I’ve had my heart prepared to not be accepted into a program at school. ⁣

I’ve had my heart prepared for a struggle my son would have to face. ⁣

I’ve had my heart prepared before receiving a big calling that would affect our family a lot. ⁣

And as I’ve talked with others, many have shared other personal, sacred experiences where their hearts have been prepared for a huge financial setback, a move, or even the death of a loved one. ⁣

I know that God prepares our hearts in ways that are sometimes indescribable, and for experiences that we may be the only ones to know about. ⁣

God prepares hearts. ⁣

I also have learned that I can do my part to prepare my own heart for situations that I do know are ahead of me. ⁣

I’ve found literal priesthood power when I prepare my mind before entering the temple. ⁣

I’ve discovered genuine love when I prepare my heart to love and serve someone who seemed difficult to love and serve. ⁣

I’ve experienced great peace when I’ve prepared my soul to expect miracles. ⁣

“Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it”. (Ezra 7:10)⁣

Life is often busy and stressful and crazy. ⁣

But taking time to prepare our hearts or listening to promptings from God that prepare us for large tasks ahead will bring much more love and peace in the long run. ⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

There are so many people with wisdom and education and training that have helped me to become a better mom by teaching through social media!⁣

It’s awesome. ⁣

I used to look to a lot of “parenting influencers” with the perspective that they had the “right idea.”

If they suggested this way to deal with a tantrum, then that’s the way to do it. If they suggested we try this new twist on a chore chart, then we are trying it.

But then one issue came up that I was looking for more support on— so I looked at what the experts were saying.

Their advice seemed to all be pretty much the same for how to deal with my situation. Cool!

But then I heard that still small voice whisper: ⁣

“This is not what your kid needs.”⁣

And I felt peace. ⁣

The gift of discernment is more important on social media now than ever before. ⁣

Advice and ideas are everywhere. ⁣

Good advice and ideas even! Many of these parenting accounts have brought blessings into my life as a mom.

But I can’t just “follow” blindly. ⁣

I’ve learned that I can take each new idea to the Lord. He’s the best parenting expert out there and He can point me the right way. ⁣

Life coaches, health experts, news commentators, finance coaches, psychologists, and yes, even religious accounts are everywhere. ⁣

“Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad”. (1 Kings 3:9)⁣

Like Solomon, I’m learning I have to plead with God daily to be able to discern what is right and what is wrong. ⁣

For some things, I need to know what is right or wrong for my situation. (Like my parenting example! The Lord clearly told me it’s not what my kid needs, even though it works for others.)⁣

But for other things, I’m having to literally decide whether it is truth OR truth twisted until it’s no longer pointing me toward God.

Understanding hearts, righteous judgments and discernments…

We’ve gotta be asking for and claiming these privileges now more than ever.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I love teaching, I knew I connected well with my students, and I felt really fulfilled from my job. ⁣

So when I prepared to return to work after taking maternity leave with my first child, and I received a strong prompting to resign from my job at the end of the school year, I was shocked. ⁣

That wasn’t my plan. ⁣

That wasn’t what I wanted. ⁣

But I also could not deny that prompting— resign from teaching at the end of the year. ⁣

I realized that when I told people about my resignation at first, I would “blame” it all on God. ⁣

“I wanted to keep working, but I got a super strong prompting to quit so I guess that’s what I’m doing!”⁣

I had my own will.⁣

I had learned God’s will. ⁣

And I guess I was going to let His will win. ⁣

Then one day, it clicked. ⁣

God didn’t want me to grudgingly follow this prompting, blaming Him for giving up what I really wanted. ⁣

He wanted me to do it willingly. ⁣

And so I started to pray.⁣

I prayed for the desire to WANT to quit my job. ⁣

(Kind of weird, I know.)⁣

But that desire came. Pretty quickly, too. ⁣

And suddenly I felt so much more at peace about my decision. ⁣

I wasn’t “giving in” to what God wanted for my life. ⁣

My will and God’s will had become one. ⁣

We wanted the same thing, even though I wasn’t sure about the WHY yet. ⁣

“Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it”. (Exodus 35:5)⁣

God doesn’t want us to come dragging our feet and blaming everything on Him. On His promptings, on His commandments. ⁣

He wants us to come and sacrifice willingly. ⁣

And I’ve learned that if I truly come to the altar of prayer with a desire to have our wills become the same, He will always help my heart get to the right place. ⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Praying to want to quit  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

As I stood a little bit speechless on the doorstep with chaos behind me and a husband who still wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours, she said:⁣

“I felt a prompting that you needed dinner tonight, and I just had to act!”⁣

I graciously accepted the meal, thanked her profusely, and held my tears back until the door had shut. ⁣

I wanted to feel embarrassed that I hadn’t even started thinking about dinner yet, but I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude and love. ⁣

The sister who brought the dinner had redirected all the credit I wanted to give her to the Lord, and that made a big impact on me. ⁣

