101 things in 1001 days

I was talking to a friend of mine a couple weeks ago and she mentioned a fun thing that she does that I want to try!  101 things (goals) in 1001 days!  I will write down my list here and I will make posts on when I complete them and cross them off this list!  I've never been a good at accomplishing goals that I have made...so I hope that this will be a good fun way to try doing goals!  And I have almost 3 years to complete it!  So it seems definitely more doable! :)

My 101 in 1001 List

Start date: 10/9/2018

End date: 7/6/2021

Health/Fitness/Beauty
1. Learn how to French braid my own hair
2. Try 101 new recipes (21/101)
3. Be able to do a front plank for 5 1/2 minutes
4. Be able to do 50 consecutive push-ups
5. Make a meal plan each week for a month and follow it (Meal Planning)
6. Don't pick at any acne for at least a month
7. Make ravioli from scratch
8. Visit the dermatologist for that one spot on my arm...
9. Complete the 15 day Fit Body challenge
10. Organize my recipes
11. Learn how to make Macaroons
12. Learn how to make pirogi
13. Learn 3 new hairstyles and become proficient in doing them (0/3)
14. Figure out why I get migraines

Family, Friends, and Relationships
15. Do something special for each immediate family member (0/7)
16. Mail someone a surprise package
17. Complete mission comic book and send as presents to those sisters
18. Mail 10 snail mail letters to friends and family (6/10)
19. Send flowers to my mom "out of the blue"
20. Beat Krista at Racquetball
21. Hike along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierra Nevada's with my mom
22. Visit siblings and their families in their cities (5/5) (Visiting Family - One of My Greatest Joys)

Personal
23. Get engaged
24. Get married
25. Make a mission picture book
26. Make my soccer quilt
27. Kiss someone at midnight on New Years Eve
28. Go 10 days from social media (A Social Media Fast)
29. Feed 3 homeless persons (0/3)
30. Save $10 for every item crossed off this list (60/1010)
31. Index 3003 names on Family Search Indexing (165/3003)
32. Do family history - find 100 new names to take to the temple (0/100)
33. Write in my journal at least once a week for a year
34. Get a new job (New Job, New Adventure)
35. Volunteer 3 times in a year in my local community (1/3)
36. Update my 72 hour kit
37. Serve at a soup kitchen on my birthday
38. Buy a stick-shift car
39. Give away 3 copies of the Book of Mormon (you can request a free one for yourself here!) (0/3)
40. Make a blurb-type book from my travels
41. Watch a whole BYU football game without falling asleep (BYU Football - Why do I bother?)
42. Don't say "I don't know" when I have to make a decision for a whole day, 101 days (doesn't have to be consecutive) (0/101)

Learning
43. Memorize 15 scriptures in English (0/15)
44. Memorize 15 scriptures in Russian (0/15)
45. In between General Conferences, re-read and study all talks
46. Master 3 subjects on Kahn Academy (0/3)
47. Master Russian on Duolingo
48. Master French on Duolingo
49. Memorize The Living Christ in English and in Russian
50. Read the Book of Mormon all the way through before 1/1/19
51. Try a new idea of studying scriptures and topics for at least a month
52. Complete my studies of Christ
53. Refresh on my anatomy - memorize it all again
54. Learn a new song on the piano without significant pauses
55. Learn a new song on the ukulele without significant pauses
56. Ask 10 friends their favorite book and read them all (0/10)
57. Read 15 other books (2/15)

Fun Things
58. Go axe throwing
59. Go paint balling
60. Attend my sister's annual Harry Potter Birthday Party
61. Ride a tandem bicycle
62. Answer a telemarketer call in Russian and tell them to never call again.
63. Go sailing
64. Play with a real monkey
65. Go skydiving
66. Go snowshoeing
67. Sing at karaoke night
68. Bathe and/or ride an elephant
69. Ride in a hot air balloon
70. Learn the dance for Thriller
71. Solve a Rubik's cube
72. Go bungee jumping
73. Go to a drive-in movie
74. Learn how to juggle
75. Make something at Color Me Mine (or somewhere similar)
76. Fly in a private airplane (Flying - Just Like Having Wings)
77. Swim with dolphins
78. Build a blanket fort and sleep in it
79. Watch a meteor shower
80. Watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly
81. Climb a 5.12 grade with minimal rests
82. Throw a pot
83. Relearn how to start a fire without matches
84. Go Scuba Diving
85. Go dog sledding
86. Learn how to break dance

Travel
87. Walk 3003 miles (3 miles/day) (0/3003)
88. Visit my mission
89. Visit 6 temples I haven't been to before (3/6)
90. Travel to a new country
91. Hike Macchu Picchu
92. Go to Hawaii
93. Go on a cruise
94. Go to Harry Potter World
95. Visit 3 National Parks that I've never been to (1/3)
96. See the Northern Lights
97. Travel to a new state
98. Go to Disney World

Other
99. Reserved for 2021

Blog
100. Make a new 101 list when this one is almost done
101. Document all completed items on my blog

Here we go! :)

Let's get personal...How to keep your socks from getting lost in the wash!

