals slowly and gradually. ⁣

He heals in a completely different way than we thought we needed to be healed. ⁣

Elder Richard G. Scott taught that we must:

“Accept [Christ’s] invitation to let Him share your burden until you have sufficient time and strength to be healed.”

The Lord heals. ⁣

But how and when is up to Him. ⁣

How has the Lord healed you recently?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

As the Israelites escaped from the Egyptians, they, “walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.” (Exodus 14:29)⁣

There have been so many times in my life where dangerous and chaotic waters are swirling all around me. ⁣

Lost jobs, financial setbacks, or emotional trials have made it seem like everything is piling up. ⁣

It has seemed overwhelming. Like I’m just one step from it all crashing down. ⁣

And anyone else looking into my life would see how turbulent it is. ⁣

But yet…⁣

My feet have stayed on dry ground. ⁣

I have felt peace. ⁣

I’ve had others join me on the journey so that I feel supported. ⁣

I’ve focused on just taking that next step forward. ⁣

All because of Jesus Christ. ⁣

He is the one who makes it all possible. ⁣

The chaos and the swirling waters pile up sometimes. ⁣

But they don’t need to mean my destruction when I have faith in Jesus Christ. ⁣

When I keep looking forward and taking a step. ⁣

Even when that step forward means the waters around me are getting even higher and higher. ⁣

There is peace in Christ.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Walking on dry ground first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I also remember him teaching me that when I was dunked under the water, it was as if I was being buried and then coming back to life, just like Jesus. ⁣

I thought that was pretty cool, because it’s as if we were acting out what was happening! ⁣

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that a lot of ordinances are accompanied with physical actions.⁣

Like when we take the bread and water for the sacrament.

But I’ve also learned that the action itself isn’t what causes me to make a covenant.⁣

Just eating bread and water itself isn’t what’s renewing my covenants each week.

Yes, ordinances are formal acts that are super important. ⁣

But we also have to make sure our mind is engaged with what we are actually promising.

Our heart and our mind have to be involved with some level of intention. ⁣

When Moses was instructing the children of Israel on how to perform the Passover to avoid their firstborn sons dying, he referred to the act of painting their door frames with lamb’s blood as an “ordinance”. ⁣

So the Passover was an ordinance for the children of Israel! ⁣

The physical act of what they did was so important… but so was what their hearts were doing at the same time. ⁣

Look at what they were thinking about as they reflected on this ordinance: ⁣

“It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt… And the people bowed the head and worshipped.” (Exodus 12:27)⁣

They worshipped. ⁣

I think it is so cool that so many ordinances have physical acts associated with them that can help us ponder even deeper on the covenants being made. ⁣

But I also know that just “going through the motions” isn’t what saved the firstborns during the Passover.⁣

And “going through the motions” isn’t what will help our hearts become molded to what the Lord wants them to be. ⁣

The sacred action + engaging our minds = true worship and lasting change!⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why ordinances?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Anytime we sat down at the table, no matter what time of day it was, he insisted that we pray first. 

Sitting down to play a game? Pray first.

Sitting down to eat a snack? Pray first.

Sitting down just to sit down? Pray first.

But as he grew older, he started to ask many questions about “why” we do what we do.

His insisting on praying turned into asking WHY we always pray before we eat a meal together.

As we’ve worked to develop our family habits of praying and reading the scriptures together, I’ve started trying to be more conscious of how I talk about these habits. ⁣

Instead of: “It’s time to read and pray before we go to bed”

I’ve been trying to do more: “It’s time to read scriptures so we can learn more about Jesus!” ⁣

When the Lord taught the Israelites about this new Passover ordinance, He warned them that their children would ask about it.

