And then there was one...

Keaton here with an update on my life.

     Three weeks ago I attended NJ Boy's state in Rider University. That was quite the experience and it was interesting trying to get things done, organized and fixed in our little mini-city. I now know that I'd rather not get in to politics. But overall, it was a great experience and I had a great time. The following week (two weeks ago) I had to myself. I was able to relax, go to a couple parties and have fun. Then Saturday rolls around and I realize that I still need to pack for scout camp. I had to pack enough clothes and camping stuff to last a week. Packing was the easy part. After I was finished packing I decided to do a major overhaul of my room. I started with getting rid of the things that were on the floor that were easy to put away. Eventually, I had a large pile of big things and the rest was carpet that's when I found a black light. I decided to see if it still worked. It did and to use it I put it under my clutter-free bed and look around. That was when I remembered that I vomited in my bed like 6 years ago (Yes I did get a new mattress after that.) To my utter amazement, I learned that vomit stains glow green when a black light shines on it. I then proceed to move the bunk bed completely out of the way and attack the wall. After a great struggle I triumphed over the stain. By then, we had company over because Maple Shade fireworks were that night (They were amazing!!!!) I was unable to finish my room, although I did manage to put the bunk bed back into place. The next day (Sunday) I went to sacrament meeting at church and then left and headed for scout camp. The drive was long and the back seat was crowded, but I was fine. I arrived at scout camp in time for dinner and was reminded that the food was... well lets just say it wasn't that good. I set up my gear and in no time at all, was set at camp. The next day I was woken up at 5:30 to do the polar bear swim and to inspect for trash, it was unbearable. Then it was time for breakfast and had what was supposed to be eggs, but I'm not so sure that it was. Then I went throughout my classes of the week. My first class of the day was archery, I didn't get to shoot the first day, but I got most of the boring requirements out of the way. The next day I was able to actually shoot, and for my first time shooting a bow, I did really really well. I got a score of of 245 out of 300 and one of my shots hit the bullseye! The rest of the week I was able to make a string, make an arrow and was the first to pass the oral test. Then came climbing. Again, the first day was filled with boring stuff like tying knots and being told obvious safety rules, but it quickly got better. I was able to climb every wall with ease, except the hard wall, that was really hard, but I did it! And on the last day, we all did a flying squirrel thing where everyone else pulls you up and you go flying. Then lunch came, we ate and it was sub-par, but it was food. Then it was free time, or so it was supposed to be. I had more merit badges that I was assigned to take, luckily I had a laid back councilor for that and we got it done in one day. But then I discover that my scoutmaster signed me up for two more merit badges for the rest of the week. I was able to get them done despite my frustration. Next was environmental science, man that class was boring. That was the only class that I fell asleep in, but I still managed to complete the requirements. Then came rifle shooting, I was excited until I discovered there was going to be a test the next day on everything you need to know. I was a little worried, but our troop was able to require to book so I could get the answers. I ended up getting only one wrong on the test.  Finally I got to shoot the rifle. Six shots, two targets. The goal was to get five clusters of three shots. My first six targets had clusters of threes while some other people only had one or two or none at all. Then you had to get five clusters of five. Unfortunately, I ran out of time  for that day and only had two clusters of five. The next day I was right back with 3 of my first four targets being clusters of five, I was done the shooting portion way ahead of everyone else in my class. Then I spent the next 58 seconds showing different shooting positions and the rest of the day cleaning my rifle. The last day I was free to shoot the entire class. They gave me a target to shoot to join a junior rifle association and I scored 50 out of 50. Then they gave me spinners to shoot, it was way too easy and I did it perfectly the first time I tried. So to satisfy me, they gave me a sheet of twelve smaller targets to shoot. The paper was the same one they used to practice in the US Army. I shot five shoots at each of the twelve targets and got 8 bullseyes and missing the outer ring of a target only once. Finally I got to eat dinner. Again the food was sub-par, but it did its job. Then I had free time again, and by free time, I mean merit badges, but the class was pretty cool. It was leather working. Over the next few days in that class I stamped, stained, edged, painted and snapped (putting snaps on the leather so it would stay together) a piece of leather into a really nice key chain. Then we had troop time and went to bed. At the end of the week, when scout camp was over, we all headed up to Palmyra, New York and was the Book of Mormon pagent. It was amazing. Then on Sunday, we went around all the different historical sights of the Church's history. It was awesome and unbelievable. When we were done sight seeing, we had lunch and set off on the five hour drive home. Eight hours later we arrive at the Church in Cherry hill, put our troop gear away and go home.

So that's me and what I've been up to. Sorry it was really long, but that's how it turned out.
                                                         -Keaton Z. Sumner