Wednesday, January 8, 2025

July Jams

 We be Jammin' in July (I bet all of my kids are cringing right now).  July really started the kick-off to the madness of the rest of the year, but we'll get to that in a minute.  I, for reasons that we'll get to later, did not take very many pictures in July.  But for now, let us jump into the pictures I do have from July 2024.....


I've said it before, and I will say it again, the 4th of July is my all time favorite holiday.  I just LOVE the fireworks.  My little brother and his kids came into town and were able to participate in the 4th of July festivities.  They lived in Dubai for many years, and now live in Taiwan, so his kids have never been here for a 4th of July.  It was a special treat to have them with us.

Once a week, I do flood irrigation at my house.  

So, everyone came over to "help" me irrigate.

Instead we boogie boarded in the water.

It was a lot of fun, and everyone had a great time.

We also played in the mud, because that's what you do when you irrigate.

They didn't cover themselves from head to toe.  Isn't that like a requirement?  I'm sure I read about it somewhere.  I also know that somewhere my mom has photo evidence of me and my little brother covered from head to toe in mud.

Look at those muddy brown arms.  Mud is great!!  They say it's good for your skin.  People pay good money to go get covered in mud.  We did it for free.

Strange things were afoot in the skies of Layton.  One afternoon as I was laying out on the hammock on my beautiful private island, I looked up in the sky and saw two of these things.  They were odd because they just hung their in the air, spinning in circles.  They must have had some kind of metal surface because as they turned, it would reflect off of the sun, which is the only reason why I noticed them in the first place.  They hung out in the skies for quite a while, and when they did move, it was not like anything I had ever seen before, and then they just plain and simply disappeared into nowhere.  I did get a video of it, but again, my blog doesn't seem to like videos.  I was left wondering if I had just seen some alien spacecraft or something.

Meow-meow takes after his dad, he loves holding babies.  Any chance he can get to hold his little cousin, he takes it.

And that is all of the photos I have for July 2024 (don't worry, I won't forget Jimmy).  You may be thinking that there was nothing horrible that could have happened in the above photos, so why was July so bad?  