Okay, I don't really have a secret.  I mean, yes, it's true! I've never lost a sock in the washer/dryer!  But if you ask, How?  I have no clue. :)  I just wanted to brag real quick about that neat fact of my life!  Just don't lose 'em! ;)
Okay, but in all seriousness.  That's not the point of my post today.

If you follow my life at all, you've noticed I've traveled to a few places in the past couple of months...
Iceland...England...Sweden...Finland...Norway...Czech Republic...Switzerland...Ireland...DC...just to name a few...

Peak in Switzerland

Norway sunset over the forest and fjords ♥

 Karlstejn Castle in Czech Republic

 The most swiss picture ever. ♥ Alps. Green Pastures. Cow.

They were all incredible and absolutely wonderful places and I had grand experiences and met some great new friends!  But my life isn't always an adventure like that!  I do have a normal average Joe Jessica life ;)
I wake up, work out (when motivated enough to do so), go to work (which consists now of taking care of my grandma!  Cooking, cleaning, organizing...all that jazz), and study in my free time (not school stuff anymore, but scriptures and languages!).
I have my up days and my low days.  I experience discouragement, loneliness, insecurity, trials, struggles, joy and peace (of course not all at the same time...).

Hiking alone for miles and miles on end while in Europe gave me quite a bit of time to think.  About who I am.
We all put on masks.  There are few people in my life who actually have seen ME.  I am usually having an internal struggle that I mask so that I will be seen as "doing good".  I think we all do it.  But why??
I know, for me, I don't like to be seen crying or looking sad.  I don't like feeling vulnerable.  I don't want to feel like a burden to someone else.  I want people to see me as a happy and positive person.  Not as a "Negative Nellie".
I busy myself, put on a mask and then "everything is fine".  I get into a mindset of thinking "No one will know"...

No one will know that I was crying just minutes before this picture was taken because of how alone I was feeling at that moment, even though I was surrounded by others.

No one will know that I was going through an extremely difficult time and feeling miserable as my boyfriend had just broken up with me about a week before this picture was taken.

No one will know when they asked where I had been and I replied, "Oh, just at the temple, doing some pondering." when I really was there to cry for a long time, asking my Heavenly Father, "Why?".

No one will know, standing in the background, as sister after sister, brother after brother, and friend after friend gets married that, as truly happy as I am for them, I am frustrated and broken, desperately wishing with all my freaking heart that I could start a family too.  My biggest desire.

Can you see it?  Can you see the struggle one is going through in their eyes when they say "I'm good!" and smile, but as they turn away that smile fades?

Do we realize that when we catch them in their "pondering" moments, it really could be moments of them thinking "do I have the strength to keep pressing forward?"

Maybe that's why I love being with kids so much.  They are innocent and full of pure love!  I just have to play with them and they'll like me!  I don't have to think of things to say to make me sound more likeable.  I don't have to act a certain way.  I don't get hurt by them.  I don't feel unwanted.

But then you get those individuals who see you behind the mask.  They recognize the struggling.  They hear that small crack in your happy voice.  They see that smile fade.  And they prove to you that they care and will listen - it's no empty words of "I'm here for you".  They mean it and show it from the little things they do.  They become your support.  You know you don't have to put up a mask for them.  You can trust them with how you truly feel.

I am grateful for those people in my life who know me for who I am behind my mask.  They know I'm imperfect and they still love me.  They encourage and support me through my hard days.  They listen to me cry and talk about how insecure, discouraged, or lonely I may be feeling.  They always do a hecka good job at lifting my spirits.  Just by talking with me and being there for me.

I hope I can be that for others as well.  I want to be more aware.  I want to be the kind of person that leaves someone feeling better than when I found them.  Like my best friend and family are for me ♥

Life Advice from Elder Busche

In times of discouragement or frustration, sometimes it can be hard to see the bigger picture. Remember to slow down, and remind yourself that the Lord loves you and will guide you.

I watched this short video clip my very first zone conference on my mission.  I love this talk-it has stuck with me every since I first saw it. 

Elder Busche offers us some wonderful advice on life. 

Advice from Elder Busche

 

God is Kind to Me

I am so grateful!! for amazing friends who are there for me when I need them.  They're there when I need someone to talk to, someone to listen, someone to smile, someone to give me a hug, someone to lend a shoulder to cry on, and someone who cares and loves me.
I'm so grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and answers my prayers by sending me a friend to help me in my times of trouble.  I love my friends and family.  I'm so grateful for their examples to me and for their support and love to me.

I'm so grateful I have a loving older brother who cared enough to die for me.

 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

 13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

-Alma 7:11-13 (Book of Mormon)

Come This Day

This link is to a Mormon Message.  President Henry B. Eyring, a disciple of Jesus Christ, urges us to seek God's help to overcome complacency and discouragement and find joy in serving Him today.

