On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 4:33 PM, Charles Bollard <charles.bollard@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hello everyone! I am going to apologize in advance because French keyboards are impossible to write on. Well I am finally here! France is awesome, it is so amazing here. It is so different and everything is literally beautiful. The people have so much style here it is insane. Okay so I arrived on Tuesday in Lyon. Lyon is an amazing city, there is a town square called Place Bellacour and it is so cool there is a massive statue that tons of people sit around and a huge Cathedral that overlooks the whole city. I was in Lyon for two nights and we went contacting on the first night. It was hilarious and the French they teach you in the MTC isn't the same French that they speak here. Oh my goodness it was crazy. I gave away three French Books of Mormon on my first night though! 

I met the Clarkes the first night I arrived, they are awesome and they say hello Mom and Dad. My interview with President Roney was an amazing experience, he is an amazing man. So the second day in Lyon we were assigned our trainers and split our separate ways. It was sad because I had grown really close to my MTC buds but we still keep in touch. So me and my trainer, Elder Kunz took a train to the town of Aix en Provence. It was a beautiful 3 hour train ride through Southern France. There are so many castles and cathedrals. It is a beatiful place.

My trainer is Elder Kunz from good ole' Orem Utah. Goodness gracious he is a great person. He sounds like Heidi sometimes and says maricle (miracle) but he is obedient to the bone. Although he wasn't the trainer I was expecting, he is very Christlike and I am grateful for that. It is really hard to contact here. Aix is a very wealthy southern town and there are TONS of Muslims here. It is funny because everyone thinks that we are Jehova's Witnesses and they HATE Jehova's Witnesses so the Muslims will just yell any English cuss words they know at us haha. There are a ton of conpanionships in Aix, two sister and two elder comps. so 8 missionaries in the city itself! The otherelder comp. are the zone leaders and they are awesome. 

So the ward in Aix is the most amazing thing ever. I LOVE the members, they are like pioneer/warriors here and they showed me so much love. I bore my testimony on Sunday and everyone laughed so that is good but they are great people and eat like a huge feast after church. There are some Americans so it was so good to speak with them haha. The food is literally insane here. It is so good, oh my goooooodness. I have had my first baguette already. My companion and I jog to a Boulangerie every morning and get fresh baguettes for the day. Its rad. The apartment isn't that bad, but it is VERY small. 

And finally the FRENCH HAH, so basically whenever I try to speak French to people they laugh or give me terrible, heart-melting looks. It is pretty tough but most of the time I can get across what I am trying to say. There are also so many different accents here so it is so hard sometimes to understand. Good thing my trainer knows French!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I hope it was the best and I am thinking of you always!! 

MY ADDRESS:

les Missionaires

Résidence le Félibridge

Bât B Appt 26

4 Place Coïmbra

13090 Aix en Provence

FRANCE

Please write me!!!