Well, let me tell you why, I do have to warn you, this is going to be long, so for those TLDR'rs out there, doctor over medicated me, almost killed me, and I had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack, aka: mini, mini stroke).  Before I delve into the full story, I need to give some background information.  In February 2022 I got Covid.  I did not have any congestion, fevers, cough, or any of the things they said Covid would be, oh no, what Covid did to me was to give me extremely high blood pressure and extremely fast heart rate.  After I got over Covid, I was left with high blood pressure, which seemed to increase every year.  In 2022, my blood pressure was consistently in the mid to high 130's.  In 2023 my blood pressure was consistently in the low to mid 140's, and then starting in 2024 my blood pressure decided it wanted to be in the mid 140's to low 150's.  I was tired, had no energy, and generally didn't feel well.  I was on a hormone therapy because I'm also in Menopause.  Well, in April, Nathan got to talking to the doctor he saw, and asked about testosterone therapy for women in Menopause.  This doctor said that women definitely need testosterone after Menopause.  So, I went in to see him and he took all sorts of blood tests and told me that my testosterone was only at 6 and that it needed to be up in the 100's, and he was the guy to fix all of my problems.  He even gave me this book to read about Menopause and testosterone therapy for women.  I think I've since thrown it away, but the book made it sound like this was the "magic elixir" that would give me energy and make my life great.  This doctor also diagnosed me with CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) and put me on some medications for that.  Then he said that my thyroid was too low.  My thyroid was on the low end of normal, but he wanted it higher than that, so he put me on a thyroid medication.  As for the testosterone treatment, he put a pellet into my behind that was a combination of testosterone and estriadol and then had me keep taking the progesterone orally.  I got the first testosterone/estriadol pellet inserted in, I believe April.  Did it give me the energy and drive that was promised?  Nope, it made me feel worse and gave me some anxiety....I'm not generally prone to anxiety.  When the doctor put the pellet in, my blood pressure was around 145.  Over the next couple of months, things just kept getting worse and my body was doing weird things.  So, testosterone causes high blood pressure, estriadol and progesterone cause high blood pressure, and being on a thyroid medication when you don't need to be causes high blood pressure.  Well, when this doctor changed up my hormones, I started to bleed again and it wouldn't stop.  His solution was to have me increase the amount of progesterone.  It did make the bleeding stop, but I was taking way too high of a dose of progesterone.  The doctor said that on my July 15th appointment, he would change up my dosages by giving me more testosterone and less estriadol.  On July 11th is when everything came to a head.  I woke up not feeling well.  Something just felt off.  I checked my blood pressure like I'm supposed to do every morning and it was 145.  So, I just pushed through, because that's what I do, and went outside to pick Boysenberries.  Now, it was early in the morning and well before the heat of the day and I was in the shade and sitting down because standing up made things worse.  I only stood up if there were some Boysenberries I couldn't pick from the sitting position.  As I was picking, I kept feeling worse and worse.  It's very hard to describe what I was feeling, but it felt like my heart was a balloon and someone was blowing into it, and that at any moment it was going to pop.  I also felt a bit dizzy and disorientated.  I knew something was wrong, and so I quickly finished picking Boysenberries and went inside to check my blood pressure and found that it was at 165.  I immediately laid down to rest.  After I had rested for a bit, I started to feel better and so I checked my blood pressure again and it had gone back down to the 140's (now before anybody freaks out at me, because plenty of doctors have when I've told them this story, I DO NOT CONSTANTLY CHECK MY BLOOD PRESSURE!! Usually I'm lucky if I can remember to even check it once a day, let alone twice a day like my doctor wants me to.  I felt off, knew something was off, and was MONITORING my blood pressure).  Sorry about that rant, if you can't tell, it's a source of irritation for me because I'm sick and tired of doctors thinking I'm some crazy, anxiety ridden, female, who is obsessed with checking my blood pressure, and telling me that IT is the reason why my blood pressure is high because I keep "obsessively" checking it, and that's why I'm having "panic attacks" that make me think I'm having a stroke or something (yes I had a doctor tell me that, and then he followed up by stating "because I'm on Buspirone."  I'll get to that in a minute as well).  Anyway, I checked my blood pressure and it had gone back down to the 140's and I was feeling better.  So, I went back outside because the yard work isn't going to yard work itself and I had some weeds that needed pulling on my private island.  Again, this is still in the morning, well before the heat of the day (I'm emphasizing that because doctors also suggested that my problem was due to me being in the heat and couldn't POSSIBLY have been anything life threatening in any way, shape, or form).  I was also in the shade AND sitting down.  I had plenty of water, was wearing sunblock, and had a hat on.  So, there I was, sitting in the shade, in the morning, before the heat of the day, with my water, wearing my sunblock, and with my hat on, weeding my island, when I started to not feel well again.  