“You’re welcome!” for getting all the songs stuck in your head now.

But I love toward the beginning of the movie when Moana sets out on her solo journey on the boat to find the great Maui.

She’s doing her best sailing her boat, but she’s also completely unqualified.

The ocean helps to guide her when she gets off track.

It gets Moana back in the boat when she falls off, it taps her on the back when falls asleep and starts heading in the wrong direction…

The ocean called her on the journey and the ocean is making sure she can complete her journey to find Maui.

But at one point, a big storm comes.

Moana is wet, tired, and eventually gets pushed off her boat, knocking her unconscious and stranding her on a deserted island.

How could the ocean do this to her?!

She’s frustrated. She’s exhausted. She’s confused.

She feels betrayed by the ocean.

Until she realizes… Maui is on that island.

The storm that she cursed actually pushed her super quickly to where she needed to go.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

How many times have I been just like Moana?

Frustrated that a job didn’t pan out just to find my dream job right around the corner?

Angry that a relationship ended just to discover the best person shortly after?

Annoyed that I didn’t get a certain calling only to feel totally at peace with a new direction?

“Each of us can trust in the Lord and lean not. We can center our lives on the Savior by coming to know Him, and He will direct our paths.” —Bonnie H. Cordon

We’ve got the master wayfinder looking out for us and directing our paths.

We can do our best to steer, even though our best isn’t usually very awesome.

I fall asleep at the helm quite a bit.

But when we stay focused on Jesus Christ, our paths will lead us exactly where He knows we need to go.

Despite our best, mortal, often totally flawed, reasoning.

Trust. He’s leading the way.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Trust in the master wayfinder first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I felt like I only learned about the Savior’s atoning sacrifice in vague terms, and so I wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on.

Every General Conference, that would be the “question” in my mind.

Anytime someone started talking about “the atonement”, my ears would perk up.

I love learning about logical explanations.

I wanted to know what actually happened!

What did Jesus do?

How did He do it?

But I never really got the answer that I was wanting.

I never got a confident logical description.

Instead, I gradually realized that my head was never going to wrap my mind around what happened that night in Gethsemane and later on the cross.

It was a big shift in my mind that happened very slowly.

Over the years, I ended up gaining a strong testimony of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice.

But it was by using my heart to focus on how I felt about it and what it meant to me.

“Apply thine heart to understanding”. (Proverbs 2:2)

I shifted from wanting to know, to trusting what my heart taught me.

I changed from pridefully insisting I could completely understand, to humbly acknowledging that I don’t need to.

I’ve realized that my brain isn’t the only thing that can learn new answers.

I’ve got to trust my heart, too.

It’s a pattern that’s helped me navigate spiritual questions time and time again.

And I’ve started learning from what I feel in my heart just as much as what I know in my mind.

I’ve applied my heart to my understanding.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Applying the heart first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

So I read it again, trying to make sure my brain was engaged.

I read it a couple more times, and realized I still didn’t fully understand what I was reading.

I get confused by the scriptures plenty of times (which is why I love digging into the research to try and learn— even though it takes a long time).

But when I don’t have the time to research and study, I am often confused by these ancient books of scriptures that were written in different generations, in different cultures, and that have often been through many translations, too.

So why would we be asked to read and study the scriptures if it can be so difficult sometimes?

Even as I read through those confusing verses recently, I had a phrase pop out to me that taught me a little gospel truth.

I know that God always prepares a way for us to keep His commandments!

Even when I’ve read through confusing scriptures…

When I haven’t understood the context…

When I feel like I wouldn’t even pass a basic comprehension test…

I’ve had phrases pop out to me that make sense and teach me a powerful personal lesson.

I’ve received personal revelation.

I’ve felt the Spirit.

When the people of Jerusalem, after they had been able to rebuild and fortify their temple, all gathered together to hear Ezra read them the scriptures, it says that the scriptures were read in a holy way, and “caused them to understand the reading.” (Nehemiah 8:8).

These people had spoken different languages, completely forgotten what had been written down, and had been exposed to other cultures and religious practices.

And yet the Spirit caused them to understand the reading.

When we have the Spirit with us, even difficult passages of scriptures can bring us the answers we need.

Being in the scriptures is so so SO essential.

Feeling overwhelmed or confused? There’s lots of ways to learn more confidence in the scriptures.

But nothing can beat having the Spirit as a companion. The understanding that you NEED in your life is always available in the scriptures when the Spirit is present.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Confusing scriptures and spiritual understanding  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.