When I taught 6th grade, I would tell my students to imagine a parent had just asked them that question. ⁣

How would they respond?⁣

My 6th graders ALWAYS said their most common response to that question was, “Nothing.”

(And now that I’m a parent, I’m starting to get this same response when I ask what a kid did at school/preschool/primary…)

But when I would have this discussion with my 6th graders, we would use this as a springboard to talk about plots in stories.

We basically never read or listen a story where there was no problem of some kind.

Good stories only happen when there is some “inciting event” that initiates a problem to deal with or solve.

And that’s really one of the biggest reasons why kids say “nothing” happened at school.

It’s because they can’t think of anything “story-worthy” to share. ⁣

No problems = no stories.

Our brains are wired to crave stories, though!

That’s why we love reading and watching TV shows.

That’s why scriptures are more effective at teaching doctrine than bullet point lists of what we believe.

That’s why we get together with friends and end up telling story after story. ⁣

But sometimes, there aren’t really any stores to tell.

“And it came to pass that in the commencement of the seventeenth year of the reign of the judges, there was continual peace.” (Alma 30:5)

These may seem like the most “boring” parts of the Book of Mormon.

No problems? No stories!

But if we zoom in, what “boring” and “unspectacular” things were happening during these times of peace?

What unsuspecting service was being performed?

What normal life events happened?

And while these are fun questions to ponder on, it also makes me think of the more normal times in my own life.

Where I may not have a big, dramatic, story-worthy trial I’m facing.

Those regular, routine schedules and to-do lists.

Are those times of peace for me?

Could the mundane moments of my life also be summed up as times of “continual peace”?

Can I maybe do a better job at learning to feel gratitude for those peaceful times?

They may not be story-worthy, but those moments can be just as formative as the big stuff.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post No problem = no story first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

There are seven blind mice who each try to figure out what the large object in front of them is. ⁣

One feels the foot and thinks it’s a pillar.

Another one feels the trunk and thinks it’s a snake.

And so on. . .

They all are accurate in their assessment of what they physically feel, and draw completely reasonable conclusions. ⁣

But they are all wrong. ⁣

It’s an elephant. ⁣

The Lamanites made a reasonable, but very incorrect, assumption that the people who kidnapped some of their women were the people of Limhi they kept clashing with next door.

“They were angry with the people of Limhi, for they thought it was the people of Limhi.” (Mosiah 20:6)

But they were wrong. ⁣

This is an essential lesson to learn here on earth: ⁣

While we do our best to draw accurate conclusions each day, there are many times when we are very wrong. ⁣

Your ministering sister who didn’t reach out to you when you were clearly struggling, is dealing with brutal anxiety.

Your bishop who completely ignored you when you obviously needed help, had just received some concerning personal news.

Your friend who didn’t respond to your text, saw your message but then got interrupted by her kids and honestly forgot to reply.

We do our best to create the truth of what’s happening around us, but at the end of the day, we are often wrong in our assumptions of other people. ⁣

And other people are wrong about us. ⁣

So what do we do about this?

I think happiness and peace are found in letting go of the frustrating stories we make up when we don’t actually know the whole truth. ⁣

Sometimes I like to come up with my own backstories in my mind that completely and reasonably explain what someone did.

But most of the time, I’ve learned to just give it to God.

I’m naturally going to feel frustrated, confused, let down, forgotten, annoyed. . .

But I can quickly return to happiness and peace when I let that anger go and humble myself before Jesus Christ, the only One who knows exactly what everyone is going through.

Humility, surrendering it to God, and finding love instead.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Seven Blind Mice first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Looking back at every podcast episode, every Instagram post, every email on my email list…

I’ve shared hundreds and hundreds of personal stories just over the past 2.5 years.

But for this post, I’m not going to.

Because I want you to know that for every story I share, there are stories that I purposefully do not share.

In D&C 84:73, the Lord reminds the church, and specifically the apostles, that:

“They shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation.”

God gives us sweet, spiritual experiences that are for our own personal benefit.

Sometimes, we share those experiences with others to help lift and inspire and connect.

But there are other experiences that are just for us.

They are purely to help strengthen our own testimony and to help us gain salvation.

For me? I just know.

There are some experiences that I know will make cute, or funny, or poignant spiritual messages to share with others.

And there are other experiences that I just know I want to keep to myself.

They are either difficult to describe, too nuanced to write down, too personal on nature, or even, on occasion, too miraculous to speak.

It can be a little strange when everyone starts sharing stories, and you know that your story would fit right in, but you just know that’s it a little too sacred to share.

It’s okay.

Not everything needs to be shared.

It’s okay to keep some things in your heart.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post No personal story first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.