It’s one of the biggest warnings given throughout scripture. ⁣

Because you know what Satan is so good at?⁣

Making it seem like we can’t trust our spiritual memories. ⁣

Oh, there’s no way you were actually feeling the Spirit at girls camp. That was just all your happy emotions. ⁣

That wasn’t a miracle, it was just a coincidence. ⁣

You didn’t really receive a prompting to do that. ⁣

He’s so sneaky at making us distrust our own memories, right?!⁣

And I think the adversary succeeded pretty well at convincing the Israelites that their memories, as well as the memories of their ancestors, deceived them. ⁣

And there on the battle field, facing Goliath, none of them were remembering what God had done for them. ⁣

They were just stuck in the moment. ⁣

But David?⁣

He remembered. ⁣

“David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37)⁣

He KNEW he could defeat the Philistine BECAUSE he remembered what the Lord had already done in the past. ⁣

The Lord had strengthened David and delivered David from all sorts of dangerous situations. ⁣

And David remembered and accurately gave credit to God for his protection in the past.

This remembrance gave David the spiritual confidence to trust in the Lord again!⁣

Do we have accurate spiritual memories, or are we letting time affect how we give credit to the Lord?⁣

Remember. Remember the spiritual experiences from the past in order to gain strength for the giants ahead.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Don’t let the adversary trick you! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

– one of a million lies I have told myself. ⁣

Anyone else relate?!⁣

We think we’ve experienced something unforgettable, or learned an interesting new fact, or felt the Spirit stronger than we’ve ever felt before…⁣

And then memory fades. ⁣

I’m not going to lie, the idea of writing down my life experiences in a journal for the benefit of some future great-great-grandchild has always seemed far out of reach to me. ⁣

I’m not sure if my posterity will ever really read what I write. ⁣

But I do know that writing things down enlarges my memory. ⁣

Anytime I write an experience down, it cements my feelings down on paper. ⁣

It breaks the memory free from Satan’s grasp.

He can’t convince me that I made it up, or that I really felt that way, or that I over-exaggerated. ⁣

I have the truth, straight from my mouth. ⁣

I learn to trust my past feelings and experiences. ⁣

I grow my collection of “spiritually defining moments”.

When the Brother of Jared left the mountain where he saw the Savior, the Lord commanded him to, “write the things which he had seen.” (Ether 4:1)⁣

The Brother of Jared had just been shown marvelous prophecies and visions. ⁣

And the Lord wanted him to write them down right away. ⁣

Directly after coming “down out of the mount”.⁣

And that’s great counsel for us, too!⁣

But the coolest part is that writing down powerful or important memories doesn’t have to mean pulling out the old notebook for 20 minutes at the end of the day anymore. ⁣

I write things down in the “notes” app on my phone all the time. I post on social media. I type. I do voice-to-text. I record videos of special moments.

We’ve got a whole modern world of “writing things down” available to us!⁣

So how can you improve just a bit more today in the way that is most sustainable to your lifestyle? Share any ideas below! ⁣

And as Elder Andersen taught:⁣

“When personal difficulties or world conditions beyond our control darken our path, the spiritually defining memories from our book of life are like luminous stones that help brighten the road ahead.”

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post “I’ll totally remember that!” first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Do you remember anything that someone told you when you were 10 years old?

If you do, it’s probably something pretty important or impactful.

This makes me think of quite a few church lessons I received in my youth that focused on spiritual gifts.

The teacher would often ask each of us to write down or tell each other the spiritual gifts we recognized in them.

Such a sweet idea, by the way.

The only hitch was that I’ve always been pretty musically talented.

So every time I was part of one of these lessons or activities, the messages my friends would write to me would all be fairly similar:

“You are so musically talented!”

Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful for my talents.

But as a teen, I also always wondered what my SPIRITUAL gifts were.

I knew there was more to me than just my musical gifts.

It wasn’t until an activity at a Young Women camp where I had a leader write a little note to me:

“Cali, I love that for every activity this week, you’ve made sure that everyone was included. You have such a gift for helping others not feel left out.”

I remember that note and that sweet leader to this day.

I’m not sure exactly what Ammaron and Mormon’s relationship was like. ⁣

But I know that Ammaron told young, 10-year-old Mormon that he was, “. . . a sober child, and. . . quick to observe.” ⁣

And Mormon said: “I remembered the things which Ammaron commanded me.” (Mormon 1:2,5) 

And then Mormon wrote Ammaron’s compliment and commandment down, AT LEAST 14 years later.

