Monday, September 29, 2014


Oloron, France

Au revoir Pau!

I am leaving Pau and transferring to Toulouse where I will serve as a Zone Leader!
 
I got in the Gare (Train Station) this morning and met my new companion, Elder Montgomery.  He seems great and I have met him a few times before.  In fact, he was my ZL in Pau a couple transfers back. 

My new companion, Elder Montgomery
 
My last companion, Elder Spencer
 
Anyway, I am so excited to be serving in Toulouse!  YES.  I will have to come visit this city again someday.  It is so famous.  This equipe (companionship area) is coming out of some recent baptisms. I believe they had 7 amis at Church on Sunday.


My last week at Pau was great.  It got pretty emotional saying goodbye to the Pau ward.  I LOVE those members. 

We went to Oloron again and found a giant French-Swiss Lindt chocolate factory.  When we went inside I realized that I was Charlie in the Chocolate Factory :)  Peni Fakalelu invited us over for a BBQ and we invited Yohan.  It was great.  He is going to get baptized this transfer.  We also found a new ami named Joadel and I have a really good feeling about him.  We taught him and he went to church on Sunday to hear my farewell testimony.
 
I am so excited for this transfer and I know that I will learn alot.  I am looking forward to serving these missionaries in the Toulouse Zone with all of my heart, might, mind and strength.
 
I love you all!!

Elder Bollard 

PS sorry if I couldn't reply this week, we are on Gare duty!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Bonjour!
Rainbow in Pau
 Reminds me of Les Miserables
 Me with Elder Castillo

Pau, France

Happy Pday everyone!  What a great week!  So we started off with a lesson on Monday with a girl from Aix (where I began my mission)!  Her name is Colline.  Then on Tuesday we were able to do service for an English couple, the Viscontis, who were refferals from members. The Viscontis are a great family and their kids are awesome.  Then we did an exchange with the Zone Leaders on Wednesday!  IT was great, I went with Elder Castillo and we went to Oloron to go see our ami Emmanuel who is evangilist.  We also visited the Bonet family.  We ran into a crazy man who tried to give us his pants.  Haha.  Then that night we met a guy named Romain - who is a miracle.  He had met with LDS missionaries in Beziers and loved their lessons. We are going to see him on Wednesday this week. Then we had district meeting on Thursday where I taught the district on becoming Master Teachers.  It was great and we had some great discussions.  Friday! We had a cool lesson with Yohan and taught him with the sisters, so that he could hear some other testimonies.  On Saturday we played soccer and taught Yohan again, he is progressing.  So far we have taught him up to the Plan of Salvation. That night we saw a rugby match where we got VIP seats in the second row because a member of our ward is on the team, Peni Fakalelu. It was so legit and Rugby is a gnarly sport. Then Sunday we had Paulo come to church and it was super cool to hear him speak in Portuguese.

Pau has been great!  Transfers are next week and who knows what will happen. I love this church and I love the Lord.  He has supported me through so much and has made me stronger.  I have learned a lot about patience and humility lately.  Please stay close to the Lord and keep me and the other missionaries around the world in your prayers.
 
 
Charlie's Message to the Northwood Ward
 
Bonjour my beloved Northwood ward!  Its Elder Bollard writing from the city of Pau (pronounced “poh) France!  I remember that just a year ago I was giving my farewell talk to you speaking about faith and how we need to have an anchor in our lives to keep us steady and firm.  I had no idea what was in store for me then.

The work out here is great!  We have some investigators who are really progressing!  My ward has about 70 members who come each week and that number is growing!  We have been having some really powerful miracles lately that you can read about on my blog that my Dad posts every week!

A lot has happened this past year.  My life and the lives of those I love most have been changed forever.  But there is one thing that has not changed, and that is our solid faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and in His wonderful Plan for our eternal happiness.  We all have trials in our lives and for me it seems as though they come to my family in multiple doses simultaneously.  These trials are not consequences of disobedience or mistakes in our Father’s perfect Plan.  But they are evidence that the Lord feels we are ready to grow and they will polish us for our everlasting benefit.  He will "refine" and "purify" us until we receive his image in our countenances.

This gospel is true my brothers and sisters.  I love you all and I leave you with my testimony that the Lord lives and that he sends His invitation unto all, for His arms of mercy are extended towards us and He will receive us.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The Mission Statement for the France Lyon Mission:
L’ Obeissance, La diligence, La Foi = Les Miracles
  (Obedience, Diligence and Faith = Miracles)
 
Some recent photos of Elder Bollard at the Bordeaux Mission Conference with
Apostle Russell M. Ballard on September 8, 2014.




 
 

Monday, September 15, 2014




 
Salut!
 
Hello everyone! I hear it is super hot in California so that's good, right?  :)

So this week was SUCH A GREAT WEEK!  We started off by listening to an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Russell Ballard. He enlighten our minds on how to become "master teachers." He taught us all about teaching to understanding. It was so great. Then we came back from Bordeaux and did service for the Hennebique family. We moved probably 2000 kilograms of wood. After that, we visited with a super cool less active member from Portugal and invited him to Church. The rest of the week was good and we visited some great members and amis.

