You know those times where nothing actually is really wrong, but nothing’s really right either?⁣

I was just going through the motions, trying to make it to the end of the day so that I could sleep and reset myself.

I had a little thought, “Maybe read some scriptures to get out of the funk.”⁣

And then a little later, “Maybe a Conference talk would help me out.”⁣

But I kept pushing those thoughts to the side. ⁣

I was in a blah mood, and I just needed to survive until the end of the day. ⁣

I told myself I didn’t have the right mindset to make my brain focus on scriptures or a talk, so I just kept surviving and scrolling. ⁣

It was a long afternoon. ⁣

When Hezekiah was having a tough time, look at what he did: ⁣

“When king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.” (2 Kings 19:1) ⁣

What do we do during the tough times? During the weird times? The frustrating times? The overwhelming times?⁣

Even the “blah” times?⁣

We aren’t meant to be happy all the time, of course. ⁣

But when we aren’t happy, do we use that as an excuse to step back from God and focus on our issues, or do we use it as an opportunity to grow closer to Him?⁣

Hezekiah was worried about battles, armies, blasphemy, and other political issues. ⁣

And he turned closer to God to find the answer. ⁣

What if we believed that turning to God really is the answer to every single problem? ⁣

No matter the issue.⁣

Growing closer to God, whether that’s through temple attendance, reading the scriptures, praying, or whatever else works for you is always the best option. ⁣

And luckily other times I’ve made good decisions where I HAVE chosen to turn to God during my rough, blah, strange moods. ⁣

And it’s always worth the effort.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A “blah” day first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Instead, the usher actually drew a comparison to the tabernacle of ancient Israel. ⁣

The Israelites set the pattern of using the best materials that they could, spending countless hours preparing every detail, as a symbol of their sacrifice and dedication to the Lord! ⁣

If the tabernacle was going to be used to worship the Lord, then they wanted to put forth their best effort in every single detail. ⁣

“And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.” (Exodus 37:2) ⁣

This lesson from my temple open house usher really stuck with me. ⁣

Am I giving my absolute best to the Lord as a symbol of how I feel about Him? ⁣

Or is He getting my leftovers from whatever else I have going on that day? ⁣

Don’t get me wrong, life is busy and crazy and insane. ⁣

With everything I have going on as a mortal human being, it’s not really possible to spend all day every day giving Him my best. ⁣

And I hope those questions don’t weigh you down with shame. ⁣

Instead, I hope they inspire you to do a little better in some small way. ⁣

Can I give more of my best self to the Lord?⁣

Can I make sure He isn’t ever the one getting pushed off my to-do list due to over scheduling?⁣

Can I give Him time when I know my mind is in the best shape it can be?⁣

Do I make sacrifices to give Him time?⁣

My little inspiration, my little nudge from the Spirit in response to these questions probably looks different than yours. ⁣

“My best” changes every day. ⁣

But just like ancient Israel, I think I can do a little better at choosing to give my best to the Lord as a symbol of what He means to me.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Only the best  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Up the mountain with the thunder and the storm. ⁣

Days passed. ⁣

Weeks. ⁣

Moses was nowhere to be found. ⁣

Slowly, panic replaced faith amongst the Israelites. ⁣

“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods”. (Exodus 32:1)⁣

And in their panic, they turned to the worship of something that was familiar to them, more concrete, unchanging and easy to understand. ⁣

(I know, a golden calf seems weird to us but it was a comfortable and logical move for them to make.)⁣

I’ve learned in my life that patience and faith in God are completely intertwined. ⁣

“When we exercise patience, our faith increases. As our faith increases, so does our joy.” —Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi⁣

Attending the temple hasn’t always made perfect sense to me. ⁣

After first receiving my endowment, there were a lot (A LOT) of things I was confused about. ⁣

But I had heard that the more often you go, the easier it is to gain a testimony of temple worship and work. ⁣

And I clung to that. ⁣

President Nelson even counseled that if we don’t yet love temple work, to go more often. ⁣

And slowly but surely, trip after trip, drop by drop, I’ve learned to love attending the temple. I’ve learned, I’ve worshipped, I’ve served, I’ve received priceless revelation. ⁣

But it took a lot of patience. And waiting. ⁣

AND it took faith in God in waiting for the answer and the testimony to come. ⁣

I can think of so many more examples of this in my life with the law of tithing, keeping the Sabbath holy, fasting, following the prophet…⁣

Patience in God’s timing and in His laws and principles takes a whole lot of faith. ⁣

Faith that He will actually reveal truths, or fulfill promises, or give us a testimony, or keep His covenants. ⁣

But keeping that faith while I wait has always resulted in long-term joy.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A golden calf?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

How to walk into a room and not worry about who you are going to sit by— just sitting down and knowing you’ll be fine no matter what. ⁣

How to make decisions and feel confident about them. ⁣

How to plan events and host. ⁣

And it’s not like these things aren’t important… ⁣

Being confident has blessed my life in many ways. ⁣

But I’ve recently been starting to get a glimpse of something much more important. ⁣

