This blog was from October 2, 2017

Oh super cool thing happened this week. We were just walking at night super far away from our house and we had just picked up our churros (we get churros every Monday and Thursday from this one churro truck). We were walking home to do some language study. I was like "Hey let's go see Pablo (this one drug addict who's basically given up on life) We were pretty close to his house (his mom is a convert and he lives in the house behind hers) and they have a gate and pit bull and I knew the mom wasn't home but I just felt like I should go talk to Pablo, so I just opened their gate and walked around Coco the dog and walked back there. My comp was like "Elder Helske! You're trespassing! We can get in trouble!" But I just yelled back "Nah, we're fine! They love us!" I walked back there and found him. I gave him a churro and asked if we could come inside and share a scripture with him. He said "Yes" with a mouth full of churro and then I shared with them 1st Nephi 3:7 (yeah I went old school one them) and promised them (he has a roommate) that they can get over any problem doesn't matter what it is, with these 3 steps they can overcome any problem! Step 1 pray for strength when tempted Step 2 read daily for strength Step 3 go to church on Sunday for tons of strength because its a commandment of God, and the more commandments we keep, the more blessings we get. Commandments aren't rules, they're blessings!!  

Mark's letter of September 26th, 2017

     This week has been pretty chill. There's a bakery pretty nearby where I live. Well, actually there's one right up the road from where I live where I go sometimes in the morning for breakfast, but there's another one I like to hit up if I'm out and about. They're super tasty! Also it has a super cool vibe to it! My favorite thing about it is the cat that chills in there! Also, no one wears gloves while they prepare food. I think its awesome!! My trainer doesn't like it as much as I do. I also went on splits with the zone leader this week. His name is Elder Paulson and he's super cool. He taught me a ton. He's super cool! Elder Vera from Peru who lives in my house is being made district leader now but not of my district, but the other district in my zone. He lives in the same house as us though and my "grandpa" the trainer of my trainer is going to be our new zone leader! While I was with the ZL we went and visited this one "menos activo" and invited him to come play soccer and he totally did which was super awesome!  He apparently hasn't gone to a church activity in over a year! We also got 2 new invenstigators with baptisimal dates. One alcholic named Ruben for 19th oF October (his birthday) and then this super solid kid for the 20th of October and we're probably gonna baptize his grandpa as well. We're gonna invite him to pick a date to get baptized this week as well. Our other investigators are doing well as well! That's about it for my week! Thanks for all the prayers!! 

-Élder Helske

This is Mark's post from September 18th, 2017  (Sorry I got really behind!)

     Well, this week was pretty chill and super short. We had P-day on Tuesday and we didn't really get to go out and proselyte at all because we didn't head home till like 6. It was like a 2-hour bus ride. We lost our phone but someone found it and gave it to our zone leaders. Then our zone leaders dropped our phone and it broke. We got a new one on Friday and went to the "Oro Congerence" which is like a greenie conference. That was super fun!  Friday we also didn't really get to go out either because we were gone all day, and then we left around 5 to go on a 2 hour bus ride back home again. Then Saturday we had a service project that took up a big part of the day as well! We painted our district leaders house which was really fun and the hermanas cooked us some super bomb food!! Bless up they make such good food! We always have them come and cook for us when we have zone activities. (this was a zone service project) Oh, my trainer also hit his 1-year mark this week so we threw him a fat old party. I don't have any pics of that because my camera was dead and the Peruvians didn't send me the pics yet, so hopefully next week I can send you all some pics but we'll see. A lot of our investigators are just kind of treading water rn and that's frustrating but we have this one new investigator Julio. His son died in car accident and it's soo sad. We've visited him a couple times. He also had surgery this week. He's such a humble, nice person. I'm so glad that I know that the gospel will be able to help him and his family so much!! Well, that's everything from me this week. next week P-day is on a Tuesday due to changes so don't worry!! 

Hey! Sorry about the short post this week! This week was a little hectic. I'm going to the temple today, so I'm really short on time today!! I went on splits with AP's this week and we had a lot of fun. I was with Elder Mecham and we had an appointment with these investigators who are getting baptized in December. We ate brownies and watched a restoration movie. Then Elder Christensen and I had a really cool experience where we were gonna go visit some members and it was pouring rain so it would have been really nice to just go to their house, but we said a prayer and we both had the feeling we should go visit this guy named Pablo who does a ton of drugs. I've never actually been able to meet him, but we went there. He was there and we taught him. and all of them. It was really powerful and we felt awesome afterwards!! This work is real and the gospel is more important than anything. Never forget all that!! 