She didn’t want any of my praise that I tried to give her. ⁣

She said she was just following through on what I know to be one of her spiritual gifts— acting immediately and confidently on promptings. ⁣

In Joseph’s time, everyone was starting to recognize him as the dream interpreter. ⁣

The butler and the baker learned about him in prison. ⁣

And now the pharaoh was learning about his skill, too. ⁣

But each time that someone tried to label Joseph as the one who could interpret dreams, he was always quick to point out:⁣

“It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” (Genesis 41:16) ⁣

God was the one giving Joseph the ability to do this. ⁣

I love two things about this:⁣

First, that Joseph recognized where his gift came from. ⁣

But secondly, that he seemed to point this out to other people, too!⁣

I think most of us know that we should be showing gratitude to God for our gifts and talents. ⁣

We try to redirect our minds to give God credit and to show how grateful we are. ⁣

But how often do we mention that to others?⁣

YOU may know that your gifts come from heaven, but do other people know that you know that?⁣

What a sweet and simple way to bear testimony. ⁣

The woman who brought me dinner wasn’t making me feel her love.⁣

She was helping me to feel God’s love.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

“Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.⁣

“I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face.”⁣

These are from Joseph’s own words, as recorded in D&C 130:14-16. ⁣

Joseph keeps praying and asking the Lord when the Second Coming will happen. ⁣

The Lord finally says, listen, if you live until you are 85, you’ll see Jesus Christ. Please don’t ask again.

And my absolute favorite part is how Joseph responds!⁣

He knows how the Lord teaches and reveals. ⁣

And so Joseph knew better than to think that the Lord just told him the Second Coming would happen when he was 85 years old. ⁣

I mean, it COULD mean that. ⁣

Or it could be referring to another appearance of Jesus Christ, since the “Second Coming” wasn’t specified. ⁣

Or it could mean that he is going to die before he reaches 85, so he’ll see the face of Jesus in the next life. ⁣

The Lord doesn’t give us the answers in specifics and literal details. ⁣

I can see that while reading the scriptures.

And I’ve seen it in my life in much smaller ways when I get a strong prompting to “apply for that job because it will change your life.”⁣

Only to not get the job… and then be led in a completely different, better direction. ⁣

When I’ve felt, “yes, this is the time to serve a mission, so start preparing”.⁣

Only to have my life go in a different direction, one where I am blessed by my preparation to serve a mission every day. ⁣

The Lord isn’t always literal and obvious…⁣

And I love that. ⁣

It’s like this giant, exciting, God-led mystery that’s about to unfold and I get to see how all the clues fit together as I act in faith and move forward.

How has acting in faith led you to beautiful, unexpected blessings?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Not so literal first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

As I listened to the lyrics though, I pretty quickly realized it was not-so-awesome. ⁣

Kyle and I were going to the temple that evening with some friends as soon as I got home from work. ⁣

I had the thought to turn the radio off. ⁣

But… I didn’t. ⁣

Later, in the temple, guess what song kept popping into my head?⁣

I sat there and sang a bunch of primary songs and hymns in my head, trying to get rid of these terrible lyrics that kept coming to my mind. ⁣

Nothing was working. ⁣

I eventually just prayed my heart out. ⁣

“Heavenly Father, please remove this song from my mind. It’s distracting me from the spirit in the temple.”⁣

And immediately. ⁣

Immediately. ⁣

A piercing thought came into my mind. ⁣⁣

It was still and small, but powerful. ⁣

It was very clearly Divine. ⁣

And that voice said:⁣

“Cali, you can’t pray away the consequences of your decisions.”⁣

I was being reprimanded by the spirit in a very direct way. ⁣

I realized in a dramatic fashion that I couldn’t choose to ignore the spirit when it told me to change the radio station and then expect it to help remove the natural consequences of my actions later on. ⁣

Joseph Smith shared a powerful example of his experience with this in D&C 85:6:⁣

“The still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest”⁣.

In the car, the spirit spoke to me in a very still and small voice. ⁣

And in the temple, it pierced my mind and made me very aware of the power behind it. ⁣

I needed to learn that lesson that day, and it has dramatically shaped my music choices ever since. ⁣

I needed that piercing voice for a major course correction. ⁣

And I am so grateful for a companion like the spirit who can give those messages in a way that I can’t write off. ⁣

I heard it, and I knew God knew that I heard it.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The Spirit’s reprimand  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It had been a few days since dishes had been done, and for some reason, everything seemed to have multiplied. ⁣

There were stacks of random things on the counters, the sink was piled high, and the stove was covered in pots and pans, too. ⁣

I kept looking around. ⁣

I didn’t even know where to start. ⁣

I felt overwhelmed.⁣

I kept pulling my phone out to find the perfect podcast to listen to while I cleaned.

