As a completely monolingual individual, the idea of being able to suddenly speak or understand a different language seemed… pretty cool, to be honest.

The idea of something suddenly happening that is super cool, super unique, or completely baffling is an appeal to many people.

But as I’ve matured a bit, I’ve realized that when it comes to spiritual gifts from God…

I need to be okay with the simple.

Many of the early Saints were promised spiritual gifts as they started to preach the gospel.

I’m going to guess gifts like knowing what to teach, bearing powerful testimony, receiving little promptings, discernment…

And yet they seemed to latch on to the weird. The unique. The flashy.

The Lord kindly reprimanded many of them by asking:

“Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ordained? To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.” D&C 50:13-14

And then the reprimand:

“And then received ye spirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be of God; and in this are ye justified?” D&C 50:15

They were seeking after the strange and the unclear.

I think that our spiritual gifts are meant to make sense. To be the most simple solution in any given situation.

Elder Gong told a story of a Spanish language interpreter who told him that he knew what Elder Gong was going to say by the spirit so that he could communicate effectively with the people he was translating for.

THAT was a time where the gift of tongues was actually appropriate and simple. A simple but miraculous boost of his efforts.

But when we look for gifts or talents or explanations that are unnecessary, over-the-top, or selfish, we are looking beyond the mark.

The Spirit may speak to us in quiet, simple, and straightforward ways.

And that’s totally okay.

Being dramatic is not a requisite for a righteous, spiritual experience.

And so I’m going to be okay with the simple.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Flashy and dramatic first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I didn’t realize that much thought work, planning, and research went into effective teaching!

But pretty soon I was spending my homework time crafting the perfect inquiry-based math lessons and engaging anticipatory sets for literacy.

And, with the super analytical brain that I have, I started seeing these teaching patterns everywhere, from my own professors to church teachers!

I started noticing what my Sunday School teachers, Relief Society teachers, and even bishopric members did great, and what they didn’t do so great on when it came to teaching gospel topics.

And you know what’s cool?

The church has totally made an effort to educate those who are called as “teachers” in the church how to become more effective, through teacher councils, newer high quality teacher manuals, and other trainings.

Because I do think that effective teaching strategies matter.

But at the end of the day, it’s not the most important thing, right?

I’ve learned the gospel from someone who didn’t ask any probing questions.

I’ve felt the Spirit listening to someone reading a quote completely out of context.

I’ve been bored during a lesson, only to have the Spirit bring one particular sentence the teacher says to my mind.

The gospel can be proclaimed by the weak and the simple.

There is no training needed. There is no lesson plan. There are no teaching tips that are necessary to feel the Spirit and to share the Spirit.

How cool is that?!

And in the most important setting, our home, teaching the gospel in the best ways that we personally can will always be good enough.

We are good enough to teach our families.

We are weak. Uneducated in many things. Simple and plain.

And yet, we can teach the fullness of the gospel.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The best teaching tips first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.