Eyring - Where Is the Pavilion? - October 2012

President Eyring speaks of barriers that we place in our lives that block us from feeling the full love and support that the Savior has for us in our lives.  This feeling of separation and loneliness can be overcome as we submit our will to God's and put our desires in line with His.

• Our feelings of separation from God will diminish as we become more childlike before Him. That is not easy in a world where the opinions of other human beings can have such an effect on our motives. But it will help us recognize this truth: God is close to us and aware of us and never hides from His faithful children.
  

He tells us that we do not have to see Christ in order to know that he is there and aware of our lives.

• In moments of pain, loneliness, or confusion, we do not need to see Jesus Christ to know that He is aware of our circumstances and that His mission is to bless.
  

He tells us that one thing we need to keep in mind is that our timetable for things to happen needs to be handed to the Lord.  Sometimes our impatience can block us from feeling the Savior is close to us.

• We can’t insist on our timetable when the Lord has His own. Sometimes our insistence on acting according to our own timetable can obscure His will for us.
  

To feel closer to the Savior, we need to speak to Him and turn our desires to what He desires.  We have to have faith that His desires are to bless us and provide for us what is best.

• We remove the pavilion when we feel and pray, “Thy will be done” and “in Thine own time.” His time should be soon enough for us since we know that He wants only what is best.
  
• Submitting fully to heaven’s will is essential to removing the spiritual pavilions we sometimes put over our heads. But it does not guarantee immediate answers to our prayers.
  
• The Lord’s delays often seem long; some last a lifetime. But they are always calculated to bless. They need never be times of loneliness or sorrow or impatience.
  

He speaks about a future day when we will stand before Christ and be judged for our worldly actions.  He says that if we have spent our time following Him and becoming familiar with Him, we will feel close to Him and that day will be a happy one.  Because we have spent our time in life trying to become like Him, we will have nothing to hide and nothing to fear when that day comes.

• Our certain reunion with Him at the judgment bar will be more pleasing if we first do the things that make Him as familiar to us as we are to Him. As we serve Him, we become like Him, and we feel closer to Him as we approach that day when nothing will hide our view.
  

He concludes with his testimony of what our future can be like if we seek God, do His will, and follow His guidance.

• If we serve with faith, humility, and a desire to do God’s will, I testify that the judgment bar of the great Jehovah will be pleasing. We will see our loving Father and His Son as They see us now—with perfect clarity and with perfect love.
  

I have been looking for answers to some of my life's questions in the past couple weeks.  I believe this talk has answered some of those questions for me.  I am in a position right now that I am trying to devote more time to the Savior and what He wants me to do for His children.  I am trying to weight that against my personal career goals.  I am deciding what is best for my families future.  This talk speaks to me personally that I need to put the things of God first in my life, and trust in His desire to do what is best for me in the future.  Part of that challenge is to put my will and desires aside and align them with a timeline that God has.  I am comforted with the idea that my timeline may not be God's timeline but I can have peace knowing that He wants what is best for me.  I need to have faith that He is aware of me, aware of my desires, and has a plan for me to achieve the most happiness I can have in my life.  I just need to put more trust in Him and He will provide the necessary blessings I am asking for in my life.