It was the same thing that I felt when I had been picking Boysenberries.  I pushed through it because I had no idea what was going on.  Again it felt like someone was blowing my heart up, I felt dizzy and disorientated, and then my right arm, hand, and fingers stopped working.  Simple weeds that I should have been able to pull, I couldn't.  I couldn't hardly make the right side of my body work.  I expect that of my left side, but my right side is my good side, and now it wouldn't work.  Did I panic? No, I did not, I stubbornly pushed on trying to force myself to finish weeding the silly island.  Eventually I realized that I needed to stop and go in the house.  I went back in and re-checked my blood pressure only to find that it was back up into the high 160's.  It was at that point I decided that I needed to be done with yardwork for the day and I laid down.  Now, later in the afternoon on that particular day, I had a doctor appointment with the aforementioned doctor who put me on all the new crazy medications.  This appointment was for my "CIRS."  So, I laid down and relaxed until it was time to leave for that doctor appointment.  I could tell that by laying down, my blood pressure went back down to the 140's.  In the meantime, Meow-meow was off at Cowabunga Bay with his cousins and needed picked up because he had Taekwondo later in the afternoon.  The plan was that Nathan would drive down to pick him up and then meet me at my doctor appointment (this is important for later).  When I got up to get ready to go to my appointment, it didn't take long for my blood pressure to spike back up into the 160's.  The concerning thing was that my vision was now blurry on top of everything else.  It wasn't so blurry that I couldn't see, but the edges of things were very blurry and if I had my glasses on, it only magnified it.  I live in Layton and my doctor appointment was in Bountiful, and somehow I managed to get to the appointment.  My vision wasn't so blurry that I couldn't see to drive, it was more just annoying than anything else.  But, on the drive, the same symptoms from earlier in the day started coming back.  By the time I arrived at the doctor's office, I was feeling very sick.  I felt extremely shaky and it was kind of difficult to walk and I'm sure I looked like I was drunk or something.  I'm not sure how I got into the doctor's office but when Nathan arrived, he was very concerned at how I looked and was acting.  I was also experiencing waves of anxiety and panic at this point which came completely out of nowhere and would leave just as quickly as they came and my body was shaking as if it had gone into shock or something, plus I was just pain confused and disorientated, and pretty much had no clue what was going on for most of the time.  There were a couple of times during the day, and even during that appointment that I was sure that I was going to just plain keel over dead and was a bit surprised that I hadn't yet.  After the nurse brought me into the doctor's office, she took my blood pressure as you do when you have a doctor appointment.  I didn't see the numbers because she had the machine pointing away from me, but what she said next shocked me on several levels.  She said, in the most casual and unconcerned voice, "hmm, your blood pressure is a little bit high today."  A little bit is like in the 130's, possibly low 140's.  When you have high blood pressure for long enough, you know when you get high blood pressure, you can pretty much tell where your blood pressure is at, and I knew that my blood pressure wasn't just a "little bit" high.  I not only could feel it, but when I left my house it was in the 160's and that is NOT a "little bit" high, that's a lot of bit high.  So, me, being the curious person, asked just what she meant by "little bit" high.  To which she told me that my blood pressure was at 182!!  I was shocked to hear that and I expected her to immediately go get the doctor, or tell me to get to the ER, I did not expect her to gather her things like everything was normal and walk out the door telling me that the doctor would be with me in just a minute.  Yet, that's exactly what she did, she gathered her things, said the doctor would be with me in a minute, and walked out the door like nothing concerning was going on at all, and mind you, previous to her taking my blood pressure, I had answered all of the usual questions about how I was doing and feeling, and I had already explained to her what had been going on that day and how I was feeling at that exact moment, and Nathan said that I looked like I was actually on death's door, so I'm sure I didn't look well.  I don't know how long it took for the doctor to come in, but he came in just as unconcerned as the nurse had been.  He asked me how I was feeling, and I let him know exactly how I was feeling.  Meanwhile, my speech became slower and more labored because I was having trouble making my brain work.  Half the time I didn't know what the heck was going on.  I do remember Nathan asking the doctor if we should take me to the ER or not.  The answer is yes, by the way, yes I should have been going to the ER at that point.  But that is not what the doctor said.  He hemmed, hawed, shrugged his shoulders and said, "well................................if her symptoms get worse..........................................then you should take her to the ER."  That was it, despite me telling him about the symptoms I had throughout the day, the symptoms I was experiencing during the appointment, and the fact that my blood pressure was over 180!!  Every doctor since that I've told that story to has flipped out at the fact that I was not immediately taken to the ER.  But, you are supposed to trust your doctors, right?!?!  They went to school and learned all the things, right?!?  