Sometimes, it’s really hard to recognize our own spiritual gifts. ⁣

But I think it’s actually pretty easy to see the spiritual gifts that others have. ⁣

If you want to make a huge impact on someone’s life right now, tell them the spiritual gifts and talents that you see in them.

They might just remember it for the rest of their lives.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Remembered 14 years later first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

STRENGTH

There are probably many times each day when I feel I could use extra strength or support.

For example, when my toddler needs me to open the same toy for the millionth time, when I’ve got a work deadline to hit, or when a friend tells me of a new heartbreaking trial.

Jesus can be my strength in these difficult moments.

When I remember to call out to Him for help!

SONG

But what about Jesus being my song?

Let me tell you that I always have a song stuck in my head.

Always.

Whether I’m doing the dishes, driving in the car, or trying to fall asleep at night, I’ve got a song repeating over and over in my head.

What if we could be like this with Jesus?

What if Jesus was always “stuck” in our minds?

He can be my strength and He can be the song in my heart.

I’ve learned that Jesus can be my strength and my song when I call on Him for help, and I do my best to always remember Him.

What does it mean to you that Jesus is your STRENGTH and your SONG?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Strength and song first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Elder Holland says, “I testify … that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. ⁣

“… Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence.”⁣

Heavenly Father did NOT forget His Son.

In fact it seems crazy to think that Heavenly Father would even possibly forget Jesus, especially in His greatest time of need.

But do we ever feel like we have been forgotten by Heavenly Father?⁣

Do we feel like He isn’t answering our prayers? ⁣

Do we feel like our deepest desires are not being granted?⁣

Do we feel like we are doing everything right but missing out on promised blessings? ⁣

And yet, how absurd to think that OUR Father in Heaven would actually forget us! ⁣

ESPECIALLY in our greatest time of need!⁣

It is okay to THINK that God has forgotten us from time to time.

Life is really rough.

Things don’t go according to how we think they should. ⁣

We have to suffer a lot. ⁣

Our Savior asked this same question. ⁣

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

And yet, deep down, we know that we have not actually been forgotten. ⁣

We know that sometimes we have to endure awful things. ⁣

We acknowledge that we don’t understand the bigger picture. ⁣

I think that is true faith right there. ⁣

Even when others point to circumstances as evidence of “no God”, we push forward. ⁣

Even when things feel numb, we continue to show faith.

Heavenly Father did not forget His Son on the cross. ⁣

Heavenly Father does not forget you on your knees, praying. ⁣

Heavenly Father does not forget you, crying in the bathroom so no one else sees. ⁣

Heavenly Father does not forget His children.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post God does not forget you  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Do you know what I think SHOULD be the easiest part of our baptismal covenants…

But is actually so difficult for our mortal brains?!

To ALWAYS REMEMBER Jesus.

That is WAY more difficult to do in practice than it may seem.

We have endless things our brains can dwell on: to-do lists, food, desires, TV shows, conversations, plans…

And yet, Jesus invites us to always remember Him.

I love the story of Peter walking on water for more reasons than I can say.

But I also love so much what happened when Peter starts to sink into the water.

“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him”. (Matthew 14:30-31)

How quickly did Jesus react after Peter cried out to the Lord?

IMMEDIATELY.

Not immediately when Peter started sinking.

But immediately after Peter cried out for help.

I think Jesus is ready to help us. He wants to let us feel peace. He wants to take away our fears and anxieties.

But He won’t infringe on our agency.

Those who have made baptismal covenants know that we get the extreme privilege of having the constant companionship of the Spirit, a literal member of the Godhead who is ready to prompt and warn and guide and teach.

And what is our role?

What is the small action that we need to do in order to hold up part of our end of the covenant?

We need to always remember Jesus.

When we talk with a friend, while running errands, while putting your kid to bed, while going to youth activities, while planning out the week…

Always remember Jesus.

Because when we always remember Jesus, we are perfectly poised to call upon JESUS when we start to drown.

We don’t look back to the ship, we don’t ask our friends, we don’t try to trust our own strength.

We ASK for help from Jesus because He’s already been in our mind.

Cry out to Jesus for help, and He will immediately save in the exact way we need it.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

Artwork: “Hand of God” by Yongsung Kim

The post Always remember, and Jesus saves  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But for a long time, I was stuck there.

In fact, I still am often stuck there.

I recently was having a tough time with a kid who was behaving in a way that made it really difficult for me to know how to respond.

I was getting frustrated. My tactics weren’t working. The kid was getting more and more frustrated, too.

I thought, “How am I supposed to know what to do?!”

And then I thought, “Duh.”

I said a small, silent prayer, right in that moment.

I said something to my kid. I did something else. Everything was deescalated.

