On my 21st birthday, I was lucky enough to get to preach at my home church in Pleasant Hill with many of my family members in attendance. In the party that evening, I was really lucky to receive one of the coolest birthday cakes I have ever had--it had Mickey Mouse figurines on it. The Leoni weekend was a great chance to reunite with my former Pathfinder unit and watch them become LITs. I am so proud of all of them!
To celebrate a whole gaggle of birthdays and the new academic school year at PUC, my friends and I went to the Build-a-Bear workshop and made Star Wars bears. They are so adorable! Mine has a Jedi robe--I named him Christian Kenobi. My favorite, though, was my friend Tawnya's floppy-eared bunny in a sinister Darth Vader costume.
As for Albion, I have actually written an article on it already. It's available at puc.edu in a highly edited form (I am not responsible for spelling rappelling wrong--thanks, PUC PR department). For your enjoyment, I will include it here in its original form:
Religion Department Retreats at Albion
The Religion Department at PUC kicked off its school year with its annual spiritual retreat at Albion on the weekend of October 1-3. This was a weekend of fun, fellowship, and communion with God in the picturesque location of PUC’s Biology station on the Mendocino coast.
“This trip is often the highlight of the year for our Theology majors,” Dr. Ranzolin, head of the PUC Religion department said.
The weekend’s bonding started on Friday afternoon with a two-and-a-half hour long drive from PUC. The road to Albion twists and turns in sinuous curves hugging spectacular cliffs. “I keep on thinking we’re going to drive off the edge of a cliff,” commented Jordan Davis, freshman Theology major.
Upon their arrival at Albion, the students and their guests were treated to a healthy meal at the Albion cafeteria. Abraham Navarro, a student, noted, “It (the food) kept getting better and better.”
To kick off the Sabbath, Religion and Theology students provided a vespers in the recently-renovated laboratory building. Theology sophomore Samantha Angeles delivered a moving message on the importance of wisdom.
One of her classmates, Jason Whitley, commented, “I loved her sermon. It was a great reminder of what is important for those of us going into ministry.”
The Sabbath morning church service was no disappointment, either. With the winding Albion river visible through the windows, one of the
Theology freshmen from Palau gave his testimony, and sophomore Cameron Haley preached.
“The testimonies and the sermons were fantastic,” Angelica Bermudez said of the service afterward.
After church, students engaged in the annual game of Bible Bowl, where students test their general knowledge of the Bible, competing in teams.
For the afternoon, a large group of students went to see a lighthouse.
“It was bright,” commented Levi Gore.
“You couldn’t even look at it, even in the daytime,” added Danny Castañaza.
“It’s beautiful,” chimed in Jordan Davis.
Later, they went to see a sinkhole. “It was deep,” commented Angelica Bermudez.
“We saw a crab. That was pretty exciting,” Travis O’Reilly laughed.
After another vespers program and a dinner of haystacks and root beer floats, students and faculty alike returned to the laboratory building for a night of fellowship and games.
“My favorite game was zip bong,” Samuel Smith enthused.
All in all, it was a memorable weekend at Albion.
“The music was awesome,” said Jordan Davis. The music for the weekend was provided by a group drawn entirely from the ranks of the Religion Department. It featured Matthew Frias on the ukele, Julov Pierre on the piano, a guitarist, professor Kim on the violin, and Travis O’Reilly on vocals.
More than one student commented, “I just know that something exciting is going to happen this year. I can feel it.”
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And that's where I left things off. What I don't mention is the incredibly peaceful four-hour trip I took by canoe down the Albion River with two of my friends while everyone else was at the lighthouse and the sinkhole. It was a very refreshing Sabbath, which was absolutely necessary for the thrasher of a week I had afterward. Fortunately, things are winding down for the weekend now.
Sorry it's been so long since I've written. I'll try and be better about it in the future. Have a wonderful weekend, wherever you may be, in the company of loved ones.
