- I experienced the joy of coming closer to the Savior and of His coming closer to me most often through simple acts of obedience to the commandments.
He speaks of examples from the scriptures of people that have visited with the Savior and His presence in their lives. He speaks of those on the road to Emmaus and how they literally walked with the Savior, learned from His instruction, but didn't know it was Him. He speaks of the people of Alma making commitments at the waters of Mormon as they took the Saviors name upon them when they were baptized. As with these examples, the Savior invites us to make covenants with Him and to learn from the Spirit that He lives today.
- We are under covenant both to lift up those in need and to be witnesses of the Savior as long as we live. We will be able to do it without fail only as we feel love for the Savior and His love for us. As we are faithful to the promises we have made, we will feel our love for Him. It will increase because we will feel His power and His drawing near to us in His service.
Providing service to others will open our minds and our hearts to feel the love that the Savior has for us. We draw closer to God by doing things that he would do if He were here with us. He blesses our families when we are on His errand and comforts and blesses our families because of our devoted faithfulness to Him.
- As we give devoted service to Him, He draws closer to those we love in our families. Every time I have been called in the Lord’s service to move or to leave my family, I have come to see that the Lord was blessing my wife and my children. He prepared loving servants of His and opportunities to draw my family closer to Him.
Despite our personal faithfulness, at times, our children will seek their own path that is not in line with the teachings of the Savior. We wonder how we can help them. President Eyring promises us that as we serve Christ, His spirit will draw closer to those we love and bless them.
- Many of you have loved ones who are wandering off the path to eternal life. You wonder what more you can do to bring them back. You can depend on the Lord to draw closer to them as you serve Him in faith.
He provides hope to those that seek to serve Him and follow the path that has been established in this life for joy.
- My promise to you who pray and serve the Lord cannot be that you will have every blessing you may wish for yourself and your family. But I can promise you that the Savior will draw close to you and bless you and your family with what is best. You will have the comfort of His love and feel the answer of His drawing closer as you reach out your arms in giving service to others. As you bind up the wounds of those in need and offer the cleansing of His Atonement to those who sorrow in sin, the Lord’s power will sustain you. His arms are outstretched with yours to succor and bless the children of our Heavenly Father, including those in your family. There is a glorious homecoming prepared for us. We will then see fulfilled the promise of the Lord we have loved. It is He who welcomes us into eternal life with Him and our Heavenly Father.
It seems that all things come back to putting our lives in God's hands will bless us the most. President Eyring makes clear that by showing our devoted love for the Savior through serving others, we will bring our lives to Him and He promises to draw nearer to us. If we want the Savior in our lives more, we have a simple key that can be turned and blessings will flow into our lives. Those blessings may not be what we think they should be. But we can be assured that they are what the Lord knows we need at this time in our lives. I am grateful for a loving God who gives us the ability to draw closer to Him as we are faithful to His teachings. I would encourage those that struggle in any way, to come to the Avior, tell Him of your weaknesses, and ask Him to draw near to you and help you make those weaknesses lighter. As we come to Him, He will come to us and bless our lives.