My roommates and I moved into our freshman dorms at BYU, and our new bishopric emailed out a “get-to-know-you” survey to everyone.⁣

(I can’t even imagine how overwhelmed that bishopric was with having to meet 180 18-19 year olds all at the same time, and issue callings as quickly as possible.)

Of course, one of the questions on their survey was: ⁣

Do you play the piano?⁣

I stopped when I saw that question.

Because I was afraid.

I was afraid that if I answered truthfully, I would be “stuck” in a musical calling.

And music-related callings are often demanding and/or isolating.

But I also remembered the lessons my parents had taught me about sharing my talents at church. ⁣

I filled out the survey, saying that I did play the piano.⁣

The Lord was talking to many of the men who had traveled to Missouri in D&C 60:2:

“But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man.”⁣

These men were hiding their talents because of FEAR.

I’ve learned that anything fear-based is not coming from God. ⁣

If I’m afraid of people judging me

Or I’m afraid of people comparing me

Or if I’m afraid of getting a certain calling

Or if I’m afraid of being asked to volunteer in some way

Or even if I’m afraid of people thinking I’m trying to “show off”…

That doesn’t feel generous and loving to me.⁣

In fact, this makes me think of the Law of Consecration.

ALL of my talents and gifts come from God anyways. ⁣

Anything that I do to increase my talents and gifts, whether it’s a musical gift, or it’s just opening my mouth and talking about the gospel…⁣

Anything that I can do to increase any gift, is showing gratitude to the Lord. ⁣

Gratitude is the key.⁣

When I’m filled with gratitude, then I don’t have any fear. ⁣

It has taken me a while to get to this point, but I want to be so ridiculously generous with my time and all of my talents.

Which means… ⁣

No fear. Only gratitude.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post “Do you play the piano?” first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve played it my whole life. ⁣

I was that high schooler who could sight read anything, accompanied choirs, played the organ in sacrament meeting, completed all my piano achievement levels and prepared for a college audition. ⁣

And I remember adult after adult telling me something like:

“Oh, I wish I could still play as well as I used to be able to play! I stopped practicing and now I’m not so good anymore. You are amazing!”⁣

Suddenly, a piano college audition didn’t turn out how I expected, and I left for BYU without a formal piano professor anymore.

I kept teaching piano lessons here and there, but I didn’t have that same advanced repertoire to work on. ⁣

But I could still play all my old songs! Not with as much perfection, but I totally could have if I tried. ⁣

And slowly, over the years, I noticed that my signature pieces were just a little more difficult to play. ⁣

A couple of months ago, I was asked to accompany a few pieces for our ward Christmas program. ⁣

I glanced at the music and thought, “Oh, this will be easy”. ⁣

And as I ran through it, I was SO FRUSTRATED. ⁣

I knew these notes. I knew these chords. ⁣

But my fingers just could not keep up. ⁣

It was the first time that I realized that my skills had significantly slipped. ⁣

And it made my heart sink. ⁣

Of course, 10 years without any sustained efforts to grow my piano talents would cause them to slip. ⁣

I know that logically. ⁣

But I also thought I was too good to let it happen to me. ⁣

I remember the first time I heard that a beloved, stalwart youth leader of mine had left the church. ⁣

There was no way!⁣

And yet, the Lord told the early church members:⁣

“Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation; Yea, and even let those who are sanctified take heed also.” D&C 20:33-34⁣

Our testimonies are never “safe”. ⁣

“Because we have a strong testimony doesn’t mean it will always remain that way.” – Barbara Thompson

We’ve never been too good, too righteous, had a big enough calling, or made too many covenants that we can’t start to fall away from God. ⁣

And so I have started to consider— what am I doing each day in order to keep my testimony safe?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My piano skills  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had to memorize the names of the notes.

Then I had to practice the same tricky measure over and over.

And then I had to put in nuanced effort to make my pieces sound beautiful and expressive.

But let’s be honest…

Many people start piano lessons and then stop at some point!

Besides just not enjoying it, I think it’s pretty difficult to want to continue with lots of practice when we can’t see immediate results.

Why does it really matter if I practice the piano for 20 minutes today when it doesn’t seem like it’s really going to change anything?!

I’ve noticed the same lessons in my spiritual growth.

Does it REALLY matter if I pray every day?

Fulfill every calling I’m given to the best of my ability?

Study my scriptures every day?

It might not look like it makes a difference every single day.

In fact, maybe it won’t make a big difference either way today.

But we know that “. . . by small means the Lord can bring about great things.” (1 Nephi 16:29)

When we look at the comparison, things seem a little more clear:

Where would practicing the piano every day for 10 years get me?

And where would practicing the piano on-and-off for 10 years get me?

The end results are dramatically different, even if it’s hard to see the difference in the short term.

The “spiritual stuff” seems the same.

Listening to one conference talk today might not change my life.

But listening to a conference talk (almost) every day for 5 years?!

A small little decision that could end up affecting me in dramatic ways.

“When we exercise faith in Him and follow His counsel in small and simple things,… He blesses us with small daily miracles, and over time, with marvelous works.” —Steven C. Wheelwright

I want to immerse myself in good, spiritually uplifting things as much as possible every single day.

