![](https://www.catholicconvert.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/Portland%20Group.jpg)
-
Save
And did they ever treat us well! We had a marvelous dinner (I ate Elk, medium rare), they gave us a Pendelton blanket, gifts for our kids, and other kindnesses. They were very well organized and should be proud of the conference — a great effort for their first time! We saw the end of the Oregon Trail. We saw Mount St. Helen’s and Mount Hood as our plane cleared the clouds on our way home.
Fr. Tim Mockaitis, the priest at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church (standing next to me in the group picture above), where the conference was held, was a fun, faithful, and interesting priest. We really enjoyed his company, his reverent Mass and his enthusiastic love for the Church. He was the priest that brought Carl Olsen and his wife into the Church and in 1996 in Eugene Oregon. He made headline news when he was hearing confessions in an Oregon prison and law officials secretly taped the confession. It is the only time in American history that such a thing has been done and he and the Church fought teh injustice and won in court (thanks to Cardinal George). Fr. Tim has a real story to tell and we were fascinated as he told us the details!
![](https://www.catholicconvert.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/OurFathersPlan.jpg)
-
Save
![](https://www.catholicconvert.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/TilleyHat.jpg)
-
Save
My hat is off to these on-fire Catholics in Portland (no pun intended!)