This was actually sent by Mark on August 28th

Okay so this weeks is really short nothing interesting really happened. We found 3 new investigators and we set 5 people up with baptismal dates, 4 of which are in december -_- and the one that is sooner he is really interesting and I can't tell if he's meeting with us because he is bored and just likes us or actually  is picking up what were putting down. Most of the kids fam are members but they don't want to go to church or anything. Were afraid if we baptize him he'll just go inactive. It’s really nerve wracking. The other 4 are 2 couples that need to get married. Two of them are super solid and are trying to get a date ASAP and said we might even bring up a baptismal date, which would be way baller. The other couple is more like a whole family and if we can get the parents then the rest of the fam might join as well, at least the younger ones! The only thing holding them back is the mom. She doesn't think she needs the gospel because she doesn't think she needs any blessings because her life is going really well (-_-`) which is really frustrating. Well that's about all I gotta say this week! Oh, one more thing, we had a multizone conference where I had to say the opening prayer, which was kind of nerve wracking because I had to do it in spanish, so it was super basic and simple. Apparently while we there (it was like an hour away via bus) our area was in an orange alert which means we shouldn't go outside unless we have a lesson but we weren't there so oh well!  

Sorry, I'm a little late, Thank you to Jacee Hughes for helping me get caught up!
Here is August 21:

Well I’m in Uruguay! I left the MTC at 4:50am by myself because I took my companion to the travel office at 3:30 that morning so that was interesting. I traveled to the airport on some busses and trains then grabbed some cafe rio at the airport and hopped on a plane to Atlanta, chilled there for little over 6 hours and bumped into a bunch of missionaries from my zone going to 'Tina (Argentina) that was really cool. I then flew to Sao Paulo Brazil was there for like 2 hours then got on a plane to Montevideo as soon as I landed President Eddy and his wife and the AP's were there waiting for me. I was the 5th trip to the airport and the last. We went to the mission home and I met all the people I was supposed to be with in mexico... oops.... oh well... I then had a little orientation and had a interview with the boss man that apparently everyone else had the day before or earlier that morning because everyone got there early early or the previous day except me. The next day I met with my trainer named Elder Christensen from Kentucky. He's super super nice to me probably too nice. We share a casa with 2 other elder's, Elder Vera  and Elder Guarniz (he's new like me) they're both from Peru super cool and funny. We had some chats with some people that day and we have a couple people with baptismal dates one which is in September and some in December which is awesome. We did some street contacting and taught a lesson in the park which was awesome but then we found out later when we tried to find their house that they actually live in the Montevideo West Mission so we had to call the elder's there and tell them about so idk what's going on with them anymore. Saturday and Sunday we had quite a bit of bad luck trying to find people but we've been meeting with quite a lot of less actives which has been awesome. One of them came to church one Sunday where I had to bear my testimony which lasted about a solid 40 seconds 30 if I wouldn't have stuttered. Here's the weird thing that happened to me though. That less active that came to church, well when we met with them we were just trying to share a scripture and invite them to church and dip, but while we were trying to read they were feeding this weird bread stuff, that wasn't too bad actually, and some cola but then when we got done reading I sniffled a little because this country is super humid so my nose isn't used to it yet and one of them bolt's out of his chair to grabs this nasal spray and comes back and the mom walks over to me, grabs my head tilts it back, and dumps more than half of it in my nose. I don't know what moonshine taste or feels like but that's what I imagine it's like. So after that I try to bear my testimony about prayer and I get about half way through it and this lady (their sister) kicks open the door and starts giving us this weird pannukakku (german pancake) with ham in it. Let me just paint you the scene, I'm trying to bear my testimony with moonshine drink dripping from my nose because I unwillingly snorted the better half of a shot of it while being force fed pannukakku ham in a small weird house in Uruguay and i'm doing this while speaking really bad Spanish. But she came to church the next day which was awesome! Oh and earlier that day some random man kissed my cheek. So that's what the first few days here have been like and it's been awesome. We had a zone activity this morning where we ate some pizza and played dodgeball. It's been super baller! Here's some pics.

first pic is me and my travel group eating some cafe rio

Darla here:
A friend of ours sent me this video clip last night of their tour of the new MTC! Needless to say, I was thrilled to see this! They were so surprised when they saw Mark at the beginning of the tour welcoming guests! I was surprised and not. I was surprised because I did not know he had been asked to help with it. I was not super surprised on the other hand, because we did everything we could to get Mark's information for his visa to the travel office in time for him to go to Mexico like he was supposed to, but it just didn't happen. (Mark has a special birth certificate because he was an American citizen born abroad, and that really slowed things down) I started thinking maybe he is supposed to go to Provo for a reason. Then I heard about the new MTC and that there would be tours of it. It came to my mind that Mark would be good at telling people about the new MTC. Then what do you know... out of about 3000 missionaries, he is one of the ones assigned to help with the open house! 

