Increasing Spirituality

Andrew and I have been taking temple prep classes for the past month and we finished them yesterday evening. It was such a great blessing to listen to what we will soon be doing. We had our first interview with our new Bishop (poor guy, had to deal with us first :]) for the first part of our recommend interviews. We passed!! Ha ha, I'm so excited! We have his signature, now we just need to get an appointment with the stake president. He is such a neat man, I remember having my interview with him when I was sealed to my parents in 2007. I am SO excited to be sealed to my husband and future children. We are one step closer to our goal and I cannot wait!
My friend who is on a mission in Boston, Massachusetts wrote an inspiring e-mail I thought I would share. He is a great man and is doing great serving the Lord.
"I learned that every single person is of great worth. All people are important. We should treat others like they are God's favorite kid, even though we might not understand with our mortal minds how that is possible, each of us is of huge importance to God. I beleive that daily scripture study and prayer, principles we teach every single day, are critically important because of their effects on us. It allows us to feel the Spirit stronger and learn to recognize it's soft, powerful promptings, and allows us to foster our personal relationship with our Father. When we do that, our true identity and purpose come into clearer focus and we begin to allow ourselves to be enabled and empowered by the truth. True strength and power comes into our lives. Our problems and worries begin to lose their power as we learn that in reality, they have no power that we don't give them. Happiness is not dependent on situation or circumstance, but what we choose to think, feel, and focus our will upon. Our self-esteem and value rise as we see that and recognize that God loves each of us. Learning to love God, and others is the most important pursuit a person can have in life. If you ask me, Love and Forgiveness are inseprerably connected. We must learn to forgive others, and we can do that by learning to love God, as just described. This process will heal us, as it leads to obedience and peace of mind and spirit. True healing, that can only come by the Atonement, and happens when following in obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ."