December 23

Dear Family,

How are you all doing? I'm grateful for all the lettes! Its good to hear that your all doing so well! How were finals? How's Christmas bread? I hear you guys went skiing that sounds like fun! I wish could have gone. What's this about crazy pictures? I wanna see! Are you guys going anywhere for Christmas? Are you gonna send me pictures of the house all decked out?

So you asked what I did most days and it looks like this...

6:30 Get up

7:00 Breakfast

7:30 Class

8:00 "

9:00 "

10:00 "

11:30 Lunch

12:15 Class

1:00 "

2:00 "

3:10 Gym

3:30 "

4:00 "

4:30 Dinner

5:15 Class

6:00 "

7:00 "

8:00 "

9:00 Plan the Next Day

10:00 "

10:30 Bed time

Yep my life is exciting :D

Hey Sierra, life here isn't to boring its pretty fun. Thanks for the picture. Mariah, Thanks for all the prayers and the picture! You have a solo! That's so cool! I hope you do well!

I don't think I got any other letters really this week if I did I'm sorry! Write me and remind me cause I think I might have lost a few :(

So one embarrasing thing that happened this week. I got locked out of my room and all I had was a towel on! I had to hangout in the bathroom for like 15 min till we got in unlocked.

I love you all. I hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Kevin Carlisle

P.S. I'm sending you guys my camera SD card I hope you guys will copy everything of it, AND BURN A CD, don't delete anything just send it back will all the pictures still on it I need to print some here.

What I Want....

• T-shirts (like 2 0r 3 for P-day)
• Ties (ugly brown and blue ones) (or any other ones)
• Chips and salsa (its some crazy tradition here)
• Paper tree ordaments that has what your thankful for
• One hoodie
• Any pictures (photo, drawings) its fun to have drawings by little brothers and sisters
• Pictures, pictures, pictures!! (Send some to me I have nothing)
• Candy! (I don't know what type mostly chocolate)
• Contacts
• Big suitcase (but let me know how much it would cost cause I might be able to buy one cheaper here)
• Insurance cards?

If you want me to get any of these before Christmas you have to send them before the 20th the last day I get mail is the 22nd after that the mailroom is closed till after Christmas

After Note

Oh I forgot to tell you guy. There are only two people in my district! My comp. and I are the only people speaking Ukrainian! I guess this is the first time in the 3 years my Bishop has been here that he's ever only had 2 people in a district. Having only 2 people can make district meeting really hard cause your not so much teaching a lesson as much as talking to your comp. I know all the Elders in my Zone but none of the sisters. Mostly cause there all in different districts. Now the Elders in my zone are Elders Flint, Snow, Hopkins, Cummings, Cummins, Baker, Lewis (knew him in High School), Torranee, Freestone, Loveridge, and Stradling. Elder Taylor had to go home because of personal issues but we're all hoping he can come back in a couple weeks.

I took some pictures of my room and some videos for you guys. I won't be able to call you at least you guys will be able to hear from me!

A good thing about only having two people in your district is that means there's only two people in your room! So we each get a whole bunk bed to ourselves!

December 7 - December 13

12-7-2010

Today is P-day! I'm getting close with Elders Lewis, Snow, Hopkins, Taylor, and Elder Flint. We just talked about hobbies and whatnot.

I got to go to the temple first thing in the morning its such a great day to start the day :) I think my favorite thing about P-day is going to be the temple food! So good!

We had a devotional today all about "Doing All you can on His time" it was a really good devotional.

12-8-2010

Today was a rough day. Nothing seemed to go right for anyone in my zone. I'm getting more used to the food here which is a really good sign. No letters :( I taught the first Lesson today in the TRC it was hard but I felt like I knew what I was doing (thank goodness for the spirit.) I wish I knew more about the Gospel before my mission but I love the person I am becoming :)

12-9-2010

The days are going by so fast. I feel like you get up and a couple hours latter its time for bed. I had some service today which just means I cleaned the MTC. I learned that I haven't "Crossed my river yet" meaning I haven't had to be like the three men on the handcart company that had to cross the ice cold river. I got a letter from Jess! It me so happy!