And then I remembered I wanted to eat some snacks before I started.⁣

And then someone texted they would come over in a half hour.

This was it– I HAD to get this kitchen clean. ⁣

Finally, I had the thought: ⁣

“Just start! It doesn’t matter where you begin!” ⁣

I picked up the piece of junk mail nearest to me and threw it away. ⁣

Then I noticed the other junk mail on the other counter and grabbed that. ⁣

Pretty quickly, it snowballed into me getting to work, and I was able to tackle the kitchen pretty well before the friend arrived. ⁣

Section 80 in the Doctrine and Covenants can often be written off as “one of those mission call sections”. ⁣

Stephen Burnett asked for a revelation, and the Lord gave him a call.⁣

But there was one element of this mission call that made me laugh a bit. ⁣

In verse 3, the Lord tells Stephen:⁣

“Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss.”⁣

IT MATTERETH NOT, FOR YE CANNOT GO AMISS. ⁣

In other words: ⁣

There’s literally SO much missionary work to get done– just go somewhere and start, and you’ll be good.⁣

How many times have I waited to be prompted on who exactly I should serve?!

Which new family I should try to help feel more welcome in our ward?

How exactly I can serve a ministering sister?

I’ve prayed for specific promptings on what to do for each of those. ⁣

(Which I don’t think is bad, in and of itself!)⁣

But meanwhile, the Lord is probably lovingly looking at me and saying:⁣

“Oh Cali, just do SOMETHING! ⁣

“There is so much work. ⁣

“You cannot go amiss.”

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

Where to even start… 

The post Where to even start…  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was preparing a lesson I had to give on Friday to my group of teenage girls in my counselor group.

I prayed and pondered a lot.

Eventually I had a story pop into my mind to share and center my lesson around. ⁣

Friday came, and it was a beautiful experience!

The Spirit was present.

Girls opened up about their feelings.

I knew that I had followed the promptings of the Spirit. ⁣

⁣The next week came, now with a brand new group of girls.

I felt so excited for Friday’s lesson since it had gone so well the previous week!

Except, I kept having the thought to re-plan it.

I didn’t feel good about it.

I pushed that thought to the side, though, because the previous week’s lesson had been so successful.

I never replanned.

Friday came, and I taught the lesson the same exact way. . .

And it was a total flop.

I didn’t feel the Spirit, I could tell my girls weren’t feeling it, and I just felt confused.

We can’t do the exact same thing every time and expect Him to be present.

The Spirit is not a calculation.

Moroni taught, “. . . the power of the Holy Ghost led them whether to preach, or to exhort, or to pray, or to supplicate, or to sing.” (Moroni 6:9)

The Spirit is dynamic, adaptive, and exactly what we need it to be.

If we cling too much to how the Spirit worked for us in the past or how it worked for others, we might miss out on the blessings that come from asking the Spirit what we need right now.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The perfect EFY lesson  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I think a lot about Ether being prompted to leave his cave and go preach repentance to the king one last time.

Doesn’t it seem a little futile?⁣

Not many people react well to someone walking into their house and calling them to repentance. ⁣

And Coriantumr sure didn’t respond well, sending his guard to kill Ether. ⁣

Ether was able to escape back to his cave.

But… maybe he spent some time thinking:

“That was pointless.”⁣

But fast-forward a few years and a few brutal wars,and we find Coriantumr on the battle field.

He was forced to watch his friends and loved ones being slaughtered by Shiz’s army. ⁣

And all of a sudden:

“When Coriantumr had recovered of his wounds, he began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him.” (Ether 15:1)

⁣Coriantumr’s heart wasn’t ready to hear the message when Ether was ready to preach.

But now, on the battlefield, Coriantumr’s heart was ready to listen.

Isn’t it amazing that the Spirit takes care of all the timing?

He can bring to remembrance words and topics that were taught when the listener wasn’t quite ready to learn.

“Faith also includes trust in God’s timing”. – Neal A. Maxwell

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I was recently thinking about a time when I was NOT looking for a new job.

But I WAS looking for some more fulfillment in my life. ⁣

A random job opportunity popped up.

I browsed through the application information out of curiosity. ⁣

And suddenly, I knew that I needed to fill out that application.

I got the job.

And that job completely changed the trajectory of my life in the best way possible.

I had been praying for more fulfillment in my life…

And God knew exactly how I needed to get there.

No matter how random it may have seemed.

But it took faith to follow those out-of-left-field promptings!

The brother of Jared had been praying for his family and friends to be spared from having their languages confounded.

And pretty shortly after, the Lord told him:

“Go to work and build, after the manner of barges which ye have hitherto built.” (Ether 2:16)

How do sincere prayers for protection and freedom turn into commandments to build barges?

God knows.

Only He knows.

And the brother of Jared had the faith to follow the direction!

Do we have the faith in Jesus Christ to follow the promptings we receive, even when they don’t seem to match with the questions we had in the first place?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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