Royal Rangers is valuable to me for many different reasons. The three things I like best are what you learn, the fun you have, and the friends you make. In Rangers, even when you are learning you are having a lot of fun.

During Rangers, and especially while I was getting the GMA, my class learned a lot. Sometimes we took courses together like first aid and CPR. But a lot of the time, we had to learn or do things on our own at home. It was pretty tough but I learned a lot and had fun. One of the things I had to do was the cycling merit. I took 3, 10 mile bike rides with my dad. Home and church were not the only places we learned. On the camp outs we would get our own patrols and have to build a fire and cook our own food, and to me that was fun. We also learned how to light a fire with a metal match or magnesium lighter. I remember a time just a while back when our GMA class all tried to light one together. It didn't work out that well and we'll just leave it at that. Even though we had trouble then, now we can all light a metal match fire with ease. I also know more about guns than I ever knew before. If it weren't for rangers I probably would have never learned all 66 books of the bible. Now I know a lot about rangers and a lot about the privileges of being a Ranger.

While we learned, we had a lot of fun. We learned how to use and properly store 5 different types of guns. This was fun because I have never been taught about guns before. I always just counted on the James Bond video games to learn about guns. I had fun creating skits with the guys for the council fire and teaching the younger kids about the Bible. During our free time on the campouts I remember exciting games of capture the flag and obstacle courses. Being with my friends was another big reason I went to Royal Rangers. We always hung out before, during, and after class. I also got to know my friends David Pent and Scott Winters better than before. On the camp outs when you needed a buddy to go to the bathroom I already knew who my buddy was. Whenever we both had the same merit that needed to get done we worked on it together. If one of us didn't have one thing in a merit complete but the other did we would help each other out. Sometimes, if one of us couldn't get a fire going, or looked like they would need about 10 matches, we would help. I made a lot of new friends over these years in rangers and I know them well, and some of them too well. Making new friends is what made Rangers so fun.

I have learned enough that I think if I had to save someone's life, start a fire to stay alive, or bike for 10 miles to get away from danger; I could do it. Learning these things while having fun and making new friends is what makes Rangers valuable to me.