12-10-2010

Today was boing I pretty much only sat in class all day but I did pretty much understand everything they taught today which was great! I got letters!! One from Jess, Isaac, Mom, and Grant. I love hearing how people are doing :)

12-11-2010

Its funny how the lord likes to knock you on feet right as your starting to get up :) Yesterday I felt like I could understand everything. Today.... I almost died! I could not understand a word. Heck I almost cried Its okay cause I know tomorrow will be better.

12-12-2010

Sundays are so different. So relaxing! My head doesn't hurt. I don't feel like I'm running around everywhere. It's nice to have a day of rest :D Luch was actually GOOD! Like I even wanted seconds! It was just turkey, potatoes, and veggies but every sunday we get ICE CREAM! The mission is a great thing. I'm already seeing improvements in my life.

12-13-2010

Today was different. It was good, sad, confusing, clear. I don't really know how to describe it. Food was same ole ole (how ever you spell it) I found a lot of good scriptures about forgiveness. My favorites were John 8:7-12. I also think John 11:35 is good. Even Jesus had to cry sometimes :D

Elder Taylor had to go home today it was so sad. We all hope he gets to come back soon. he was going to be a great missionary.

Guys if I didn't write you a letter its not cause I don't love you it just means I didn't get a letter from you :( and if I did and forgot I'm sorry. Write me another one and you'll be the firt person I write :)

I love you all! Yes you

Isaac

Isaac

Zac

Ciara

Eliza

Mariah

Rachel

Matthew

Ivan

Arianne

Briana

Grant

Serra

Steven and anyone else I forgot

Week 3

12-14-2010

two weeks down only like 106 weeks left! :D time is going by so fast! i went to the temple at my usual time, around 7:30. carzy story! Some large lady, and I only point out that she was large because she came flying down the hill running as fast as she could yelling 'young men! young men!' we all thought we were in trouble for something but she told us that we needed to write our mothers. she said the spirit told her twice to come tell us that one of our mothers needed to be told how much they were loved. so you better believe the first letter i wrote was to my mom. i got a lot of letters from Jess, Mom and jamba! i didnt get them till like 6 so I couldnt write anyone back :(

12-15-2010

today was hard. i think every TRC day is going to be really hard. It was hard but i know it is helping me grow. not really a lot happened today. I did get ice cream! which i think makes it a pretty good day.

12-16-2010

today was weird. i understood everything but i couldnt speak a word of ukrainian :( The food was good today, i think i've been here too long cause I didnt used to think the food was any good, i got another letter from Jess! today was a lot like yesterday and i dont feel very motivated to do anything.

12-17-2010

today was very chill, i didnt like it very much, i understood everything and could speak ukrainian which was nice but all the teachers were really laid back and so i dont really felt like they pushed us very hard. its hard to believe that i've been here 17 days! it only feels like a week. today's lunch was so good. i got papa johns pizza and angel food cake! so freaking good! no mail oh well maybe it was for the best. the older district is getting kinda boring, there trying to only speak 100 percwent russian which makes it hard to have a conversation which means there wasnt really any one to talk to

12-18-2010

today was a great day!! i understood everything! my head didnt hurt from all the thinking! and........ I GOT MY FIRST PACKAGE! Jess sent me a bunch of goodies!

i woke up in a bad mood not really wanting to get up. i played some volleyball which i sucked at but i understood everything in class! elder Flint and i are doing much better as a companionship. i wote a talk about the Atonement which was really hard but really good for me, i dont think we realize how importaint the Atonement is in our life until we have to use it. as a kid i always thought it was just for sins but it applys in all the aspects of our lives! i love the comfort it brings to me when i get homesick or when i'm not feeling very well and i feel descuraged.

guess what i got locked out of my room during my shower! i had to wait for like 15 min just stading there naked! lets just say it was cold, and yet still kinda funny.