Darla says:

When I sent a package to Mark yesterday, the Post Office worker told me that the zip code for the MTC had just changed and it is now 84602. I had originally posted it as 84604. It is corrected now, but you may have written the old one some where.

Sunday: Today Elder Findlay and I taught priesthood. It went really well. We taught about the reason we have personal apostasy and how we need to then have personal restoration. Also, how there is a large part that most people forget about in the repentance process, which is a very large part, that's forgiving yourself as well, because your opinion is not better than God's. It was really awesome and super spiritual. 

Monday: Elder Misseldine's last day, RIP. We also taught our new investigator (TRC) for the first time. It went pretty well. He said he'd get baptized if he knows it's all true. We also taught our other investigator Tamara; Elder Findlay didn't think it went very well but oh well... 

Tuesday: Tuesdays are always pretty fun. Hermano Morgan kinda guilt tripped us into working a little harder which we probably should do :/ We had a devotional that was pretty good. The guy was all over the place unfortunately. Elder Misseldine had left early that morning as well which really sucked. So what Elder Hicks and Elder Jflo did, was we got into his old room, because they never closed the door. So we took a part one of the beds and built a TRIPLE BUNK BED and then cleaned the room and got it all set up for the new missionaries.

Wednesday:That morning while I'm shaving I see that Misseldine's old room is open even though we locked it. I go in and act all surprised when I see it. All these other missionaries trying to take it apart and everything and they're all like man this floor is so cool, these elders are awesome. They were struggling pretty hard so me and the guys that did it offered to help, but we didn't tell them it was us. They were like "you guys are retarded" so we decided to not tell them how to take it apart and left to get breakfast. It took them about 3 more hours to get all the way done and it only took us about 20 minutes to make it. Do I feel bad? No. Why? Because we offered to basically do it for them and they insulted us instead. Other than that today was super chill. We mostly sat around and got to just do our own thing. Misseldine was gone and so that was sad. Everyone misses him a lot. 

Thursday: Today not a lot happened but I did almost have a nervous break down in class, which kinda sucked, because I can't speak Spanish. We also taught our investigator Marco for the second time. I literally sat there like an idiot and drew the plan of salvation and gave it to him while my companion talked to him. 

Friday: It's P-day eve!! We taught Marco today and i was really nervous because I haven't really learned any Spanish at all since the last time I taught him, but today I just opened my mouth and spoke some of the worst Spanglish ever. He kinda understood where I was going, and the lesson went really well! We felt pumped and we also had to teach Tamara and that went really well! It was probably our best lesson ever. Also, our teacher Hermana Alletto was having a rough day. I didn't know that till after class and so after class I went and apologized to her for being so frustrating. I put my whole heart into it and she just looked at me, tilted her head, and said "como?" Which is like "huh?" in Spanish because I apologized in English (she speaks English shes from Utah).  I wanted to throw the chair at her face because she says that to me every time I speak English. 

Here's some pics from the week!

Darla says:

So there was an error in Mark's address. If you want to write a regular letter to him, or send him a package, this is the correct address:

 The address is 

Elder Mark Helske

2005 N 900 E 

uru-mon unit 188

Provo, Utah 84602 (This was originally 84604, but they just changed it)

That's unit 188 not 180

Also, his email is mark.helske@myldsmail.net

Please let him know you are thinking about him and praying for him.

     Last Saturday was a P-day and it was pretty legit. I hung out with the Finnish missionaries and that was a lot of fun. We memorized Alma 26:12 (I picked the scripture) in Finnish. WE ALSO SANG FINLANDIA HYMNI which was super amazing. P- day was pretty great, super laid back and fun. 

Sunday: Sunday was easily the hardest day for me here. I was feeling really down on my self. I was feeling out of place, like I didn't belong, and I was having trouble feeling the spirit, and just all around hating my self. We watched this video in the MTC called "Character of Christ". It's an MTC exclusive and it was easily by far the greatest video I have ever seen, but I was having trouble feeling the spirit during it, like truly feeling it. So during the video i was basically praying the whole time. I was also planning on asking for a priesthood blessing. After the video when we all got back to our dorms I went up to Elder Misseldine and asked him if he could give me a blessing. He asked me whats up, so we walked around and talked, then we went back into his room and i talked with him and his companion Elder Sager.  We talked for a while. Then when we got done talking, Elder Misseldine and Elder Sager and Elder Sevy (another elder in the room) gave me a priesthood blessing. It was WORD FOR WORD what i had been praying for during the video! It truly was a sign from my Heavenly Father telling me he loves me and everyone else. That strengthened my testimony so strongly. There was no way Elder Misseldine could have been able to say word for word what I had been asking for. We truly are instruments in his hands.

