Rapid City, SD and Sundance, WY

On the 10th, I arrived in Box Elder, South Dakota, to stay with my friend, Kelsey. Once I got there, we went to Mount Rushmore, which looked exactly like it does in pictures… but smaller. After leaving there, we went back to her house where I found an arcade basketball machine! After inquiring about the house record, which was 109, I promptly rewrote the record book with a score of 115. Knowing that I could do better, I tried again and got 119. Satisfied, I decided to retire from arcade basketball. After a sugar rush from the leftover Halloween candy, I decided to unretired and give it another shot. Thanks to a magical combination of skill and science, I made every shot that I attempted and ended up with a 137! After that, Kelsey and I headed to Mass and wrapped up the night with a game of cards with her family.

On Veteran’s day (thank you to everyone who has served or is currently serving our country!), I woke up knowing that I had one day to do service in both Wyoming and South Dakota, but I had no plans on how to accomplish that. With no specific plan, I drove to Sundance, Wyoming, a town of 1,200 people to see what I could help with. Once I arrived, I walked into a drug store to see if they had any ideas. They sent me to a Christian hardware store down the street. There, they told me about a lady who works with a program called “Blessings in a Backpack” that works to provide food on the weekends for elementary school kids who might go without food otherwise. This lady fills the bags one day a week. It just happened to be the day that I was there. She also has a helper… who wasn’t able to help on that day… funny how things work out sometimes! After filling 35 bags, she treated me to lunch before I headed back to South Dakota. On my way out, I made a detour to see Devils Tower, the oldest national monument in the country.

After leaving the monument, I headed back to Rapid City, South Dakota, to do some service. At the start of my trip, I was unsure about how toll roads worked, so to be safe, I brought plenty of quarters. I still have plenty of quarters, so to put them to good use, I walked around Rapid City putting quarters in expired parking meters! It was a simple act of kindness that didn’t take much time, but it could have saved a bunch of people a pocket full of cash, or maybe it just put a smile on their face. Either way, it was worth it! Before heading out of town, I stopped at a gas station, bought a scratch off, and left it for the next customer. I hope it was a winner!

After I finished up in Rapid City, I headed back to Box Elder. Once I was back at the house, I found myself face to face with the arcade basketball machine once again. Although it was inaudible, I could tell that the machine was issuing a challenge. Challenge accepted! After about an hour of trying, I finally set a record that may never be broken: 145! After a celebratory dinner, we went to a wide open field with no lights to look at stars. Every time that I look at the stars I am amazed, and this time was no different!

On Thursday, I headed south to Colorado Springs!

Thank you to the Haughs for hosting me. Thank you to the woman I volunteered with for the work that you do and for treating me to lunch. Thank you to the arcade basketball machine for pushing me to be the best that I can be. And thank you to all of you who continue to pray for me and support me!