“Your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?” (Exodus 12:26)

The Lord wanted His people to teach their children WHY they repeated this Passover ordinance and celebration. ⁣

It can be so easy to get caught up in just trying to get our kids to cooperate in saying prayers, in staying quiet at church, in paying tithing, in setting goals, in serving and showing kindness…⁣

But the Lord wants us to also teach the WHY. ⁣

Why do YOU try to be reverent at church? Why do YOU say prayers, and pay tithing, and attend the temple?⁣

When we can share our own testimonies and our own “why”s with our kids, we are sharing our hearts and truly teaching our values in authentic ways.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Mom, why are we praying?! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Kids would ask me a question and I felt like I needed to know every answer. ⁣

I needed to be the knowledge authority in my classroom, right?!⁣

But the best and worst part of teaching sixth grade is that the kids would start to (respectfully, for the most part) call me out when I said something incorrect. ⁣

It took a few months, but I finally realized how ironically empowering it was to admit that I didn’t know something to my students. ⁣

“Mrs. Black, why did you say THAT part of the story is the climax? Wouldn’t it be THIS part instead?”⁣

I figured out that it felt SO much better (and by the way, MUCH more effective for teaching) to say:⁣

“Oh interesting! Why do you think that? I could totally be wrong!”⁣

The discussions that comments like this would spur were AMAZING. And tons of class members would start to chime in with their opinions, too. ⁣

Real learning would occur. ⁣

I loved it. ⁣

And I feel like right around this same time at the beginning of my teaching career was when I started to adopt this humility into my personal life, too. ⁣

Instead of thinking I had the right answer in my marriage, or in my church callings, or in other decisions that I had to make, it was so much more empowering to recognize that I COULD be wrong.⁣

Replacing pride with humility one little step at a time has brought nothing but peace to my life. ⁣

In a gospel context:⁣

“Humility enables us to have broken hearts when we sin or make mistakes and makes it possible for us to repent.” —Elder Steven E. Snow⁣

I have found that it’s actually so freeing to acknowledge that I’ve been wrong. ⁣

I’m not perfect at it at all. ⁣

There are some sins that I want to cling to, like an insecure middle school teacher who insists they know the right answer. ⁣

“How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?” (Exodus 10:3)⁣

I hope I don’t take too long, though, to loosen my grip on those favorite sins, those rationales, those prideful tendencies. ⁣

Humility is much more freeing than pride.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I have to be right! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

A holy place, to me, is a place where I feel closer to God. ⁣

It is different than the ordinary. It is special. ⁣

⁣Unique. ⁣

And when I think of holy places, there usually is something different that I do with my outward appearance in order to reflect the holiness that I feel.⁣

⁣One of my favorite parts of learning about Moses seeing the burning bush is one of the first things that the Lord says to him:⁣

⁣“And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)⁣

⁣Moses was asked to make a change, a symbolic change, to reflect how his heart felt about entering a holy place. ⁣

⁣My church building is a holy place to me, a place where I partake of the sacrament and renew powerful covenants. ⁣

And so I dress a little nicer than I do the rest of the week.⁣

⁣When I attend the temple, I also dress nicer as I enter, and I prepare for more opportunities to make my outward appearance reflect the uniqueness of the temple spirit. ⁣

⁣I know that God is with me in the casual moments, in the messy house and the undone hair and the random sprinkles of shredded cheese that somehow always make it on the floor. (Anyone else?!) ⁣

⁣But I also love being able to take opportunities to show God that I am willing to make an effort to show my gratitude for the holy grounds that I am able to walk on.⁣⁣

What is one way you show God gratitude for your holy places?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I almost always get a carton of eggs during our weekly shopping trip.

It’s a staple in our household for baking, scrambled eggs, and breakfast sandwiches.

So when the egg prices started to climb last year, I was shocked each time I added them to my cart.

So expensive!

And then, one week, there were no eggs available.

None.

“No big deal,” I thought. “We can do without eggs this week.”

But then, the next week, there weren’t any eggs either.

And still again, the next week, there weren’t any.

Finally, on my next shopping trip, I found the shelves filled with eggs again!

As I put a carton in my cart, my heart filled with gratitude.

I don’t think I have ever been grateful for eggs before…

But having to wait such a long time allowed my heart to feel that dependence on and gratitude for the Lord for such a simple blessing as eggs.

The Israelites had suffered for a long time.

So when they saw Moses and Aaron’s signs and heard their testimony that they had been sent from God to free them,⁣

“The people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.” (Exodus 4:31)

When I have to wait for a blessing for a long time, my gratitude increases exponentially. ⁣

Maybe that’s why the Lord likes to let us wait sometimes.

He knows that our hearts need the training.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Grateful for eggs first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.