Wednesday, August 18, 2021

There is No "One Size Fits All"

 

 

 

I created quite the stir within the church scene the other day. I assure you it was purely innocent on my part. But the words have started filling my head while I am trying to sleep again – so it looks like I’m back. It’s been a while – but when the Spirit speaks, I feel it important to follow. However, I know that the spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. I’m trying my best here.

I can understand why an entire church would blindly follow a prophet, who is a man – just like themselves. But what I can’t understand is why people would blindly follow the mainstream media, especially since the Smith Mundt Act and Project Mockingbird are PUBLIC RECORD. It is extremely important that you read both (especially how it affects the mainstream media in the United States of America), for you to be able to understand the rest of this post. We’re taught to “Search, Ponder and Pray,” so consider this the searching part of your due diligence. So please take 5 minutes and go look up both of those things. And do me a favor, go to www.duckduckgo.com to search, instead of Google. You’ll get very similar results – the ones that Google censors and the ones they don’t. I don’t know about you, but I totally trust Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. (sarcasm) to decide what I can and cannot learn about and who I can and cannot learn from. Last I checked, they do not follow the Holy Spirit when making these decisions – so I choose to trust the source of all truth, rather than big tech and social media. So do me a favor and copy and paste both of those phrases above (one at a time) into the DuckDuckGo search engine and spend 5 minutes reading about them. Then come back and you and I will be able to understand each other a little better.

Cue: some good background waiting music

Awesome. I appreciate you taking the time to see where I am coming from. And isn’t it enlightening to learn new things? Knowing what you know NOW, does that change your world view at all? I can tell you – it did mine. Knowing that the mainstream media in the United States of America can LEGALLY lie to us and manipulate us and feed us PROPAGANDA (“communication that is primarily used to influence an audience and further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented” – Wikipedia) – should be eye-opening for everyone.

So a little background in case you’re new here – and happen to still be reading. Last year I became very confused with the fear narrative, the government’s response, the church’s response, and how polarized the whole country became. So, I decided to “Search, Ponder and Pray.” And after the praying part, I received a VERY CLEAR answer from the Spirit that eventually reminded me that fear is not God’s way (it is literally the opposite of faith) and that there was a lot of deceit going on in the world. I was directed to continue to search and follow the Spirit. And then I received another direction – that I should write about what I was learning to help others learn too. A tall order for a gal who would rather avoid confrontation and conflict in a world teaming with wolves in sheep’s clothing. But through trusting Him, I have started this journey to discover truth – not truth to the world (who we already know can legally lie and manipulate us), but Truth to God (who loves us and wants us to be happy and live by faith, not fear).

So think about your interaction with the media this year. If there hadn’t been someone constantly telling you we should be afraid of this new virus that supposedly nobody understood (and they still don’t understand – just ask if they can prove that it has even been isolated in a lab yet) all year long, would you have even known it existed? Was it so deadly that people were dropping dead in the streets all around you? I know images from the media are now coming to your mind – so try to remember that actors can be paid, images and videos can be altered, headlines CAN LEGALLY LIE and twist the truth and presidents of media companies are paid by those who want you to be afraid instead of having faith in God. Because once you decide to trust in God and ask him through faith what is true or not – their whole narrative dissolves and they lose control over you. Fear creates ratings, ratings create more funding, and the government gets to train you to think through fear rather than faith (and that THEY will be your savior, not Jesus Christ). That the only way we will all survive this pandemic is to trust in them as they slowly take each of our God-given and constitutional rights away – and not question any of it! Stay with me.

I’m not trying to be insensitive. I know that people have died over the last year and a half, and just about every family I know, including my own, has been affected by this virus on some level. But if you knew that the protocol used at the hospitals is what is killing the majority of patients – especially those who are older and those with preexisting conditions, would you be surprised? What if you knew that there is a very effective and inexpensive prophylactic treatment (one you take to prevent infection) for those who are at risk, and the sooner you treat an infected individual with the same inexpensive and very effective treatment (that has less side-effects than Tylenol and Asprin), the better – not waiting until they can’t breathe and then telling them to come to the hospital (which is the CDC and NIH protocol!). At that point if oxygen is not helping, they immediately put people on ventilators (remember the ventilator shortage?). That is what killed people – the wrong protocol – not this virus with a 99.9% recovery rate for the majority of the population (just like the flu). The fear created by the media (that our own government instigated by giving them permission) created panic, and everyone who was sick followed what the government told them to do, and a lot of people died in the process. We trusted in the arm of flesh.

