IF I COULD CHOOSE ONE HERB

It is really hard for me at this time in life to pick my favorite herb as I am finding them all so beneficial. They have become like friends to me, but if I had to choose it probably would be Cayenne Pepper. Not for its taste of course, but for its wonderful healing ingredients and how it blessed my life.

In June of 2020 little did I know this hot fruit would save my life. For the last year and a half, I have had severe women’s health issues dealing with menopause. It first hit a few months after moving when life came to a halt with a cycle that kept me home-bound for a few weeks. This repeated a few times more times about every 4 months. The cycles were heavy and the amount of blood loss caused anemic issues, including low oxygen levels, the strain on the heart, and circulation problems. Each cycle would drain my energy from whatever I had just “refilled” with.  

CAN’T GO ONE MORE DAY

When the last cycle came, it carried on for over a month with daily blood clots larger than a golf ball. Of course, being stubborn and not wanting to go to the doctors during “Covid” I  decided to just suffer. However, I was becoming weaker and weaker. Normal tasks of stairs now took at least 30 mins to climb, standing caused dizziness, and even blow-drying my hair was a strenuous activity. I knew I needed help, but I did not want to risk going to the doctor and being diagnosed wrong, and then put a brand new grandchild at harm with Covid’s tracking system. 

The night I could not go any further was the night I decided to ask my son-in-law for a blessing which his words were powerful. I felt I needed to trust those words and that God would heal me as spoken and that when it happened I would give all glory to Him for His healing, and the world would know it especially my grandchildren.  I did not want a “doctor” to be given any of the praise, but only to teach my children that faith comes from hearing the voice of the Lord and then acting upon it with complete assurance. 

Many good people including my girls were scared as I was not doing well and were encouraging me to go to the hospital, but I chose to follow the blessing and counsel spoken in the prayer as my form of action and work, and instead, I went to bed trusting that God would offer a form of deliverance. 

HIS DELIVERANCE

His deliverance came the very next morning from a dear friend who felt inspired that the herb needed for this immediate situation of bleeding was Cayenne Pepper. The blessing given to me the prior night told me I would “know the right answer when it came,” and this I knew was correct as I was reminded about this herb when it healed my son in his own emergency health situation. 

I am a firm believer in herbs and I knew about the admonition in Doctrine and Covenants 42 when it says:

And whosoever among you are sick, and have not faith to be healed, but believe, shall be nourished with all tenderness, with herbs and mild foods.

I was grateful for the inspiration to use it. 

This pepper was given to me every hour by my daughter in the amount of 1/4 of a tsp with a small amount of water. If anything I am alive because that “heat” would not allow for any other course of action, it wakes you up!  Within 1.5 days the bleeding had stopped completely. 

Good friends then came to the rescue to help with my iron level, fever due to an infection, and the rebuilding of the blood cells with more remedies which I will be forever grateful for. One friend even brought 12lbs of organic meat for me to eat for every meal, which I did. 

The recovery has been long, as it has been almost 8 months and stairs are still hard to climb on most days, and moving one wheelbarrow of woodchips can wipe me out quickly, but the herb of Cayenne has been still my constant “go-to.” Cycles have come and gone now within the months quicker using this herb as it will stop bleeding almost immediately.  

IF IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM…

It has been recorded time and time again the stories of healings that revealed Joseph Smith’s belief that the first source of healing was faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then it was to “follow the Savior himself, who frequently made reference to herbs in his teachings. Joseph sought to follow the Savior’s life in every respect, even to the inclusion of herbal medicine in his way of living, which he strongly endorsed and encouraged the early Saints to do as well.” (JS&HM, page 36.)

The Prophet Joseph used a number of herbs in his recommendation for the sick, but one of his favorites was cayenne, as it was with President Brigham Young. It is said that Brigham taught that it would be a healing herb along with others in the last days. 

Dr. Christopher the famous Mormon herbalist also shared many miraculous stories about how this hot pepper has saved many lives.  Cayenne is one of the finest healing, nutritional herbs known to mankind. It is not a drug, it is a food of the highest value made from our creator for healing. He says “These herbs will not only repair the body as with a “divine touch,” but they will restore our faith in the Supreme Maker (School of Natural Healing, p.253)

I figured if it is good enough for these men to use then it was good enough for me, too! 

What is your favorite “go-to” herb?