Jonah, in the belly of that great fish, said, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord”. (Jonah 2:7)

It’s good to remember the Lord at the beginning and the end of the day.

But it’s also so good to remember Him in the heat of the moment.

When our soul faints. When our temper rises. When our embarrassment takes over. When our anxiety starts running. When our sadness rolls.

We can find strength when we remember the Lord in that very moment that we need Him.

And not just regular strength.

COVENANTAL strength.

When we “always remember Him”…

We get access to very real, priesthood, covenantal strength and power.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Remember in the moment first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s one of the biggest warnings given throughout scripture.

Because you know what Satan is so good at?

Making it seem like we can’t trust our spiritual memories.

Oh, there’s no way you were actually feeling the Spirit at girls camp. That was just all your happy emotions.

That wasn’t a miracle, it was just a coincidence.

You didn’t really receive a prompting to do that.

He’s so sneaky at making us distrust our own memories, right?!

And I think the adversary succeeded pretty well at convincing the Israelites that their memories, as well as the memories of their ancestors, deceived them.

And there on the battle field, facing Goliath, none of them were remembering what God had done for them.

They were just stuck in the moment.

But David?

He remembered.

“David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37)

He KNEW he could defeat the Philistine BECAUSE he remembered what the Lord had already done in the past.

The Lord had strengthened David and delivered David from all sorts of dangerous situations.

And David remembered and accurately gave credit to God for his protection in the past.

This remembrance gave David the spiritual confidence to trust in the Lord again!

Do we have accurate spiritual memories, or are we letting time affect how we give credit to the Lord?

Remember. Remember the spiritual experiences from the past in order to gain strength for the giants ahead.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Spiritual remembrance first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

When they said their name I thought, “Oh that’s a memorable name! I will definitely remember that one!”

And then as soon as my husband asked what her name was after the conversation, I completely forgot.

Anyone else have this problem?!

Even though I THINK I will remember important things, my memory is not always awesome.

President Henry B. Eyring said in his 1989 address, “Remembrance and Gratitude”, that:

“The Holy Ghost brings back memories of what God has taught us.”

It’s one of my favorite roles that the Holy Ghost has, but it’s one I don’t think we talk about quite as much.

He can help us REMEMBER important things that have happened to us!

David Whitmer was a new acquaintance to Joseph Smith.

The Smiths were now living at the Whitmer home in Fayette, New York.

In this revelation to David, the Lord tells him in verse 8 that:

“You shall receive the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance, that you may stand as a witness of the things of which you shall both hear and see”.

I truly believe that we see the Hand of God everywhere, every day.

We are surrounded by miracles and tender mercies.

Flooded and overwhelmed with blessings.

And yet, even if I think, “Oh, what a beautiful tender mercy that I needed!” during the day, I find myself getting to bedtime and thinking that nothing special happened that day.

But the Holy Ghost can help me remember.

I can remember the things that I have seen and that I have heard.

And when I remember, I am filled with gratitude.

And then I can stand as an accurate and grateful witness of the miracles that I have seen and heard each and every day.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Remembering and witnessing first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

You know, when someone says something like, “And she never even said anything about it! So rude!”

And you instinctively want to say, “Oh yeah! Crazy!” or something.

I didn’t like that feeling that came after I “kept the peace” in the moment, while sacrificing my integrity.

And so I committed to just not say anything in return. (Unless I felt strongly that I needed to speak up.)

But then, the very next day after making this big commitment, I found myself in a conversation with a coworker where I was just agreeing with some negative things they were saying.

I felt so disappointed when the conversation ended.

Because I had completely forgotten in the moment what I previously had felt such a strong conviction for.

Remembering is strangely difficult, right?!

It took me weeks and weeks and months and months before I made progress on remembering.

And now, it’s pretty natural to me. I remember it virtually every time.

We promise our Heavenly Father that we will always remember His Son.

We KNOW so much about Jesus. We learn of him all the time.

And yet, it can be so weirdly difficult to ALWAYS REMEMBER him throughout the week.

I even feel myself moving along a continuum. Some days, I think very often of my Savior, and my heart is humbled in constant prayer.

But other times, I’m just doing so many things, that I honestly forget to remember him all of the time.

And it feels a little weird to say that – but I’m guessing that since promising, yet again, to always remember the Savior is a part of our weekly sacrament prayers, I’m probably not alone in this.

Remembering is weirdly difficult, despite how much we know about a topic, or even how committed we feel to “remember”.

The only thing I’ve learned that helps?

Practice.

And a lot of prayer.

And slowly, we’ll build up how quickly and how often we can remember.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Trying to remember first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.