It was stake camp, so on the ward level, we had helped the girls create their banners, make gifts, create cheers, and pretty much every kind of crazy preparation you could think of.⁣

And then the word came– wildfires in Arizona suddenly shut down the state land, including where our stake YW Camp was to be held.⁣

Camp was canceled at a stake level and turned over to the ward level with less than 2 week’s notice in the middle of the summer. ⁣

Girls were disappointed. Leaders were disappointed. Parents were disappointed. No one was happy about having to create camp from scratch with basically no prep time.⁣

A wise leader spoke to us at church that Sunday as frantic plans for a ward camp were being thrown together, and the message was one that we all needed to hear.⁣ The message:

This had not surprised God. ⁣

This was not a wrench in the plan that He had no clue would happen. ⁣

As we wrote skits and painted posters and designed t-shirts, God knew it wouldn’t come to fruition. ⁣

And He would sanctify every sacrifice we thought we had been making for the stake camp to bolster our ward camp instead. ⁣

And it was 100% true. The ward camp came together in miraculous ways, and everyone was spiritually uplifted.⁣

But that lesson has stuck with me. ⁣

God can’t be surprised. ⁣

Joseph even taught this about baptisms for the dead:⁣

“The Lord ordained and prepared before the foundation of the world, for the salvation of the dead who should die without a knowledge of the gospel.” (D&C 128:5⁣)

Baptisms for the dead wasn’t an ordinance of, “Whoops, a lot of people are missing out on essential ordinances! I guess we should come up for a way to kind of get the same blessings, too.”⁣

Nope.⁣

THIS WAS THE PLAN FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.⁣

Proxy ordinances have always been the plan, because they are the only way we all make it back together. ⁣

God will not be surprised!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Canceled camp first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

My mom was fantastic about throwing great birthday parties each year, but I thought the idea of other people planning something for me without me knowing sounded pretty exciting!

To be totally shocked sounded fun.

Fast-forward to last year, when it was the weekend before my birthday.

I told my husband I just wanted to keep it lowkey this year, and we didn’t have any plans that weekend for me.

In fact, we were running around celebrating our kids’ friends birthdays all Saturday.

We pulled our car into our garage.

Exhausted after a long day, I was the first of our family to walk into our dark home.

And I saw the silhouette of someone sitting on our couch.

My panic instantly set in as I scanned my eyes and saw even more silhouettes on the couch.

I decided that if I was going to die in that moment, I might as well turn on the lights so they knew that I knew that they were there.

“SURPRISE!”

My home was filled with my friends, a delicious homemade cake, and food to share.

It was really fun to celebrate with friends…

But I also learned that I really really REALLY like knowing what is going on!

Arguably the most famous teaching that Amos shares is in Amos 3:7.

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

There is no big surprise coming.

We know the plans.

In fact, we’ve been planning the party!

We’ve been making the invitations.

We’ve been very involved in gathering everyone together for the celebration.

No need to fear.

No need to panic.

We have been told, and we will be told exactly what we need to know.

I am grateful for no surprises.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Surprise parties first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve been part of large events that get cancelled or dramatically changed just days beforehand.

I’ve forgotten a really important grocery item at the store.

I’ve asked someone else to do something and they’ve done it completely differently than what I was intending.

I’ve had someone get sick and not be able to do something we had been looking forward to for a long time.

Mortal life is filled with all sorts of things that “go wrong”, from small but still obnoxious errors, to big dramatic changes that are stressful and sometimes even heartbreaking.

Things weren’t supposed to happen like this!

When Jeremiah was a prophet, he was asked by the Lord to have his scribe record some important prophecies.

But then the king took the scroll with Jeremiah’s revelations and burned it, piece by piece!

What?!

The Lord ASKED for these to be written down, and now they were quite literally gone in flames.

But God knew what was going to happen.

“Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll”. (Jeremiah 36:28)

And then the Lord gave Jeremiah even MORE new revelation to include!

Isn’t it comforting to know that nothing comes as a surprise to God?

He knew what the king would do, and He had a plan in place to keep these important prophecies preserved.

People still have their agency.

I’m sure the Lord hoped the king wouldn’t burn Jeremiah’s writings.

And maybe He hoped that the people around you would have made better choices, too.

But He still isn’t even surprised.

In fact, it seems to be these kind of moments when God works His greatest miracles. He rains down blessings even more. He softens our hearts at just the right moment.

Nothing is a surprise for the Lord.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

It was stake camp, so we had helped the girls create their banners, make gifts, create cheers, and pretty much every kind of crazy preparation you could think of.

And then the word came– wildfires in Arizona suddenly shut down the state land, including where our stake YW Camp was to be held.

Camp was canceled at a stake level and turned over to the ward level with less than 2 week’s notice in the middle of the summer.

Girls were disappointed. Leaders were disappointed. Parents were disappointed. No one was happy about having to create camp from scratch with basically no prep time.

A wise leader spoke to us at church that Sunday as frantic plans for a ward camp were being thrown together, and the message was one that we all needed to hear.

This had not surprised God.

This was not a wrench in the plan that He had no clue would happen.

As we wrote skits and painted posters and designed t-shirts, God knew it wouldn’t come to fruition.

And He would sanctify every sacrifice we thought we had been making for the stake camp to bolster our ward camp instead.

And it was 100% true. The ward camp came together in miraculous ways, and everyone was spiritually uplifted.

But that lesson has stuck with me.

God can’t be surprised.

Joseph even taught this about baptisms for the dead:

“The Lord ordained and prepared before the foundation of the world, for the salvation of the dead who should die without a knowledge of the gospel.” D&C 128:5

Baptisms for the dead wasn’t an ordinance of, “Whoops, a lot of people are missing out on essential ordinances! I guess we should come up for a way to kind of get the same blessings, too.”

Nope.

THIS WAS THE PLAN FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

Proxy ordinances have always been the plan, because they are the only way we all make it back together.

God will not be surprised!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post God will not be surprised first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.