Mission Accomplished

06/30/2021 If I stopped when it hurt, or when I was tired, I wouldn’t have made it around the block. But I pressed on. Every day. For 730 days. 9.6 miles each day. 7,020 miles from Seattle to Bahia Blanca, Argentina. For almost 5 years now, I have been on this walking journey. It was when Autumn left on her mission to the Czech Republic on July 6, 2016, that I decided to dedicate a walk of the distance from Seattle to Prague to her and her missionary service for the 18 months that she was serving over there. I calculated that I would need to walk 9.2 miles per day. At that time in my life, the goal seemed pretty much impossible as I was still recovering from a very invasive surgery I had done on my gastrointestinal tract in 2015. I had been suffering for many months dealing with pain from the recovery and was sick pretty much every day. At some point, not long after Autumn left, while despairing about the challenge of this trauma was when my wife, LeAnn, with all of her great support and empathy, challenged me to get up and go out and try to start exercising by taking a short walk around the block. Without LeAnn, I might still be wallowing in misery and not have taken those first steps on this walk around the world. There have been hundreds of days where I am finishing my night walks on the treadmill, often until 12:30 in the morning. She has always been understanding and patient through it all. Having her support throughout has made what has been accomplished, possible. So grateful for a loving wife who has been there cheering me on for 5 years. As I completed the #SeattleToBahia on 6/18/2021, I have been retrospective this past 10 days - thinking about the journey and accomplishing this big goal. It was two years from the day that Austin left on his mission to Argentina. Though he had plenty of obstacles and challenges during his mission experience, he remained positive and faithful. He adjusted well to the trials and had so many incredible experiences during his mission. To see him grow and to persevere through Covid and then a surgery, then having to stay home to rehabilitate demonstrated his sheer determination and courage to overcome difficult situations. He was able to learn a language, make hundreds of new friends in Argentina and Las Vegas, learn more and teach others about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and grow even more into the incredible man that he has become. His perseverance through all things inspired me all the more to continue through the journey of walking every single day to reach my goal of walking to Argentina. He showed me that we are able to overcome and accomplish great goals that might seem almost impossible before we decide to take that first step. We had planned on picking up Austin in Argentina as we did with Autumn in Prague. Covid changed that, but we are determined to get him back there - likely when they dedicate the temple which has been announced to be built in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. Looking forward to that day. What a marvelous one that will be! One of the great things that LeAnn and I did, was to walk the last mile of the journey together. We celebrated that milestone by going on the #MillersNoshNwalk (week 15) first by going to a restaurant called Naan and Curry in Renton and then taking it to Gene Coulon beach to eat. We called Austin on FaceTime so he could be with us to walk across the the finish line of the #seattletobahiablanca as we crossed that 7,020th mile. It was so special to do that together with those I love, who have supported me so much. Then Austin finished his semester at BYU last week and has been home with us for the past 10 days. We sure love having him around! He brightens up our home and keeps everyone smiling around here. 🙂 We then went out to celebrate the completion of the walk by going to an Argentine restaurant in Tacoma called Asado. It was amazing! Flank Steak with chimichuri, empanadas, and calamari. Austin got some skirt steak with Chorizo and Shrimp. It was an Argentine feast! We then completed another #MillersNoshNwalk (week 16) by heading down to the Tacoma waterfront on Ruston way and walking together there as a family. Perfect way to end a perfect day. I surely know now that walking will always be an important part of my exercise regiment. Through June 18, 2021, I have now completed 15,696 walking miles over the course of that 1,820 days. This comes out to an average of 8.6 miles each day. Hard to believe, but I can feel it in my knees, and see the strength in my legs as a testament to the daily distance travelled. Somewhere along the way, I decided on continuing the walking goal until I completed circumnavigating the globe along the 45th parallel I have been virtually traveling on. AKA #ToddlingAroundTheWorld. That came out to be 16,710 miles. As of this date, I have just 1,013 remaining. I have some new goals that I have set to accomplish this. But that is for another day and a new post… 🙂 One of the biggest lessons I have learned through this journey is to seek out and enjoy the flowers. In our lives, there are usually more weeds that we have to deal with than there are flowers. When you seek out the flowers, you don’t see the weeds. Look for the beauty that is all around you. You can find it in the rivers and lakes, forested trails and gardens. You can find it in your family and the goals that you set for yourself. That beauty is found within.