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Mile 991.  The mountains were covered with clouds this afternoon.  It made for nice walking conditions.  There's a aerial view map, today's walking thought by L. Tom Perry ... and lots of those numbers only Tortoise can make intriguing for you when you click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

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Today's walk was 3.64 miles, with 115 feet climbed in 57:32 minutes, giving it a 5.5 tortoise rating. 584 calories were burned on this walk.  

Here are the overall stats so far for 2014:

991.77 miles walked, which is 99.08% of my 2014 goal.

311:23:23 hours walked, which is 99.49% of my 2014 goal

48,397 total feet climbed 

157,070 calories burned
96.17% of the year has passed

I've walked 75 consecutive non-Sundays since my last missed day on September 20, and overall have walked on 288 of the 301 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 95.68% 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, initially presented in April 1994 ...

“So, the hearts of you fathers and mothers must be turned to your children right now, if you have the true spirit of Elijah, and not think that it applies merely to those who are beyond the veil. Let your hearts be turned to your children, and teach your children; but you must do it when they are young enough to be properly schooled. And if you are neglecting your family home evening, you are neglecting the beginning of the mission of Elijah just as certainly as if you were neglecting your research work of genealogy” (ibid.; emphasis added).

"I’ve often thought of the happy times we had when our family was young and our children were at home. I have made a mental review of those days and considered the changes I would make in our family organization and administration if we had the opportunity to live that period over again. There are two areas I would determine to improve if that privilege were granted to me to have young children in our home once again.

"The first would be to spend more time as husband and wife in a family executive committee meeting learning, communicating, planning, and organizing to better fulfill our roles as parents.

"The second wish I would like, if I could have those years over, would be to spend more family time. This includes more consistent, meaningful family home evenings.

"The full burden of planning and preparing for family home evenings should not be left to parents alone. The most successful ones I have witnessed are when the youth of the family take an active part.

To watch, listen to, or read this message in full, please visit https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1994/04/therefore-i-was-taught?lang=eng  #ShareGoodness

The tortoise is smiling!