Introducing the Adventurers of America

Adventurers of America logo

After a while of feeling disappointed that there wasn't something similar to Scouting for adults (besides volunteering with Scouting units, which is also very rewarding), I decided to create my own program.

The purposes of the Adventurers of America are:

• the promotion of volunteering time, money, and other means to the cause and purpose of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA),
• the improvement and personal development of its membership, and
• creating an environment for the sharing of ideas, pastimes, and virtues among adults.

In order to achieve these purposes, I created a set of badges that can be earned.  Each badge has 5 levels of proficiency, each with their own set of requirements.  This gives everyone the opportunity to explore new skills, as well as improve in them.

The current badges we have requirements for are:

• Camper
• Chef
• Runner
• Chess Player
• Cyclist
• Geocacher
• Hiker
• Golfer
• Mini golfer
• Bookworm
• Movie Buff
• Sports Fanatic
• Marksman
• Citizen
• Sailor
• Audiophile
• Believer

We are always looking for suggestions for new badge and updates to requirements, and have a few additional badges in the works. 

If the Adventurers of America seems like something you would like to participate in, please sign up here.

Additionally, we encourage folks to meet together to work on these requirements, especially the ones that are not already in your field of expertise.  To that end, we also register groups, which we call expeditions.  If you would like to start an expedition, either with people in your neighborhood, people at work, or even with friends across the country, please fill out an application for a expedition here.  Everyone who is not part of an expedition will become a member of the Independent Expedition, designed for those who don't have enough interested folks in their area.

Please contact me with any additional questions you have about the Adventurers of America.

I have a confession to make (or why I'm okay with the recent election)

My fellow Americans,

I write to you in the wake of the federal elections we held on Tuesday.  It appears as though Mr. Donald Trump will be chosen by the Electoral College as the next President of the United States.  I have seen strong, negative reactions to this news from some of the people I am privileged to associate with as I go about my day.

There are a couple of things I need to get off my chest, things that I don't feel could be done justice in the course of a typical conversation.  I'm writing this post to stay true to myself, and allow others to understand how I see things.  I've bolded them for your convenience.

First of all, I am a registered Republican.  Hopefully this doesn't come as a surprise to those who have sincerely listened to my opinions on political issues.  While I don't agree with everything the national party does, I feel that as a voter who is registered in Utah County, Utah, my ideals, beliefs, and values most closely align with the Republican platform, and that the discrepancies between how I think and the party platform are trivial.

You should also know that I have had to opportunity to vote for electors during three presidential elections.  The second big confession is that I voted for Barack Obama in 2008, the first year I was eligible to vote.  My 18-year-old self was trying to figure out exactly what my beliefs were, and how important each of them were.  In fact, I'm still trying to figure that out today.  In any case, I thought President Obama would do a better job than Senator McCain.

I was out of the country, serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the first two years of Pres. Obama's service.  When I came home I began to think more about how I felt on certain issues.  By the time the 2012 election came around, I felt that Mr. Mitt Romney could do a better job than Pres. Obama.  However, as you all know, Mr. Romney did not win the presidency.

There was certainly a large helping of doom and gloom passed around a lot of Republican dinner tables that year.  The end of the world was near, and our country would soon fall apart.  Except that it didn't.  Yes, I was opposed to a lot of the policies Pres. Obama was in favor of.  But he was still the leader of our country, and over the next four years, I came to appreciate what that meant.

Now, in 2016, the candidate I thought would do the best job will again not be chosen as President.  It's probably because Mr. Evan McMullin ran as an independent candidate, among a large variety of factors.  Going into election night, all the polls suggested that Secretary Hillary Clinton would be chosen as our next president.  My next confession is that I felt relieved as I watched the likelihood of Sec. Clinton's election slowly diminish, and Mr. Trump's chances increase.  I disagree with Sec. Clinton on a majority of the issues.  This isn't to say that I think Mr. Trump is the candidate I think should be in office.  Remember, I think Mr. McMullin would do the best job.  But Mr. Trump has a lot of policies, at least the ones I could elucidate, that I agree with.

Now, for the lessons I hope people learn from reading this post.

1. When your candidate doesn't get elected it isn't the end of the world.  Pres. Obama received a second term in office, and America isn't that different from when he first was elected.  Our freedoms are still in place.
2. Americans support the president, because he is the president.  While I have disagree with some of the policy choices Pres. Obama has made, I still support our government.  In fact, when Pres. Obama has finished his term in January, he is welcome to my home for dinner.  I think we could find a lot of things to talk about that we agree on.  Because we're both Americans, and more importantly, we're both human beings.
3. Although Mr. Trump will be our next president, we need to support him in his office, just as we would support whoever we voted for.  You don't have to agree with everything he does in office, and you are allowed to express your opinions.  But in four years he'll have to account for the actions he's taken.  In the meantime, please be civil.  This election sure hasn't been and that's the change we need the most.

My fellow Americans, we are Americans.  We've endured a lot together, and we can endure the next four years.  In fact, we can endure them well.  

To my Californian friends, please don't leave us.  CalExit is not a solution to anything.  Americans don't give up and leave when their candidate doesn't win.  They stay involved in the political process, make their opinions known, and work together to make America a better place.

To my friends who would have been happier with Sec. Clinton as our next president, please don't leave us.  Americans stick together, through thick and thin.  We've survived as Civil War as a country, and we don't need to survive another.  Stay involved, keep voting, and contribute to the greatness of America.

Finally, to everyone, please continue to be the people in "We the people." America needs all of us.  Please don't let us down.

Patriotically yours,

Glen K Thurston

Citizen of the United States of America

Election Day is Coming, plus my semi-annual rant against (really in favor of) Daylight Saving Time

The time where we decide, not only who will head the executive branch of our federal government, but who will fill many other important positions in federal, state, and local governments is just around the corner.  Some people have already voted.  Maybe you have.  I'll avoid the awkward political discussion by simply urging you to vote.  Voting matters.  If you are eligible to vote, (citizen, non-felon in most states, etc.) do it.  If you want to know my opinion about who I think you should vote for, email me or something.

The other thing that's coming up is the end of Daylight Saving Time.  It's the magical time of the year where most of us set our clocks back an hour because the government says to.

Well, it's stupid.

There are plenty of reasons to just stick to one schedule.  Most of them are things that don't know how to read a clock, like cattle.  The reason that's a part of my reality now are my children.  They have no idea what time it is.  Ever.  I have a hard enough time convincing them that the lack of sunlight outside means it's time for bed.  They stick to their internal clocks.  For example, my 3-year-old son wakes up every day between 6:15 and 6:30.  He doesn't care what day of the week it is, if it's a holiday, or even what time he went to bed (unless we keep him up really late).  Can you imagine how frustrating March will be when I have to get him up an hour earlier than he's used to, just because some people thousands of miles away in the Capitol Building said we should?

I really don't care whether we're on Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time.  I just want to pick one and stick with it.  (Arizona and Hawaii are my role models in this situation.)  I prefer staying on DST year-round.  Why?  Because in the winter, there aren't enough daylight hours for it to matter which time we're on.  In the summer, there are so many daylight hours that it doesn't matter.  When it matters, near the equinoxes, I would rather go to work in the dark and play with my kids outside while the sun is shining.  But I'll sacrifice that if it means I don't have to switch my clock twice a year.

If you live in Utah, please encourage your state legislators to support my father's bill that would give voters the power to choose whether the state should opt out of DST.