Monday: It went pretty well really. I felt the spirit the whole day. I was able to focus better in class and our lesson with our investigator went really well. I was able to talk with her in Spanish way better. I was also part of a priesthood blessing that day which was awesome, super spiritual. 

Tuesday: I probably haven't laughed in my whole life as much as i did today it was insane! We went to this devotional that literally had  everyone in my district confused. Also about 40% of the MTC was asleep within the first 15 minutes of the devotional. The guy was talking with such a crazy vocabulary, he made Isaiah look like Dr. Seuss. 

Wednesday: The new recruits came in today. They're full of spirit still and excitement. That will change. They always do... Actually they're all really cool. One of them is missing a leg. He got cancer quite a few years back but they some how took his foot and put it back on BACKWARDS!! *see picture for details*  our investigator Tamara said she'll pray that night, and if she gets an answer she'll get baptized. 

Thursday: We had a zone kickball tournament, the Oldies vs. the Newbies. It was pretty even, but i think we won, but I'm not sure. Our lesson was okay, she did pray but didn't feel anything :/ So that kinda sucked. My companion kinda died a little bit from that. 

Friday: P-Day Eve! Was super great. We got a new teacher to teach us and she's really good. Friday was super laid back. We didn't have to Teach our investigator, which was nice cause she was really annoying to teach because she refused to work with us. It was also "pass down night" on our floor. That's when the missionaries that are leaving pass down the things they were passed down. It was really cool but sadly Elder Misseldine is now leaving :( 

Misseldine on the right of me and Sager on the left 

Waiting for people to write me

A drawing of me and Elder Flowers (Jflo) 

My district

The picture above where Mark is squatting down in front, is actually the group going to Finland.
Mark visits them once in a while to help them practice their Finnish.

Day 1. I got to the MTC and was greeted by this super polite elder. He took me to my room and everything and I got my name tag and all that but on my way there I met these missionaries going to Finland, We spoke with them for a second then I had to go and look for my companion, but i couldn't find him at all! I did bump into Quinn Pincock from welding. He was also missing his companion, so i just teamed up with him, He's going to Australia Vietnamese speaking, so he's a in complete different district and zone. Now that we were companions we couldn't go anywhere without each other so I had to join him to his district meeting. His zone leaders then went and escorted me to the right place and showed me where I'm supposed to be. That is where i met my companion Elder Findlay. After that we went to our rooms and unpacked then went to bed. The super cool thing is that on my floor everyone goes around and does their nightly "rounds" where they go and hug everyone, which was super cool. 

Day 2. We went to our class and that was pretty fun and everything. I thought it was gonna be a really rough day but it wasn't bad at all. I thought it was gonna be a lot worse honestly. It was just super chill. We had a testimony meeting that night and everyone had to bear their testimonies and we also got to meet our branch Presidency. They're really nice. I bore mine on the power of prayer and how heavenly Father blesses us and comforts us, because the night before I had struggled a little bit. I was getting a little freaked out, but I just wrote in my journal and prayed to Heavenly Father to help me through all of this. I got this overwhelming feeling of belonging and love and I was able to fall asleep right after that. 

Day 3. P-DAY EVE!! So on Friday we taught our first lesson to this girl named Tamara who is no hablo ingles, so we had to do it Spanish but I am no hablo espanol. Elder Findlay did most of the teaching. Were gonna teach her again today a little bit so that will hopefully go a little bit better. Almost every night we have story time and i love story time. P-day eve tho is special. There's this cactus that we bring out and tell stories and eat food. Last night we ate donuts and chips and guac. It was super chill. 

Day 4. It's P-day and its super chill I've just mostly relaxed today, so there's not much to talk about. Here are some pictures

To send regular mail or a package to Mark:

The address is 

Elder Mark Helske 

2005 N 900 E 

uru-mon unit 180

Provo, Utah 84604

We received a brief email from Mark right after he got there:

I'm not dead. 

The MTC is a party! 

Its also incredibly hard! 

My P- days are Saturdays so that's when I'll be hitting you guys up again! 

My companion's name is Elder Findlay! Lol, like Finland. 

I love you guys so much and I'm loving it here! 

Love, Elder Helske!

Welcome church goers and non church goers!

     Okay nerds, this is gonna be my blog that my mom is gonna be running. If there are times that you don't hear from me, blame her. Saying that, please be nice to her! She's old and not very tech savvy. JK  mom love you <3
     I report to the Provo MTC on July 5th. Originally I was supposed to go to the Mexico MTC on the 4th, but my visa didn't come in time :/ but I'm sure the lord has a reason for me to be going to Provo instead of Mexico! I've heard of missionaries going to an MTC and then switching half way through, so we'll see.  I'll keep you all posted!
     That's all for right now folks! I need to go get ready. I have a lot of packing and shopping to do! XD