So, he said I didn't need to go to the ER and we needed to wait until symptoms got worse, so we didn't go to the ER.  The next thing I remember is the discussion about how to get home because we had two cars!!  I came in one, and remember, Nathan had picked up Henry?  The doctor asked me if I felt like I could drive home, I wasn't sure if I could or not, but felt that I possibly could, because we had two cars there and how in the heck were we supposed to get the other one home?  So it seemed to me that I had to drive the other car home, we couldn't possibly leave it behind and come retrieve it at another point in time.  Yeah, my brain wasn't braining at the time, yet the doctor was unconcerned and went right along with it all and let me FREAKING DRIVE HOME!! Because yeah, it's reasonable to think that I could make any kind or rational decision at that point in time, (I'm rolling my eyes right now, by the way and you should be reading most of this in a sarcastic tone).  He told me to not take the freeway, but to drive back-roads home, and then asked me if I knew how to get home.  Well, in reality, the answer to that question is yes, yes I do know how to get home via back-roads as I've driven them many, many times.  But in that moment, I didn't have a clue how to get home, heck, at that point if he'd asked me what my name was, I'm not sure I could have told him.  That was a very scary moment to not have any idea how to get home via a route that you KNOW you KNOW.  I'm not sure how long I sat there struggling, but eventually it came to me and I knew how to get home, and so I answered that I knew how to get home.  And you know what?!?!  That silly doctor let me walk out of that office and get behind the wheel of a car to try and drive myself home!!  Nathan had to help me to the car because I was having a hard time walking.  But I got in the car, turned it on, backed out of the stall, and proceeded to drive out of the parking lot.  When I got to the road, my brain froze again, and I had no clue where I was, who I was, nor which way I was supposed to go.  I panicked, naturally.  I'd like to see someone not panic in that situation.  I strained my brain harder than I've ever strained it before, and luckily the pathway home came back to me and I was able to get on the road, heading in the right direction.  I got about halfway home when I suddenly became very dizzy, so dizzy that I couldn't drive and I managed to pull over to the side of the road where I sat until the dizziness passed.  I have no idea how long that took, but when the dizziness passed, I felt better and the blurriness in my vision also cleared up and I was able to get home without any problems.  When I got home, I rechecked my blood pressure and found that it was back in the 140's and so we did not make a trip to the ER.  One of the things that did happen during that doctor appointment was that Nathan convinced the doctor to order a brain MRI.  July 11th, when all of that happened was a Thursday.  I woke up on Friday, July 12th feeling "normal."  My blood pressure was higher than normal, it was at 153, but I felt good enough to go do my temple shift.  The Layton Temple was dedicated mid June and my temple shift is the Friday 02 shift, which is from 9:45 am to 2:30 pm.  Nathan and I decided that he would drop me off in the morning, and then as soon as my shift ended, he would meet me at the temple and we would go do either Initiatory, Endowment, or Sealings before going home for the day.  Well, while I was at the temple, Nathan was busy calling around to find anyone who could get me in for the MRI, and he found one clear down in American Fork.  So, he had to call the temple so they could notify me that we would not be doing a session and that as soon as my shift ended I needed to change quickly because we had to get down to American Fork.  Well, the MRI showed that nothing was wrong with my brain.  I woke up on the morning of Saturday the 13th feeling the exact same as I had on the 11th.  My blood pressure was following some of the same trends as it had on the 11th, but it was a Saturday which meant the yard needed mowing in preparation for irrigating later in the day.  So, again, not in the heat of the day, I went out to mow the yard.  I know what you are thinking, I went out to mow the yard, which means I broke out the push mower and mowed the yard, like normal people do.  Well, I am not normal people, I don't have a normal people sized yard, I live on an acre.  There ain't now way I'm breaking out a push mower to mow an acre!!  I have a lovely, and comfortable riding mower, his name is Choppy and he does all the work for me, I just direct.  Just so we are all on the same page, I was out in not the heat of the day, sitting comfortably on Choppy, hat on, sunblocked up, and hydrated with my water bottle....not very high up on the heat stroke, sun stroke, or heat sickness index scale.  I think we can safely rule that out.  I don't remember if I finished mowing the yard or not, but at one point I realized that I needed to be done, and needed to lay down, so I came in the house.  I went downstairs for something and my right leg went completely numb.  Nathan immediately called 911.  When the paramedics arrived, I was laying down and my blood pressure was in the 130's.  The EKG was normal and the stroke assessment was fine, meaning I wasn't slurring my speech and I could repeat back the things they told me......I just did it very, very, very, very, very, very slowly and softly, which is not normal for me and if you know me, you know that I can talk FAST and usually do, especially if I am excited, and my volume control only gets higher the more excited I get.  So, they took me to the ER.  From the walk from my bedroom down to the stretcher out in the front yard, my blood pressure went from 130 to the high 170's, and I'm pretty sure that's not something your blood pressure should be doing.  