Mile 934. A late afternoon walk that worked its way into an early evening walk with the kind of night views that come with clear, crisp air in the deep darkness that occurs shortly after sundown on a late fall or winter night. It started with two miles along the Virgin River trail, starting at the Riverside Drive trailhead pictured above, then looping back by way of the Foremaster hill which also provided lit sidewalks. You can see the rest of Lou's pictures and also get Todd Christofferson's walking thought by clicking below to continue reading ...
Cheerio!
Today's walk was 4.50 miles and had a 4.0 tortoise rating earned by climbing 271 feet in the 1.17 mile uphill portion. Average elevation was 2673. This walk burned 668 calories in 1:22;21 hours.
Here are the overall stats so far for 2015:
934.52 miles walked which is 93.27% of Lou's 2015 goal. On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 900.05 miles.
286:28:27 hours walked which is 91.53% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year).
49,841 total feet climbed, compared with 44,194 feet on this day in 2014.
140,172 calories burned.
86.26% of the year has passed.
Lou has walked 158 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, Overall he has walked on 261 of the 270 non-Sundays in 2015, a 96.67% consistency rating. This compares with 257 days walked in the same period in 2014 (a 95.19% consistency rating).
The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of both distance and of 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. (If you doubt this, compare Tortoise's walking record up until 2013 with 2014 or 2015 ... for him, it is what it takes to be consistent. He hopes you find what works for you).
And now for today's walking thought ...
"How does His Church accomplish the Lord's purposes? It is important to recognize that God's ultimate purpose is our progress. His desire is that we continue 'from grace to grace, until [we receive] a fulness' of all He can give. That required more than simply being nice or feeling spiritual. It requires faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism of water and of the Spirit, and enduring in faith to the end. One cannot fully achieve this in isolation, so a major reason the Lord has a church is to create a community of Saints that will sustain one another in the 'strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life.'
"'And [Christ] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
"' For the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
"' Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.' (Ephesians 4:11-13)
"Jesus Christ is 'the author and the finisher of [our] faith.' Uniting ourselves to the body of Christ -- the Church -- is an important part of taking His name upon us. We are told that the ancient Church 'did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls' 'and to hear the word of the Lord.' So it is in the Church today."
-- D. Todd Christofferson, "Why The Church", October 2015 LDS General Conference
The tortoise is smiling!
Super pretty view, it's gets dark much earlier now, but a fair trade off for the brighter mornings. For whatever reason, I struggled through this talk, I told Benjamin it reminds me of elder Maxwells talks that required several readings and pondering! I need to read it again :)
ReplyDeleteActually listen to and read this talk this week as well. With everything going on with the new policy from the church, and given the fact that Elder Christofferson was selected from the brethren to deliver the message to the world, it makes it all the more meaningful. Can only imagine how hard it is to have your brother speak out to the media against you, your beliefs and your church and then to still be able to stand there and testify like he has here. Definitely an example of how we should stand as witnesses at all times, in all places and in all things. What faith!!
ReplyDeleteNo one will ever top Elder Maxwell. I smile when I read that the translators categorize talks 1 to 4 for difficulty in translating ... and that Elder Maxwell alone was "beyond category". But I will grant you that Elder Christofferson is working on it. Some days I think Elder Oaks is as well. All the same, I believe Isaiah is among us on the other side of the veil smiling at the good, strong testimonies that are being shared while the adversity level is ever increasing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the views, I'm amazed anew each evening how clear and sparkling the deep, dark early night sky is. There has been a new moon of late, and the stars have been amazing too out in La Verkin. If I could capture a picture of it with my phone I would, but so far I haven't succeeded on that one. :-)