Greetings from California! It’s been awhile since I’ve last updated ya’ll (the Texans are rubbing off on me…). We are currently in the Diocese of Orange, CA and we are BUSY! Last time I wrote I think we were in Oregon, but now we’ve been in sunny California for almost two weeks. So let’s backtrack a little bit…
Portland
I meant to write an entire blog post about our experience in Portland, but obviously, I got sidetracked. Don’t worry though, that one will come out soon! Portland was like no other city we’ve ever been to. A group of young adults from the parish there gave us a splendid tour of the city. We visited the famous “Voodoo Donuts” and “Powell’s Bookstore.” For the next two weeks we got the grand tour of western Oregon. The natural beauty of this state took the teams breath away. We closed off our route through the state by visiting Heceta Head Lighthouse in Florence, OR. It is ranked on America’s Top Ten most haunted places!
Californ-I-A
As I said, we’ve been in Cali for two weeks now. It’s odd for me and the other northerners on the team to have it be eighty degrees out in the middle of February/beginning of March. Once we’ve hit California our schedule has been maxed out. We are doing upwards of five retreats a week to middle school and high school students. Our team supervisors (Brooke Harding and Dan Driver) visited the team last week. We had an amazing visit with them which left us much encouraged. So far, California has been good to us and we’re all excited to see what else is in store here.
Other than this, the team is doing well. We are all exhausted most of the time, but God’s grace is holding us up. Whenever I get tempted to complain I try to think of Pope Benedict, who has been a tireless leader of our Catholic Church on this earth for eight years. I can’t imagine having to work till my mid-eighties! Our team wishes him a blessed retirement; we are all stoked to discover who God has chosen to become the next leader of His Church.
Whenever we can think life is tough or that we have it hard, let’s think of my favorite quote by our Holy Father Emeritus:
“The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort; you were made for greatness.”
-Pope Benedict the XVI
-Team 10
Jonathan,
Portland is a great place. I will look forward to your blog!
I had lunch with your mom a few weeks ago. We are planning a mission together in Portsmouth. Grand baby #2 will be here any day. I am looking forward to catching up with you when you get home.
Lenten blessings & a Holy Easter
Nancy
David left his beautiful bible and grungy ear buds. How do we get them to him? J&J
You can mail them to the NET Center with his name and team number on it. The address is 110 Crusader Avenue West, West St. Paul, MN 55118. Thank you!