Ask yourself this, why are even medical professionals so polarized in this “pandemic”? We keep hearing “follow the science” but what they really mean, is we can only follow the science that they tell us to follow – and if anyone tries to go against that narrative of science that they approve, they will censor and silence them. I don’t know about you, but “science” is constantly changing and evolving. Didn’t we all learn that in 8th grade – about the scientific process? You know, someone has a hypothesis, then we collect data, observe and experiment to test that hypothesis. Never in the history of science were scientists and doctors told that they weren’t allowed to ask questions or try to improve upon what they already know or have been told. Otherwise, we would never have new research and new treatments. Yet that is what our government and social media are telling us – that there is only one science right now and we cannot question it! Gone is critical thinking. Gone is using your experience and knowledge and building on that. And gone is the medical doctor’s freedom to treat a patient how they believe they should be treated according to the best treatments that they know, and their experience. Isn’t that why we have the freedom to get a second opinion? If we don’t like the prognosis or treatment plan that one doctor gives us, we can find another doctor that gives us different options (two different sciences). Why is it suddenly different with Fauci (who has not clinically treated one patient with COVID)? It’s all the sudden his way or the highway. Do you realize that the government is now threatening to revoke medical licenses from doctors who have successfully treated thousands of COVID patients, with NO DEATHS, because they did not follow their “wait until you can’t breathe and then put you on a ventilator only giving you a 20% survivability rate, encouraging your body to give up” treatment protocol?

When you tell me to trust medical professionals, do you know what I think of? Two of my last three surgeries and everything that went wrong with them. Medical professionals are human too – and while I believe some try to follow the Spirit when treating individuals, the majority do not. Medical professionals are for the most part taught to think within the box of the school of thought they were taught in. Why do you think naturopathic doctors are shunned by them? Because they think outside of that box that they were taught. Doctors today are taught to look up ailments on a particular website and prescribe the drug that that website tells them to. Do you know what is missing? Figuring out what is causing the problem and trying to fix that rather than just treating the problem. Before last year my doctor recommended I be on over 35 different prescription medications for the ailments and symptoms that I went to them for. And I trusted them – I blindly followed their “authority”! And I kept having symptoms (possibly side-effects from the chemicals I was putting in my body??), but no one with superior knowledge of the body and how it works could tell me how to fix what was causing the problem, not just putting a bandage on the symptom. I think medical doctors do a lot of good. But I think that they all have their own motivations, biases, experiences and ethics.

So the first surgery was by a colorectal surgeon. I told him that I had a bleeding disorder – and like usual, he didn’t even ask if I needed any clotting factor before or after surgery. But I did my due diligence and got my hematologist involved (who knows how to treat my hemophilia) and we made a plan for me to receive that clotting factor before and after. She also advocated for me to have the surgery in a hospital rather than an outpatient center, just in case any bleeding became uncontrollable. But the problems came after the surgery. I had severe swelling and pain and for weeks I was unable to function properly. Every time I called the surgeon’s office because I felt like what I was experiencing was beyond the realm of what I should expect after surgery – the nurse would always tell me I was fine and that some pain is expected. Without even seeing what I was talking about, she insisted I was fine and overreacting. When I finally got an appointment to see the surgeon (after requesting a different surgeon because I no longer felt good about the one I had – which they refused to let me do!) he said, “wow! We should have charged you for weight loss surgery too – you’re down 20 pounds!” And then, “ooooh, yeah, that is a lot of swelling.” I had been suffering for weeks in excruciating pain and he was joking about wanting to make more money off of me and then validated what I already knew – I had a lot of swelling that shouldn’t still be there! It has been years, and I still do not function properly and have had painful side-effects since. What I didn’t do that time, was my due diligence. I didn’t research the surgeon beforehand (my doctor referred him to me, so he should know what he is doing, right?) and I didn’t pray about the surgeon, OR whether or not I should have the surgery that he recommended. That was on me – but he was not innocent in his lack of knowledge, lack of bedside manners and blatant vanity.

