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Here's Tortoise's view halfway through today's 3.58 mile walk at 6:36 am.  He went up and back down 76 feet along the way in 58:36 minutes.  Tortoise rating was 5.7; calories burned were 587.  For a map, a parting thought from Victor L. Brown at the conclusion of 28 years of service as a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and more, please click below to continue reading ...

Doug Jr., the biggest Alta Loma fan I know, will be pleased to recall an Alta Loma connection for Bishop Brown.  As for me, this good Bishop was one of the people I looked up to all while I was growing up.  More on that below as well.

Cheerio!

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2014 Stats:

684.36 miles walked, which is 68.37% of my 2014 goal.

215:49:48 hours walked, which is 68.96% of my 2014 goal

31,959 total feet climbed 

109,180 calories burned
65.81% of the year has passed

I've walked 15 consecutive non-Sundays since my last missed day on August 11, and overall have walked on 194 of the 206 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 94.17% consistency rating.

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells me I am on track. I'm sure this is more numbers than you are interested in, all I can say is I'm really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because I don't do them every, every day.

Here's the thought from Victor L. Brown:

"I have been blessed to meet many young Church members who “walk in truth” and who have taught me so much through their quiet obedience to the Lord’s commandments. Let me share with you a few examples:

• • 
  A fifteen-year-old Korean boy, a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood, used his allowance each week to buy newspapers. Then he and his friends sold them on street corners in Seoul, giving the money to a classmate who couldn’t remain in school without this financial help. He wanted to know how it felt to be a Good Samaritan rather than just having an intellectual understanding of the lesson he had studied in the scriptures.
• • 
  Another teacher, a fourteen-year-old Tongan boy, had the same faith the Prophet Joseph Smith did at fourteen. He thought, “If, at my age, Joseph Smith could pray to God and get an answer to his prayers, why can’t I?” He prayed that he might somehow obtain an education to prepare him to help his people. The answer came when he received a full scholarship to the Church College of Hawaii without having applied for it. Since then he has used his education to bless his people.
• • 
  An eight-year-old girl, reared in a good home with parents who did not believe in God, on her own initiative learned the Lord’s Prayer and recited that prayer privately every day. Eventually she added her own words and finally began offering her personal prayers to her Heavenly Father. She knew He lived, even though her parents did not. A few days ago I had the honor of officiating at her marriage and sealing in the temple. Her mother was with her—the result of her daughter’s example.
• • 
  A deacons quorum president startled his adult leaders by asking a boy who hadn’t been coming to church to offer the prayer in quorum meeting. When asked afterward if it really was wise to ask a boy to pray who had only been in church the second time, he responded, “But I just spent three days this week teaching him how to pray.”
• • 
  A young woman whose understanding of eternal life was far beyond her years said that the only gift she wanted for her twelfth birthday was to be able to go to the temple and be baptized for the dead.

These wonderful young Latter-day Saints whom I love very dearly, as I do all young people, are some of my heroes of the past twenty-eight years. They cause me to have great faith in the future even though there is much to concern us today"

If you'd like to read, listen to, or watch his full remarks, you can find them here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/10/a-lifetime-of-learning?lang=eng

Bishop Brown's service included 11 years as second counselor to the Presiding Bishop of the Church (1961-72), 13 years as Presiding Bishop (1972-85), and 4 years as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy (1985-89).  During two of those final 4 years, he also served as President of the Salt Lake Temple, which he describes as one of the highlights of his years of service.  

An interesting article, written in 1972 when he was called as Presiding Bishop, touches on some of his service.  (see https://www.lds.org/ensign/1972/07/bishop-victor-l-brown?lang=eng)  He was asked what the major assignments of the Presiding Bishopric, to which he answered:

"Our first and foremost assignment is the Aaronic Priesthood-age youth of the Church—from twelve to nineteen years of age, both boys and girls. 

First priority is the youth program of the Church. The whole future of the Church rests on the youth of today. We want to devise and develop programs and activities that will bring the youth closer to the Church and the Church closer to the youth. This is a great challenge. The bishoprics prior to us have also faced this challenge, but as times change, each bishopric has been led to do different things to meet the needs of a new generation. We hope to draw upon all the available resources of the Church during our administration to accomplish this objective.

That’s our goal. We want the gospel to really live in the lives of our youth. With the help of the Lord and the ward and branch leaders, we expect to accomplish it."

Bishop Brown was well experienced already in accomplishing this goal, having been a counselor to Bishop John H. Vandenberg from the time I was 8 until 19.  All three of that Presiding Bishopric, including Robert L. Simpson, who served as first counselor, were heroes to me and very inspiring as I grew up.

The Alta Loma connection comes through one of Bishop Brown's sons, Gary, who lived in our ward there with his wife Janice and their children.  Gary and Janice both taught school there, and Gary also ran a tree service to make ends meet.  He had a son in my Varsity Scouts team and helped with the team committee, including the arrangements to get us up to the Mt. Whitney hike.  Bishop Brown raised a good son who led his family well, one more way he inspired me.

I'm sure you are wondering what the deal is with this picture ... they used to give certificates each year that you met your progress goals towards eventually earning the Duty to God award, this was the one I got at age 13.  I put it here for the signatures.  The three on the left were my bishopric.  Bishop Cheney was in his last year of service, having been called in 1960.  My dad was one of his original counselors, as a side note.

The middle three were our stake presidency, they were also nearing the end of their service.  E. Garrett Barlow, the president, had served since Santa Monica Stake was split from Inglewood Stake in 1951, and was previously a counselor in the Inglewood stake presidency for ten years before that.  When he was released, it was to be called as the first president of the newly formed Ohio-West Virginia Mission.  Mel Carter, my doctor and friend, was in the first group of missionaries sent to that mission ... Mel and I love to exchange President Barlow stories, as he was an amazing man.  Wallace Reid loved to get up in quarterly stake priesthood meeting and ask all the Aaronic Priesthood to come to the stand to sing "Come All Ye Sons of God".  I don't know what we sounded like, but it sure was a testimony builder.  I still really enjoy that song.  Thomas Myers is one of a select group of men.  He had already been a stake president in Las Vegas in the 1950s, and was called to serve again when President Barlow was released.  In 1972, he was the man who set me apart to be a missionary before I headed out to England.  He also is the father of Jane (and I believe eight other children). In 2012, Jane married my lifelong friend, Gary Lynn, and they both have the biggest smiles I've ever seen them with.

The three on the right were the Presiding Bishopric, John H. Vandenburg, Robert L. Simpson, and Victor L. Brown, who I mentioned earlier.  I have been truly blessed in my lifetime to be trained and inspired by some wonderful leaders.  It has been my desire ever since to pay it forward ...

The tortoise is smiling!