Love and service. ⁣

Walking into a room and looking for someone I could sit next to who might need a friend. ⁣

Not always making the most efficient decisions because they would leave some people out. ⁣

Hosting in a way that I’m still able to connect with others, and not in self-serving ways. ⁣

With this idea sitting in my mind a lot recently, I couldn’t help but see a new perspective to this pretty popular verse:⁣

“For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.” D&C 128:15⁣

Why can’t we be perfect without performing proxy ordinances for every single person who has ever existed?⁣

Because that is the loving and compassionate thing to do. ⁣

It isn’t enough to just be righteous and confident people who keep to ourselves. ⁣

It isn’t enough to just worry about ourselves. ⁣

Why?⁣

Because Jesus isn’t just worried about Himself. ⁣

So if we are asked to become like Jesus…⁣

Then we can’t just worry about “our own salvation”.⁣

Because “our own salvation” requires us to become Christlike. ⁣

Which means we are filled with so much compassion and love that we HAVE to, no, we WANT to do the work for absolutely everyone else. ⁣

We would never be content with just our own perfection. ⁣

Because Christ isn’t content just with His.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Better than confidence first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

For a Jesus who encourages, accepts, and loves. ⁣

For a Jesus who doesn’t shame, but who invites. ⁣

For a Jesus who is fair and understanding. ⁣

Jesus Christ visited Joseph and Oliver in the Kirtland temple just days after its dedication. ⁣

And the words He spoke to them are so telling of His character and nature. ⁣

“Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name.⁣

“For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.” (D&C 110:6-7⁣)

Love. Acceptance. Mercy. Power. Patience. ⁣

There are only limited words that I can read that I know my Savior spoke. ⁣

And these few messages and words that He spoke in the Kirtland temple that April day let me know that He is one and the same. ⁣

He is kindness and love and mercy. ⁣

I am so grateful for any opportunity I get to learn more about Jesus Christ. ⁣

To study His words and know that Jesus is my kind, wise heavenly friend.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My Savior’s words  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I found that hard to believe. ⁣

But then it was true. ⁣

Receiving my own endowment in the temple was unlike anything I imagined it would be. ⁣

I honestly felt pretty neutral about the entire experience. It was just different. Unexpected. ⁣

I just felt a little whisper deep down of, “You’ll figure this out. You’ll love it.”⁣

Going back time and time again brought familiarity.⁣

And with familiarity, I was able to start learning. To feel the spirit. To feel the power. To study what I was experiencing. ⁣

I don’t have a big “a-ha” moment when the temple clicked for me. ⁣

It was a gradual, month after month, step by step process where I was suddenly able to say: “Wow, I absolutely love the temple and the covenants I’ve made there.”⁣

In the temple endowment, we receive knowledge and power. ⁣

When I meet people who love the temple, I immediately want to be more like them. ⁣

To me, it’s almost obvious to see the power that flows from people’s lives who attend or work in the temple regularly. ⁣

It’s priesthood power flowing in everything they do. ⁣

That’s the power, that personal priesthood power, that the Lord knew the saints needed desperately in 1834. ⁣

“For behold, I have prepared a great endowment and blessing to be poured out upon them”. (D&C 105:12)

And it’s the power that’s available to us today. ⁣

To gain personal priesthood power, we need to make and keep covenants. ⁣

Which means, we need to know what those covenants are, remember them, and renew them each week at the sacrament table. ⁣

Understanding and loving the endowment of power I have received has been a journey for me. ⁣

But it’s also not a journey that’s complete. ⁣

Accessing God’s power is a continual process, a daily commitment. It’s a little bit vague sometimes and harder to measure than whether or not I’m reading my scriptures. ⁣

But deciding each day to keep my covenants brings me access to a blessing and a priesthood power I never want to lose.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Endowment of power first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It wasn’t impossibly far away, but it was just far away enough that we usually did two youth trips a year to go and do baptisms and confirmations. ⁣

We would make a whole day of it, and, of course, grab ice cream at Fenton’s afterwards. (If you know, you know.)⁣

When I went off to BYU, I was suddenly in very close walking distance to a temple. ⁣

What a shift!⁣

I attended with my roommates, and we all went once or twice a month.

After my husband and I got married and moved to Arizona, we lived about 20 minutes from the Mesa temple. ⁣

And suddenly, we realized… we were on our own for temple attendance. ⁣

No more youth group trips. No more roommates going with us. If our ward had temple trips, they were often during times when one of us was working. ⁣

We had to grapple with the question:⁣

Why do we really attend the temple?⁣

I didn’t love my reasons at first. ⁣

But throughout the years, my answer has shifted. ⁣

When I read D&C 97:13-14, I was reminded of some of my favorite reasons. ⁣

The Lord was teaching these saints, pretty passionately, about why they NEEDED to get to work on building that temple. ⁣

Throughout these verses, He mentions 3 things:⁣

1. For a place of thanksgiving for all saints⁣

2. For a place of instruction⁣

3. That they may be perfected⁣

Thanksgiving, instruction, and perfection. ⁣

It’s hard not to be filled with gratitude while sitting in a beautiful building surrounded by beautiful reminders of all that God has done for us. ⁣

Instruction is given every single time we are in the temple, and the more that I’ve tried to pay attention and learn, the more my eyes have been opened to the wealth of knowledge that is available. ⁣

And as we learn more about the power of God and His priesthood, we become perfected. When we do work for our ancestors, we become perfected. When we sacrifice any item on our to-do list for time in the temple, we become perfected. ⁣

Isn’t that a beautiful trio of reasons why we need temples?! ⁣

What blessings have you seen from worshipping in the house of the Lord?

