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 email 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.

God’s grace is so good.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Grace at the organ  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.

I truly enjoy it, and it’s one of my go-to things when I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

But I, of course, started off as an 8 year old who didn’t want to practice the piano.

I’ve been through it all.

I know it seems a bit too easy to simplify this process, but how did I get better at playing the piano?

I practiced.

I spent time devoted to strengthening my weaknesses. I taught other people piano. I spent time with experts.

And for those who really excelled at sports (not me), isn’t it the same?!

You attend a summer camp where you are focused on it. You watch it. You listen to it.

The time spent practicing something = increases skill.

Pretty obvious parallel, right?!⁣

We wanna make our testimonies stronger?

Spend time practicing it!

Study each day.

Immerse ourselves in unique experiences (camps or conferences).

Work on our weaknesses over and over.

Teach others what we know.

Time practicing = increased testimony. ⁣

How many times have we heard Paul bear his testimony now?

A million, maybe? ⁣

We get another record of his powerful testimony in Acts 26:15:

“And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”

Do you think his testimony became stronger the more times he bore it?

Absolutely!⁣

Yes, Fast Sundays are great times to practice, but I don’t think testimonies only need to be shared over the pulpit once a month. ⁣

Are we finding ways to share what we believe CONSTANTLY?⁣

With the way we respond to a child’s poor decision?

With the way we speak about “that person”?

With the way we focus just a little more on service instead of selfishness?

That’s how testimonies grow!⁣

And truly focusing on the Savior as the cornerstone of our testimonies is the most powerful step of all.

“While it is always good to express love and gratitude, such expressions do not constitute the kind of testimony that will ignite a fire of belief in the lives of others.

“To bear testimony is ‘to bear witness by the power of the Holy Ghost; to make a solemn declaration of truth based on personal knowledge or belief’”. -Elder Ballard⁣

I am grateful for Paul’s powerful testimony and I know that the more opportunities I find to share bits of my testimony, the stronger it becomes.

Practice makes progress!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Practice makes progress  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had been asked to play a musical number for the Saturday evening session of our stake conference.

And I was SO NERVOUS.

I knew this hymn arrangement super well and it was completely memorized.

But I kept messing up!

Each time I played a wrong note, I would pull the music out and practice that part over and over.

And then I would completely butcher another part that I had always played perfectly.

I focused on each individual note so hard.

Day after day.

The stake conference was approaching and I was honestly embarrassed. I thought I had this piece memorized flawlessly, and yet here I was thinking about every single note and messing up in random spots.

As I sat down discouraged to practice one last time, a thought came to my mind:

“Invite the Spirit and play your testimony.”

I put the music away, closed my eyes, and started playing.

But this time, I tried not to think about any notes.

I just thought about the message and the spirit that I hoped to share as I played.

And I played it perfectly.

I realized later that I played it perfectly BECAUSE I had stopped worrying about all the details.

I had stopped harping on every single mistake that I made and making it a super big deal.

I just got to the core of why I love to play the piano— because it helps me bear my testimony of God and light and hope.

Isn’t this true in regular life, too?

When I try to follow all the rules perfectly and feel overwhelmed with guilt every time that I mess up, then I notice even more mistakes.

Things get even worse. Even messier. I can’t fix it all.

I need a good dose of that simple but powerful lesson Moses tried to teach the Israelites with a brass serpent:

“Every one that… looketh upon it, shall live.” (Numbers 21:8)

It’s too simple.

We just have to love Jesus and God and invite the Spirit to be with us.

That’s all.

And when we do those things with our whole souls, all the rest of the little details fall into place.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Messing up on the piano first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.