Also, I was not having any kind of panic or anxiety at that time, so that's not what was causing things to go wrong, besides the fact that I highly doubt a panic attack could make your blood pressure go that high that fast, but I don't know because I don't have a panic or anxiety disorder (yes I keep harping on that because I am so FREAKING irritated at all the doctors who kept throwing that in my face despite all of the medications I was on, and yes they could see my medication list, and was aware of my history of long Covid).  At the ER they did blood work, a CT scan, and a urine test and it all came back clean, nothing wrong.  They said it was probably some heat stress because I had been out mowing the yard, blah, blah, blah.  Except for the fact that I did the mowing early in the morning, on Choppy, while it was still shady because the sun hadn't even cleared the mountains, and had come inside LONG before it hit the heat of the day.  As a matter of fact, I was in the ER when it was the heat of the day, but the diagnosis was heat stress or some crap like that.  Sunday the 14th we had a family party.  I woke up feeling okay, not great, but okay, I went to church, and started to not feel so hot by the end of it.  We went to the family party and I felt terrible.  Thank goodness I have a brother-in-law who is a doctor because he actually took the time to listen.  He checked my blood pressure and it was in the high 160's and climbing.  So, he looked over my medical history and the MEDICATIONS I was on and was upset when he saw the results of my blood work and realized that my T4 levels were way too high, and that I was on a thyroid medication when I had no business being on one, and when he found out that the doctor had me on 400 mg of progesterone, and when he found out that the very next day, the 15th of July, I was scheduled to go back into said doctor for my second round of testosterone treatment where he would be giving me MORE testosterone.  My brother-in-law said, "if you were a patient that came into my office, I would do....." To which we replied "when can we come into your office?"  And that is how my brother-in-law became my primary care physician and saved my life.  When I told him the story I have explained above, he was the one who gave me an answer as to what happened.  He said what I had experienced was called a TIA or Transient Ischemic Attack, or in lay terms, a mini, mini stroke.  TIA's don't generally leave damage that can be detected by MRI, CT scan, or blood work, which is why I hadn't had any answers with all of the tests I had.  I was in his office bright and early the next morning where he put me on some proper blood pressure medications and took me off of all the medications the other doctor put me on.  I still wasn't all the way better, but things were looking good. It took time to get my blood pressure back down to reasonable levels, but things were finally on the mend.  The next weekend however, I wasn't feeling so well and Nathan made me go to the ER, and that is where I learned that Buspirone is NOT a blood pressure medication (remember earlier when I mentioned that a doctor told me that it was nothing but anxiety and panic because I'm on Buspirone?  Yeah, that's where we get to this part of the story).  Let me tell you something, when you have chronic illnesses and chronic pain, you KNOW when something is wrong.  Back in 2004, after my first back surgery, I knew that it hadn't healed right, yet doctors kept telling me I was wrong and the pain would eventually go away.  I complained enough that they finally did a CT scan and found out that I was RIGHT and THEY were WRONG!  Yeah, I know my body, and I know when something isn't right and that Saturday morning, something wasn't right.  But the doctor in the ER told me that there is nothing wrong with me, all the tests came back fine, and this is despite me telling him everything that I've explained here.  That's when he told me that I had anxiety because I was on Buspirone and that I needed to stop obsessively checking my blood pressure!!  Excuse me?!?!  I was told by my primary care to check my blood pressure twice per day and was struggling to even remember to check it ONCE per day, let alone TWICE!!  The ONLY day I had EVER checked my blood pressure more than once WAS July 11th!!  And this guy tells me that I need to stop obsessively checking my blood pressure??  And that all that is wrong with me is anxiety and panic because I'm on Buspirone?!?  So, when I got home, I looked up what Buspirone was and that is when I found out that it is an anxiety medication.  It is ONLY an anxiety medication.  It is NOT a blood pressure medication and it is NOT used as a blood pressure medication.  So, the ER doctor assumed that I had an anxiety and panic disorder because "obviously some doctor put me on Buspirone to help calm the effects of said anxiety and panic disorder." (You should read that last sentence with extreme sarcasm).  So, how did I come to be on Buspirone when I DO NOT have a panic or anxiety disorder?  I'm glad you asked that question.  Do you remember clear back at the beginning of this long story I told you about how Covid kicked all of this off?  Well, throughout the year of 2023, every time I would go see a doctor, they would take my blood pressure, as they do, and every time I would get told, "your blood pressure is a little high."  To which I would ask, "what is it at?"  And usually I would be told that it was in the mid 130's.  Well, this was puzzling to me because previous to getting Covid, I ALWAYS had PERFECT blood pressure.  I know because every time I had a doctor appointment, they would always comment on how perfect my blood pressure was, and would wish they could have blood pressure as perfect as mine.  So, when you've had perfect blood pressure and constantly get compliments on it from doctors, you NOTICE when they start saying it's high.  