But what I really want to share with you all is the amazing miracle that happened yesterday. It involves our ami Yohan.

So, we we had scheduled a rdv with a potential ami named Jupiter. We went to the agreed upon  place but he didnt show up.... We were bummed, yeah - but all of a sudden we get a text from Yohan asking us if we were free to meet. We told him to meet us by the university and we would teach him there.

He was so excited to talk to us about what he had read (we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon last sunday and he has read up to the book of Alma). I could see the desire to learn more and he wanted to talk to us about what he had felt as he read. We went over King Benjamin's discourse in Mosiah and he shared his desire to be able to "prosper in the land" as taught by King Benjamin.  He highlighted Mosiah 2:41. His progression is so amazing. There was a moment in the rdv when he said that what he was feeling was something that he hadn't felt in a long time and then he paused and began to cry and said that it was something that he had never felt before. I told him that it was the Holy Ghost testifying to him and it was such a great moment.

Its miracles like that that build our faith.

LOVE YOU ALL
 
Elder Charlie Bollard

Monday, September 8, 2014


Quelle Semaine!
 
What a week! Hey everyone, it was yet another really cool week here is the Southwest of France!

So last Pday (Monday) we went to the Pyrenees mountain range with La Famille Riviére!  It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. Check out the video clip on my Dad's Facebook.

Then on Tuesday we went to the city of Tarbes. It was a great experience and we were able to help out some of the missionaries there. I was even able to administer a few blessings.  It was a really neat and spiritual experience!  After Tarbes, we took a train back to Pau and taught a lesson in front of the castle of Pau where Henry IV was born!  It was legendary and we taught the Plan of Salvation. Our Amis' name is Anthony and he is progressing.

On Wednesday we were able to teach Anthony again with a member named Anthony Escroffre, who is a boss and I love him. He is preparing for a mission! Then we visited a less-active member and had a great experience talking about the Articles of Faith.

Also, I contacted a super cool family from Gabon who had just moved to Pau. The mom asked me if we were Christians and I was like, "OF COURSE!" and I gave them the address to our chapel and they came!

Thursday we did an exchange with the Zone Leaders in Bordeaux and I was with none other than my old companion Elder Zenger from Lyon!  It was so funny and cool to be back with him. The millitary man!

Then Sunday was amazing. It was Fast Sunday and we had our Gabon family there and our ami Yohan from Paris!  It was great and we were able to teach Yohan that night. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever taught.  He was so sincere and he loved our message.

I have really enjoyed my time here in Pau, I have been able to truly grow and learn new things.

So, I was reading Zenos's allegory in Jacob, Chapter 5 in the Book of Mormon today.  It is such a great chapter! I love how it is all about Christ and His mercy toward us. I love how much diligence the Lord of the Vineyard and the Servant put forth into bringing forth good fruit. In spite of all the diggings and graftings and cuttings that mix the trees in all different parts of the vineyard, it was bringing back the "lost" branches to their source that produced the "good" fruit. I love how we see a theme of returning and reuniting. It reminds me so much of the Atonement and how it is a reconciliation of man to God. I am so happy to be among the last laborers in the Lord's Vineyard here in France!

Stories and parables like this are what increase our faith. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!


Elder Charlie Bollard

Monday, September 1, 2014


Elder Bollard with Elder Higham (from OC) on the far left and Elder Castillo
 
Hey everyone! Yet another awesome week in the sector of Pau! We had some cool miracles this week so listen up!

Alright ,Monday was great, got some French clothes. Tuesday we taught a potential ami that I found in our Area Book named Anthony. He is really cool and has a lot of good questions. Then we went and visited frère Imbangoyi, who is a less active in the ward. We taught him the importance of Sacrament and he is making the efforts to come back. He even wants to set up an interview with the bishop. After that we went to the Leang family's house and had some sweet asian food. There we shared the story of Lehonti and how he left the protection of his camp and fell into temptation. I was able to share 1 Corinthians 10:13, which is a money verse.

Then on Wednesday we visited Jaqueline and Treasure who aren't really progressing at all. But their kids love us - haha. We had a rdv fall through and then taught an english class.

Thrusday we went to Zone training and I saw Elder Taylor and Elder Higham who are the BDX ZLs. It was great and we chatted about all of our fathers who are/were mission presidents. 

THEN FRIDAY - Our days of miracles. So we took an early train to an outside ville called Orloron St. Marie (write that down somewhere because we definitely have to visit that place). It is so beautiful and there is one member family that lives there. And they are Spanish! So we go to the gare and went to a really nice neighborhood where we worked for most of the day!  We were able to have more than 20 conversations and we taught a lesson. After, we went to their house and shared a message with them and left to go work again.  We rang an apt and out of the window popped two heads. It was a french couple eating dinner. I asked if we could share a message with them and they invited us in. They are French Evangilists.  We taught them all about the Restoration. They have a copy of the BoM now and we are seeing them again this week!

It was a great week and I love the people here. The ward is great and in a couple of minutes we are going to hike the Pyrenes with the Riviere family!  I love and respect you all!
 
Take care

 

Elder Bollard
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