The second surgery was on my right knee. I tore my meniscus, ACL, MCL and LCL. I felt good about my surgeon this time. I had done my research and knew he was successful and experienced with good reviews. We got the treatment plan from my hematologist – clotting factor before and after – and they put me under. What I woke up to was two nurses arguing with each other in a panicked tone. Come to find out, that even though my chart said to administer the clotting factor right after the meds that would knock me out before the surgery – whoever was responsible for that forgot to give me the clotting factor (which has to be done intravenously). It took me a really long time to heal and recover, and had my body had the clotting factor in place before the surgery, it may have had the tools it needed and started that healing process faster. My point? Medical professionals make mistakes all the time. They are human too, meaning they are not all knowing and all powerful – unlike our Heavenly Father.

So when a new statement from the first presidency of the church came back that contradicted the spiritual confirmation that I had already received, and my research that the Spirit directed me to do did not support, I was a very shaken. Not testimony-wise or faith-wise, but rather “how can both be true?”-wise. So the first thing I did, after reading and re-reading the statement and feeling rather strange – including making observations about the wording and the language used, and the claims stated, I did what I have always done and been taught to do – I went to the source – God – to find out the truthfulness of the statement as it related to me and my family. I also noted the verb “urge” was used – not “required” which in and of itself implies individual interpretation and choice, but it was certainly not emphasized. And the answer I received, through tears, was the same as before – including sharing what I know while following the Spirit. A tall order in a world filled with passion and hate and judgement and blame and shame right now.  

So now to the “stir” I caused amidst my fellow ward and stake members. Back when the church first released the news statement that the prophet had been vaccinated and he urged everyone else to get it, I AGAIN did what I had been taught my whole life when I hear something that I didn’t think went along with the research and data that I had been finding and learning through the direction of the Holy Ghost. I prayed about it. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God… James 1:5.” I received an answer that my family and I should not get the experimental vaccine. But in that news statement, the prophet had said that it was still a personal choice, and individuals should consult with their personal medical professionals. Well in my research, I was able to find doctors that had done the same research and have questioned that narrative as well, so my personal medical professionals also do not believe that this experimental vaccine is safe and don’t recommend it. That added to the prompting that I had already received – we shouldn’t get it.

Now fast forward to the next “new” statement by the first presidency (no signatures though, like every proclamation we have received – just their typed names at the end – ). They were again urging members to get the experimental vaccine. And making other statements throughout the news release, that I have learned through my research guided by the Spirit and have already come to the conclusion through the Spirit, were untrue. But this time, no mention of individual choice. I also observed that common language usually used by our general authorities like, “we have received revelation” or “it is a personal decision” (which was mentioned in their last statement), or “seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost” or ANYTHING relating to God or the Gospel of Jesus Christ – was MIA from it. But what it did say was to trust the medical professionals and government officials. So yeah, I was a little confused, especially with my history with medical professionals (and the general track record of politicians and government officials). Never in the history of the church has the prophet or the scriptures told us to trust in the arm of flesh – and not God. The prophet is not God – he is supposed to speak for God when he is acting as a prophet. But he is also human and subject to human weakness, bias (a retired medical professional), and his own experience).

So seeing how this conflicted with my first 2 answers from the Spirit, I took it to the Lord again and asked if it was HIS will. The answer I received shook me. Through tears (yes, again!) I asked for understanding and wondered why the answer I was receiving went against what the first presidency was saying. I was reminded that I had already received my answer. And then I received a very clear direction that I needed to speak out. But that when I did, I needed to be very careful that I only said what the Spirit directed me to.

So when the statement that I was confusingly at odds with was posted on our ward and stake Relief Society Facebook pages, my heart started pounding in my chest. That is the feeling I get when I am supposed to bear my testimony in fast and testimony meetings. So I prayed and asked the Lord if I was supposed to make a post about the statement – not encouraging people to blatantly go against what the first presidency urged, but to let people know that it’s okay if they felt the same way as me after reading it (confused? Strange? Not feeling the Spirit like I normally do when I read things from the general authorities?) – and we have the gift of the Holy Ghost for a reason – to receive personal revelation and testimony about what our church leaders are saying is true. But most importantly to receive personal revelation of what is right and true for us as individuals (and also as families) to follow. I don’t know who needed to read that post, or if it was a test for the Lord to see how others in the ward and stake would respond (out of judgement or out of Christlike love) – I don’t know why the Lord used me as a vessel to say what the Spirit directed me to say. But I followed the direction I received from the Spirit, just like I have always tried to do. And for those who think I was calling people to become apostates, please read the official church policy here:

