January 3rd...

Hello my wonderful family!!
Well I assume by lack of email I may have a little niece!! I am way excited about that. Well I received a Christmas Miracle. I got a call that said I was going back to Estonia, to Tartu, to serve with Elder Jenkins. Now let me just say that this would be something that I would dream about, but it would never happen. But it did. I have never been happier. Elder Jenkins and I never thought we would be able to serve together and here we are. I can't tell you how awesome this is. Well I would like to just talk about my last week in Latvia. So we visited an active member to just say hi and try to get a referral and just strengthen her. She asked me if I had been to the temple the day before I got to Liepaja. I said no and asked why. She said that when I spoke in sacrament that the whole room was lit up by my light and that that light only come from people that have just been through the temple. She said that I really brightened her spirits. Now this was really a shocker to me. Because I wasn't the happiest person at that time and just because speaking that day wasn't anything big I thought about. It really hadn't affected me, but even 6 weeks later, it still affected this member. I was really grateful to hear that. Then another surprise. I was walking out of the church and a member stopped me and started going off in Latvian and I didn't understand. So my companion translated. She told me that when I speak Estonian I sound like a really pretty bird (she may have said mockingbird? Do those sound pretty?) and that she was grateful I was in Liepaja. So my one night we were going to teach a guy with the branch president but he was worried about having 4 of us in the lesson. So me and Elder Koltko split off and went knocking. So he knows a little more Latvian than me, but not much. So we thought it would be interesting. The first door we knocked on a Russian lady answered and all three of us realized we didn't understand each other, but she invited us in. Her husband spoke very slurred Latvian and we just laughed and tried to talk. So we ended up getting there number. We went back the next day with Elder Johnson because he knows some Russian. We asked if we could pray with them and she said 'Yes, Americans and Russians will unite together in Prayer!' She was so excited about it. Way funny. Then I told you about a less active family that let us in on Christmas eve; well we had another lesson with them. They let us in happily and didn't even cancel. So that was something. We found out that the wife has cancer and we offered a blessing. She said 'if I am going to ask for a blessing from God I better do my part by reading, praying, and going to church.' She knew exactly what she had to do, she just wasn't doing it. I really hope they came to church yesterday. Then getting back to Estonia was just awesome. I spent new years in Latvia with an Elder and we had a lot of fun together. Then the next day I was on a bus. We stopped in Pärnu and I saw a couple members there. They were way happy to see as was I. They both just told me how much they prayed about me that I was happy and could come back. Then I got to Tartu and talked to Nadezda and Maarja, and they both said the same thing. I really didn't/don't realized how much people pray for me or for missionaries in general. It was a good reminder. Sunday church was way fun seeing everybody. I loved it. I love being back. I understand stuff. Its awesome. I am very grateful to be here, and I am grateful that I can serve the Lord for this time. I hope everything is good at home. I haven't gotten emails for two weeks now. But I am sure everything is good. I love you all, and I cannot wait to see my little niece Avrey!!
Armastusega,
Vanem Boyce

The pictures are me saying goodbye to elder adams, the Liepaja church, and Tartu town square in winter!