I know God lives.  I know He answers our prayers.  I know He loves us and is very much aware of us.

How to Remain Hopeful and Faithful in a World that is Becoming More Evil

Evil is in the world, designed by the devil to destroy humanity.  Evil creates unnecessary fear to lurk in our hearts.  Fear is the devil’s first and chief weapon to destroy you and me.  Fear of persecution and cares of the world caused James Covill to reject the gospel and the word of God (D&C 40:2).  How can we remain hopeful of better things to come so that we can remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ and God the Father?

What does it mean to be hopeful and faithful?  “To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone” (BD, 669).  Hope cometh of faith and is an “abiding trust”, or assurance, “that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you” (PMG, 117).   Hope is believing and expecting that something will occur.  When we have faith, we are acting and showing that we trust the Lord’s promises to us of receiving blessings if we keep His commandments.  Fear cannot dwell where there is faith.

The Lord has promised us a bounty of blessings if we remain faithful and keep His commandments.  He has promised us power to become His sons, power to have great faith and go before the world to proclaim His gospel, joy, riches of eternity (D&C 38:39), mercy, eternal salvation, and so much more.  He loves us and wants to bless us.  Even though we are surrounded by darkness and trials, “try to force a smile, gaze heavenward, and say, ‘I understand, Lord. I know what this is. A time to prove myself, isn’t it?’ Then partner with Him to endure well to the end” (Jorg Klebingat, Oct. 2014).  As we team up with our Heavenly Father, no amount of darkness or evil can overcome us.
Have hope of Eternal Life, for deliverance from our enemies, and for deliverance from darkness and evil.  Always remember that Jesus Christ is “the light and the life of the world; a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not;” (D&C 39:2).  When we have Christ with us, we will always have light to cut through the darkness of evil.  Look forward to the future with hope and faith in Christ that He will fulfill his promises to you as you keep His commandments and endure to the end.  “But the day soon cometh that…the veil of darkness shall be rent…Wherefore, gird up your loins and be prepared.  Behold the kingdom is yours, and the enemy shall not overcome” (D&C 38:8-9).

Mormon Message - Sitting on the Bench: Thoughts on Suicide Prevention 

Home Sweet Home (Дом Милый Дом)

Hello again!  I'm home!  I just finished my 1 1/2 year mission in the Russia St. Petersburg mission.  What a beautiful and amazing experience that was.  I loved it.  I met amazing people

Me and my best friend Masha (Маша)!

Wonderful friends from Petrozavodsk (Петрозаводск)! L to R: Lida (Лида), Me (Я), Yulia (Юлия), Sasha (Саша), Sis. Evans (Сестра Эванс)

Vyborg (Выьорг) Young Women!! L to R: Nadya (Надя), Sonya (Соня), Me (Я), Lena (Лена), Tanya (Таня)

My lovely companion: Sister Kirushkina (Сестра Кирюшкина) :)

learned a fantastic language and saw some pretty cool places. :) 

St. Petersburg (Санкт Петербург) - view from the Mission Home. My 1st night in Russia. 10:25pm

Pskov (Псков) - My first city!

St. Petersubrg (Санкт Петербург) - The Hermitage (The Winter Palace) :)

Since I've been home I have returned to school at Brigham Young University.  It's been hard trying to adjust back to school life, but every week it gets better. :)  I'm making lots of new friends and guess what! There are about 10 people in my ward who went to Russian speaking missions!  So I am able to speak Russian still here:)
I miss Russia.  I miss the friends I made.  Thankfully we have skype!

Sestroretsk (Сестроретцк) - 2nd city I served in

I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I know it is the true Church of Christ on the earth today and by following it's precepts and heeding the counsel given by our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and by keeping the commandments of God, we can return to live with our families forever and with our loving Heavenly Father!
Я так благодарна за эту возможность у меня была служить на миссии для Церкви Иисуса Христа Святых последних дней.  Я знаю, что этот истинная Церковь Христа на земле сегодня и когда мы следуем советы даны нам пророк - Томас С. Монсон - и когда мы следуем заветы Бога, тогда мы можем вернуться жить навеки с нашими семьями и с нашим любящим Небесном Отцом! :)

It got really cold..

Thank you for your support and love while I have been serving and also while I've been back!  It means so much!  Love you all!  Люблю вас всех!

Sister Stone in Russia! :)

Yup.  That's right.  I'm headed out!  Not quite yet to Russia, but to the MTC.  Which is like a foreign land in and of itself.
Here is my MTC address in case any of you would like to write me while I'm there (the letters will be MUCH appreciated!):

Sister Jessica Belle Stone
MTC Mailbox #22
RUS-SPET 0514
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

And also, my sister has made me a blog for while I'm out serving!  The emails and pictures I send home will be posted there.  http://sisterjessicastone.blogspot.com/

  до свидания!