After several years and hundreds of hours of intense effort, the only two things standing between Nathan and Matthew Anderson and their goal of earning all 121 Boy Scout merit badges were a beagle and a bugle.
After Nathan and Matthew, 17-year-old identical twins from the Crosswinds 1st Ward, Spanish Fork Utah South Stake, finished the requirements for their Eagle at only 12½, the youngest age possible to receive the award, they set their sights on another Scouting goal.
\"When we got our Eagles, we already had 48 merit badges,\" Nathan said. \"We were so young, and we thought we might as well try to get all of the merit badges.\"
Scouting achievement has run in the family. Their grandfather, Ray L. Anderson, achieved the rank of Eagle and earned every merit badge offered at the time, a total of 117. Their father, Eric L. Anderson, earned his Eagle at age 14 and has been involved in Scouting as an adult for more than 25 years.
The goal was a lofty one, but as they set in, Nathan and Matthew began crossing off the merit badges one by one.
Dog care was the last merit badge the boys earned, but not because it was the most difficult. As part of the requirements, the boys had to care for a dog for at least three months. Hesitant to take on a dog and the ensuing responsibility, and the Anderson parents made an agreement — earn all the other merit badges first and the boys get the dog.
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This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.