And what is your biggest WHY right now for wanting to be there regularly?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Temple proximity  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

This would be the day I finally got my answer.

My husband and I had been trying to make a decision about buying a home.

We had found a house…

But I had a lot of reasons for not wanting to move there.

A lot.

It was a great list that I kept repeating over and over in my head.

All the reasons NOT to move there.

As we sat in the temple, I silently told God that I was ready for an answer about the house.

I was surprised when the answer came immediately, quietly, and forcefully:

“I already told you. Trust what I told you before.”

My mind was brought back to the first time I had prayed about this house.

I really felt like we should move there.

But then I started coming up with my list of “why nots.”

I had already received my answer…

But I was trying to force an answer that He wasn’t going to give.

And He lovingly brought my mind back to the moment when He had already responded.

Oliver Cowdery wanted confirmation that he was doing the correct thing by helping Joseph Smith, who many seemed to think was delusional.

And the answer Oliver got?

“If you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.

“Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter?

“What greater witness can you have than from God?” (D&C 6:22-23)

God answers prayers.

And He sometimes lovingly reminds us to trust the answers we’ve already received.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Should we buy the house?! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

You know, the super catchy song that just makes you want to dance, buuuut if you listen too closely to the lyrics you realize how completely inappropriate it is? ⁣

My husband and I had plans to go to the temple for our date night that night. ⁣

I had the thought, “I really should change the station.” ⁣

But I didn’t.

Fast forward to sitting in the temple a few hours later. ⁣

I’m sitting in an endowment session, and sure enough, what song pops into my head? “That song”. ⁣

I couldn’t get it out of my head, no matter what I dd. ⁣

So I decided to pray! “Please, help me to get this terrible song out of my head so that I can feel the spirit!”⁣

The reprimand I received was clear as day:⁣

“You can’t ignore the Spirit’s promptings earlier in the day, and then demand the Spirit to help take away the natural consequences later.” ⁣

I was choosing to keep the door closed on my drive home from work. I wanted to enjoy the music in my car.⁣

I heard the voice, the knocking, the prompting. And I didn’t open my end. ⁣

And then in the temple, I had ripped open the door, demanding that heaven now help me. ⁣

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

But I hadn’t listened to His voice and knocking earlier.

Christ WANTS to be standing at our door and knocking constantly. ⁣

But the scripture says, “if any man (1) hear my voice, and (2) open the door”. ⁣

We have to hear His voice and then open the door. ⁣

We can’t demand He be there at our whim while we deliberately ignore Him other times. ⁣⁣

Now, this does not mean we have to be perfect, or even “worthy” to open that door. ⁣

Our Savior is willing to help us wherever we are at. ⁣

I needed to be reprimanded in that moment, but He still helped me to learn and ponder, and I received new impressions that evening.

But we have to listen for His voice and His knocking in our life. And then we gently respond by opening the door and letting Him in.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post We need to open the door  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

BUSY

members of the church spend time researching names

and then attending the temple to do temple work?⁣

There’s all the technical doctrinal reasons.

The reasons that help explain this super unique aspect of our Christian religion.

In addition to baptizing people in behalf of those who have passed away, we also know that all temple ordinances are made available by proxy for people who have died. ⁣

“Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” (1 Corinthians 15:29)

But why do we continue to attend the House of the Lord?

I think the real answer is

Christlike love and compassion. ⁣

Have you ever thought about how that’s what temple work really is?⁣

We literally are spending time, effort, and often some amount of money in the form of gas, food, or childcare in order to show love and compassion for those who were not able to perform temple ordinances in their lifetime. ⁣

And, these deceased people might not even accept our work. ⁣

And yet, we still go. ⁣

We love them so much,

OR we at least understand that Christ loves them so much,

that we are willing to give up our time in order to give them a chance. ⁣

That is such extreme love and compassion. ⁣

And I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to go to the temple!

Even when it’s difficult.

We are developing a truly advanced ability to love others when we sacrifice so much for what may not be accepted at all. ⁣

In fact, that sounds an awful lot like what our Savior did for all of us. ⁣

When we attend the temple, we get to experience just a small portion of what He did as He sacrificed His comfort in order to give everyone the opportunity to develop spiritually. ⁣

I’m so grateful that attending the temple helps me become more Christlike, from the things that I learn as I worship in the House of the Lord, to the mere physical act of just being willing to attend.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why do we do baptisms for the dead? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.