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Mile 946.  Tortoise walked 3.86 miles this morning in a loop around La Verkin, starting and ending at his home. There were 138 feet climbed in 1.93 miles along the way, for an average 5.4 tortoise rating.  The rest of the path was flat or downhill.  Lou burned 571 calories in 1:16:26 hours doing this.

Please click below for a map and today's walking thought by the Happy Dutchman ...

Cheerio!

Create Maps or Search for a route from millions at MapMyFitness

2014 Stats:

946.53 miles walked, which is 94.56% of my 2014 goal.

298:24:06 hours walked, which is 95.34% of my 2014 goal

46,265 total feet climbed 

150,073 calories burned
91.37% of the year has passed

I've walked 60 consecutive non-Sundays since my last missed day on September 20, and overall have walked on 273 of the 286 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 95.45% consistency rating.

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells Tortoise that he is on track. Yes, this is more numbers than you are likely interested in, all Tortoise can say is he's really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because he doesn't do them every, every day.

And now for today's walking thought, originally presented in October 1993:

"I am still as happy as when I was called to the Quorum, and, in good western American tradition, I will now ride off into the sunset. But I know there is a loving priesthood leader waiting at the roadside to call me, under inspiration, to another meaningful calling.

"My first calling in the Church, three days after my baptism in Toronto, Canada, was to be in charge of the hymnbooks in the ward. I really would not mind at all to quickly go back to the hymnbooks again, because I can truly testify that this is a church of workers and not a museum of Saints.   ...

"Not long ago I had the privilege of attending a mission presidents’ seminar in San Francisco with Elder David B. Haight of the Council of the Twelve. He shared with us some thoughts from an author about growing old.

“'Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals, their faith. There is always the love of wonder, a childlike appetite for what is next, and the joy of your life. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear or despair.

“'In the center of our heart is a recording chamber, and so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage, and faith, so long are we young' (Ensign, Nov. 1983, p. 25).

"How blessed are we to be part of a rapidly expanding church that teaches beauty, hope, cheer, courage, faith, and happiness that enable us to stay young at heart through faithful service in whatever calling we may have."

To watch, listen to, or read this message in its entirety, including the origin of The Happy Dutchman nickname, please visit https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1993/10/service-and-happiness?lang=eng  #ShareGoodness

By the way, it only took about a month to detour this happy brother's ride into the sunset ... he is one of the few General Authorities to serve as a bishop after having served at the worldwide level.

The tortoise is smiling!