"Belief in prophets and apostles at the head of the Church does not mean that members blindly follow their leaders. While the prophet of God receives revelation and inspiration to guide the Church as a whole, revelation flows at every level, including to the leaders of congregations and to individual families and members. In fact, individual members are expected to seek that kind of divine guidance to help them in their own lives, in their responsibilities in the Church and even in temporal pursuits, including their occupations. Members are also expected to prayerfully seek their own “testimony” or conviction of the principles their leaders teach them."(https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/modern-prophets-and-continuing-revelation)

For those of you curious, here is the Facebook post:

“Anyone else feel that there is something different about this statement? It seems very politically correct and surprisingly does not mention individual choice or God or Jesus Christ or revelation or scripture or praying to receive guidance from the Holy Spirit – just that we should trust in the arm of flesh (put our trust in medical professionals and government officials who are human). Just an unexpected observation.

There are medical professionals in favor of these things and medical professionals that are NOT in favor of these things (the same goes for government officials) – so wouldn’t we use the Spirit to help us know which “arm of flesh" (each who has his own experience, bias, and free agency) - to trust? And shouldn’t we trust God first and foremost? That is what we teach converts every day – pray and find out for yourself what is right and true. And not surprisingly, what is right and true in this circumstance may be different for each person – so we really have no reason to judge anyone who may get a different answer and therefore make a different choice about these things than we did. That is the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful that I have the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide me in times like these.”

I posted my observations, facts from the statement, and then encouraged others who were also confused to use the Gift of the Holy Ghost to receive personal revelation from God Himself.

And that is when the firestorm began. Quite honestly, I was surprised at some of the responses that my post received. Definitely polarized, definitely judging, definitely shaming. But also some thanking me, saying they felt the same way. For some reason it had just rubbed them the wrong way too. I wanted to reply to some of them, but I only ended up responding to one that posted a link to a conference talk that has helped her over the past year – by adding a link to a conference talk that has also been helpful to me recently (scandalous, right?). Every other time I went to respond, the Spirit constrained me, and I didn’t.

The post didn’t stay up very long (CENSORED!!) – so I’m hoping that the purposes of the Lord were met before my post was deleted along with all the comments. I’m guessing they thought that I was encouraging people to commit apostasy instead of encouraging them to go the source (God the Father) and ask for themselves – you, know, church policy? I don’t know why they thought my post needed to be censored like everything else nowadays. As far as I’m concerned, knowledge is power, and the more we can study and learn, the more we can pray about to find out what is true – especially through the guidance of the Spirit.

A young healthy father in his 30’s in my sister-in-law’s ward had a stroke a few days after he got the vaccine. He died alone on the floor in the church bathroom. Another church member found him. I don’t think his family thinks that this vaccine is “safe and effective” – no matter what some medical professionals and government officials say. And this man was probably just trying to follow the prophet. So to the analogies I got on my Facebook post that I needed to, like in Moses’ time, just have faith and look to the serpent staff and live, I say – THIS MAN DID THAT, and he did not live to tell about it. He had young children and a wife. He was in a leadership position in his ward. He was doing everything “right.”