12-19-2010

today was a great saturday! but like every other saturday i forgot to do my language study, oops!

Well there was a little more i wanted to write about but i'm out of time sorry guys i hope to be able to tell you the rest next week.

i love you all and i hope you have a merry christmas! i hope you spend part of the christmas season serving someone else. the best way to feel the christmas spirit and come closer to christ is by serving your fellow man. if you havent already watch the first president christmas devotional it was so inspiring!

I love you all

Elder Kevin Carlisle

Week 2

Hey guys, So this is Isaac, I think I'll be doing the updates for the next couple weeks. Anyway, Here is kevins second week, I dont know where the first week's letter went... My mom probably has it. Anyway, Enjoy!!

Hey guys hows it going? I hope your all doing well this week! this week was way better then last week I only got a couple letters guys whats up with that ;) Im just kidding.

Most days here are the same. I get up in the morning say my prayers, shower, have breakfast, I get about 50 min of work out time which means I get to ether play four square, basketball, or volleyball. I thought I would play a lot of four square and b-ball but four square is really lame no one really gets into it. I play basketball almost every day and play volleyball on the days that I dont want to have to shower twice.

I then go to class from about 9 to 11:30 where we talk about ether the gospel, ukrainian, or both :D I then go to lunch where yes it is all you can eat which is great cause your never hungry. BUT the food here does stuff to you and your body doesnt like it. Im just now starting to get used to the food.

I finish lunch aroun 12:15 and its back to class where once again we talk about ether gospel or ukrainian until 4:30. its now dinner time, yes dinner is at 4:30 it so early!!

I return to class at about 5:15 and we go back to studying till 9. at 9 I plan out my next day down to every 15 min. meaning I have to know what I'm doing every 15 min of my day! let me tell you its really hard for me to plan like that, as you all know Im a man without a plan :D I get to hang out with the guys from 9:30 to 10 and at 10 we start to brush our teeth and go to bed. I have to be in bed with the lights out by 10:30 how crazy is that?!? its so early. I wake up and repeat the same thing over again :) but two weeks has gone by really really fast for me.

I'll be able to tell you more about me and life in the MTC in letters cause I only get about 30 min every tuesday to write emails.

Mom when you get my letter about every day please type it in an email and send it to people for me. I wish I had time but I wont be able to this week :(

I have a little time to tell you about my compainion Elder Flint. He's from utah so like me he didnt travel very far to get here. He loves motorbikes, snowmobiling, even tractor pulls. yeah if you dont know what a tractor pull is look it up its kinda crazy, he showed me a video of it on his camera. we work pretty well together, hes good at testifing of the truth of a priciple and Im good at explaining the priciples of the gospel which turns out really well when teaching a lesson. teaching people the gospel is hard! this week I have to be able to greet someone, talk about my family, and ask to set up another appointment with them, all in ukrainian! its a crazy language and I can see why we have to be here for 12 weeks. I feel like I wont know anything when I get out there in ukraine but Im excited to go!

Isaac hurry up and talk to the bishop about your papers! Elder Flint is only 18, he doesnt turn 19 till january. so if I was you I'd figure out when you can turn them in and do it!

Well my time is almost up. I love you all and I miss you. I say goodnight to you all out loud every night to help me feel closer to you guys. I love you!

Elder Carlisle

Hey guys Im outta here I LOVE YOU ALL and cant wait to hear from you my address is

Elder Kevin Howard Carlisle
MTC Mailbox # 104
UKR-KIE 0216
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-

Elder Kevin Howard Carlisle
Ukriane Kyiv Mission
Provo Missonary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604

3 DAYS!!!!

All right so Im leaving december 1st so all you people better be getting your care packages ready cause december is coming up fast!