And trust that all those small decisions can add up to great things in my future!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Growing up, I was asked to play the piano for everything.

Sight-reading has always been my strength, so I could play all the hymns or learn accompaniments super quickly. I was the one playing for seminary, every fireside, ward choir, musical numbers… you name it.

I wasn’t asking for these opportunities.

But I’d always say yes and was willing to play for anything.

And so I was shocked one day to learn that someone started talking about how jealous they were that I could play everything so easily, and that it wasn’t fair that I was the only one asked to play the piano all the time.

I was honestly surprised at how much it hurt me to learn that someone else was jealous of me.

I wanted to explain all the hard work that went into practicing the piano for hours and hours each week.

I wanted to explain that I knew that sight-reading was also a gift that I had when it came to music (don’t ask me to improvise or compose anything!).

I also wanted to explain that I was not volunteering for these opportunities. Adults and other youth were probably just asking me because I had done it before, and they knew they wouldn’t have to ask me if I had the ability to play something or not.

Basically, I did not like being envied.

And then I realized… I envied other people.

I mean, I was a teen. I envied other people for their natural beauty, their fashion, their humor, their wealth, their talents…

I had this realization that each person I envied would probably also have some sort of explanation for why they were that way.

Envying does no good.

Envying leads to separation.

Separation from that person and separation from God for not feeling gratitude for what we have.

Joseph had a tough time with his brothers because “his brethren envied him” (Genesis 37:11).

It seems like Joseph had lots of explanations for why.

He couldn’t help that he was the firstborn of his father’s favorite wife. He clearly had a natural talent for interpreting dreams. He obviously had a close relationship God, so he likely worked hard to develop his gifts.

And instead of embracing Joseph for his uniqueness, his brothers turned their feelings into envy, which boiled into hatred.

Who do you envy right now?

How can you cheer them on instead?

Because love is always better than envy.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Envying and separation first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

⁣⁣⁣⁣I was asked to play the organ for the opening and closing hymns at his funeral services.

⁣⁣⁣⁣Although I’ve played the piano for years, I hadn’t had any organ-related opportunities for quite a while so I knew I wanted to practice a lot. I didn’t want to be rusty for this important occasion. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

I was able to get into the chapel the night before his services. I checked my phone for the two hymns and practiced them over and over – I really wanted them to be perfect. “Love One Another” and “The Lord is My Shepherd”. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

The morning of his funeral, I walked in with the family processional. I went to the stand and quickly traded places with the lady who was playing prelude music. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

As I was changing the registrations, pedals, and books, I heard the person conducting announce the opening hymn:⁣⁣⁣⁣

“Love at Home”. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

NOT “Love One Another” like I had practiced. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

I hurriedly glanced at the program next to me to confirm that yes, he had announced it correctly.

⁣⁣⁣⁣I had no time to even panic – I just turned to hymn 294 and started the introduction.

⁣⁣⁣⁣I immediately and silently pleaded with the Lord to help me transfer the practice time and energy from the one hymn to the new one. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

“Love at Home” actually isn’t that difficult of a hymn to play, but I had the most beautiful experience. I KNEW that everything was going to be okay. I felt strength and confidence in my playing. I’m sure my dear musical Grandpa, my Heavenly Father, and probably others were supporting me. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

To me, THAT is GRACE. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

The Kirtland saints pleaded with heaven in the dedicatory prayer: “And now, Holy Father, we ask thee to assist us, thy people, with thy grace”. D&C 109:10⁣⁣

They knew they didn’t really know what they were doing. They knew they had a lot to figure out still. And they asked for God’s grace to carry them along all the right notes.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I’ve played it my whole life.

I was that high schooler who could sight read anything, accompanied choirs, played the organ in sacrament meeting, completed all my piano achievement levels and prepared for a college audition.

And I remember adult after adult telling me something like: “Oh, I wish I could still play as well as I used to be able to play! I stopped practicing and now I’m not so good anymore. You are amazing!”

But everyone told me I was different. I was better than they had been.

Piano was going to be my life.

And then… my college audition didn’t pan out the way I hoped.

And I kept teaching piano lessons here and there, but I didn’t have that same advanced repertoire to work on.

But I could still play all my old songs! Not with as much perfection, but I totally could have if I tried.

And slowly, over the years, I noticed that my signature pieces were just a little more difficult to play.

A couple of months ago, I was asked to accompany a few pieces for our ward Christmas program.

I glanced at the music and thought, “Oh, this will be easy”.

And as I ran through it, I was SO FRUSTRATED.

I knew these notes. I knew these chords.

But my fingers just could not keep up.

It was the first time that I realized that my skills had significantly slipped.

And it made my heart sink.

Of course, 10 years without any sustained efforts to grow my piano talents would cause them to slip.

I know that logically.

But I also thought I was too good to let it happen to me.

I remember the first time I heard that a beloved, stalwart youth leader of mine had left the church.

There was no way!

And yet, the Lord told the early church members:

“Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation; Yea, and even let those who are sanctified take heed also.” D&C 20:33-34

Our testimonies are never “safe”.

We’ve never been too good, too righteous, made too many covenants that we can’t start to fall away from God.

And so I have started to consider— what am I doing each day in order to keep my testimony safe?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I’m too good for that first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.