There is no “one size fits all” with vaccines, or even with masks. There are thousands and thousands of vaccine injured children, and yet, if vaccines are so “safe and effective,” why does the United States of America still have one of the highest infant and child mortality rates? One of the highest rates of SIDS? Childhood cancer? Autism? At the rate autism diagnosis is increasing right now in the United States, they estimate 1 in every 2 children will be diagnosed with autism by the year 2030 – 50%! Why don’t you see the same mortality rates, childhood cancer and autism rates, in less developed countries that don’t give over 30 vaccines with chemicals and toxins in them that if we as parents spoon fed our children – would send us to prison? And contrary to popular belief, there has not been any long-term studies on childhood vaccines either – and the makers of the vaccines have been given immunity from providing restitution if you have an adverse reaction from them. Yes, I’ve learned a lot over the last year, just by letting the Spirit guide my research. I’m also no longer on the majority of my prescription medications, I’ve lost 40 pounds, I feel healthier and younger, and my brain fog, and mental health have improved immensely. Another testimony to me on how following the Spirit for our personal health choices can bless our lives physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Olivia Sandor was accepted into BYU Hawaii and was planning to attend this fall as a freshman. Her dreams were shattered in June when the university decided that the experimental vaccine would be mandated for all students this Fall (which violates the Nuremberg Code – including proper informed consent and the ability to choose if you participate in an experiment or not). Well Olivia had an adverse reaction to a flu vaccine as a teenager. She was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, Guillain Barre Syndrome (which is a very common adverse reaction to vaccines) and was paralyzed from the waist down. Through her faith, she believes she was miraculously healed after a long recovery. But her medical doctors told her that she should not get the experimental vaccine (or any other vaccine for that matter). If she did, it could end in severe permanent paralysis or even death if the disease spread to her heart. So she filled out a medical exemption form. And was denied. She and her family appealed that decision. And she was denied again. She is literally in the age group that is hardly affected by COVID – with a survivability rate of over 99% (similar to her flu survivability rate), yet a medical exemption (something the university had said was an option and easily accessible for those who needed it) was denied. So this young woman has to decide between a high possibility of severe paralysis or death and her college education? And when they scare everyone into believing that vaccine mandates are the only way we can all not die from a virus that has a 99.9% survivability rate by the majority of the population – is this young woman never going to be able to buy groceries for her family? Go to church? Travel to see her parents? Can you not see the insanity? Because she doesn’t want to take something that can kill her? Shouldn’t that be her choice and not the government’s? Or the church’s?

Again, there is no “one size fits all” with vaccines or masks. I know someone with a lung disease, and her medical professionals told her NOT to wear a mask during a respiratory virus pandemic. Why, you ask? Isn’t she more at risk? Because she is more likely to die from bacterial pneumonia from wearing a mask. You can’t force or mandate that everyone put something into their body or put something over their mouth and nose without knowing their individual circumstance. Can you not see how that is unethical? Saying that it is okay for a few hundred or a few thousand or even a million to be paralyzed or suffer neurological conditions or die from a stroke for the “greater good”?. What if your child or grandchild, spouse, or parent or grandparent is one that had to be “sacrificed” for the greater good? What if you were?

And now, can you see why praying and asking God Himself whether this vaccine is safe and right for you is an individual decision, with the advice of your medical professionals taken into consideration when you ask in prayer? And that the answer and the choice you make after receiving that answer shouldn’t be between anyone but you and the Lord? You can’t tell me it is “safe and effective” for EVERYONE, or that if you follow the prophet you won’t have an adverse reaction. I already know of one church member’s death after getting the vaccine – from a blood clot – which is public record that the vaccines can cause. But that doesn’t mean he is the only one. The media censors any information that is contrary to their narrative. People and their vaccine adverse reaction stories are being censored from social media and the mainstream media. I have been following several stories of vaccine injury from this experimental vaccine (from paralysis, Guillain Barre Syndrome, other auto immune disease, blindness, Bells Palsy, miscarriage, seizures, rashes, to even death). I choose to be informed and research what is going on around us. I choose to study the scriptures that tell us that in the last days the world will be polarized, love will wax cold, neighbor will turn against neighbor, that deceit and false prophets and false-christs will surround us, and that when the Savior returns He will clean his own house first (that means the church, which implies that there will be corruption in the church and possibly even in our church leaders). I choose not to live in that bubble that I used to think protected me, but was just encouraging my naivety and my inability to learn and act on truth. I don’t want to live my life in fear. I don’t want to lose all of my constitutional and God-given rights, because once they take them away, it will only be through a revolution that we get them back. Is that the world that we want to leave for our children? The Lord prepared this great free nation that we live in for a reason. He restored his church here – which has received great opposition since the beginning. All because a young boy named Joseph was willing to question things that his local church leaders were telling him. They didn’t sit well with him, so he took it to the source – God, and asked in faith what was true. And he received his answer.

And so can we.

1 comment:

  1. For some reason I am only just now seeing the blog post and I LOVE it - my feelings exactly. Thanks for speaking out. Nicely done and great research.

    ReplyDelete