After several different doctor appointments throughout the year, and being told my blood pressure was high, I decided that it was probably a good time to see my primary care doctor for a chat about it.  At this point, I didn't even own a blood pressure cuff at my house.  Well, at that visit, I explained to this doctor my bout with Covid, what it did to my blood pressure and heart rate while I had Covid, and that every doctor appointment I've had since, my blood pressure has been high, and I have concerns that Covid may have done some long term damage that I would like to get figured out, and that I'd like to get my blood pressure under control.  Ya wanna guess what medication she put me on??  If you guessed Buspirone, you would be correct.  There was no conversation about anxiety, not once did the topic of anxiety or panic come up in that conversation.  I was concerned that my blood pressure is now high, and concerned about the possibility that Covid did some damage, and I wanted to figure it all out.  I wasn't panicked when I talked to her nor was I anxious when I talked to her, I was very calm, cool, and collected.  I was there to present facts as I knew them, and to work with her on figuring things out and making a plan for proper health care, I don't think that is such an unreasonable thing.  Now, in her defense, I was on Cymbalta at the time, which is a drug most commonly used for depression, however it is also used for FYBROMYALGIA which I DO have as well as a Brachial Plexus Stretch Injury that I received when, during a 16 hour surgery, they freaking placed me on the operating room table wrong!! Nerve damage is not fun by the way, it really sucks.  So, I was on the Cymbalta for Fibromyalgia, not depression there's a big difference between the two, and it's not like this was a new doctor, I had been seeing her for years, she knew all about all my "fun and fabulous" health history.  She knew I had Fibromyalgia as well as nerve damage from the Brachial Plexus Stretch Injury, and she also knew that the reason I was on Cymbalta was because the Lyrica and Gabapentin didn't work. Lyrica and Gabapentin are the other drugs they use for nerve pain.  But my being on Cymbalta is the only logical thing I can come up with as to why she put me on Buspirone.  Why she didn't tell me what Buspirone was and her logic to putting me on it remains a mystery.  The part that angers me is that I was put on an anxiety medication without my consent and without it being explained to me what the medication actually was.  No wonder my blood pressure never got better and only got worse.  By the end of 2022, I had a couple of episodes where my blood pressure got up in the high 170's and a trip to the ER where they gave me a heart monitor for a week that showed some odd things, and that's when that doctor finally decided to put me on an actual blood pressure medication.  Then, later, my rheumatologist took pity on me and put me on another blood pressure medication, but only a small dose of it.  So, for the entirety of 2023 and all of 2024 up the incident in July, whenever a doctor would ask me what blood pressure medications I was on, I would tell them, "Buspirone, Metoprolol, and Amoldipine," and no one corrected me!!  If you haven't noticed, I'm a wee bit upset about all of this.  After that bout in the ER, Nathan has found it more and more difficult to get me to go to the ER for ANYTHING.  I don't trust them.  I've had several times since where I've had signs and symptoms of a heart attack only to be told there is not a single thing wrong with me and it's probably anxiety. I. DO. NOT. HAVE. AN. ANXIETY. OR. PANIC. DISORDER!!  And the next doctor that tells me that I do, will wish they hadn't because I will lose my temper with them.   Now, I do have to admit that during the period of time I was on the testosterone therapy (April 2024 to beginning of July 2024), I did have a LITTLE bit of anxiety, which can be normal with testosterone therapy, but nothing to warrant the kind of treatment I got, and let me tell you, once you've had a stroke and your blood pressure gets up around the 180's, you get anxiety whether you want it or not, it comes with the territory.  Now that I no longer have testosterone in my system and my blood pressure is now managed and down to normal, human levels, I DO NOT have anxiety or panic in any way, shape, or form.  I'm just really irritated at the medical system that doesn't take women's health seriously and likes to say we are just anxiety ridden, hysterical females.  But enough of my ranting.  From July 2024 and on has been a wee bit of a struggle.  I have noticed some effects from the TIA.  My memory isn't what it used to be, and quite often I struggle to find words that should easily come to me and that I know, and I get brain fog easier.  I still have zero answers as to what Covid did to me, but from what I'm learning, no one really knows much about long Covid and its effects.  All tests I've had done, and I've had plenty of them, show that there is nothing wrong with my brain or heart, I don't have high cholesterol, but yet I have high blood pressure, so who knows.  I'm just thankful that I'm on the right medications now, that my blood pressure is normal, and I have a primary care doctor who actually cares about my well being and health, and takes me seriously when I say something is wrong, and goes to great lengths to try and figure it out.  So, if you are in need of an excellent doctor, go see Stephen Merrell at the Tanner Clinic in Farmington.  He's the best.  

Since my TIA, I have had two very powerful realizations.  The first is that as scary and terrible as my TIA was, it actually saved my life.  If I had not had that TIA on July 11th, I would have gone to my appointment on the 15th where I would have received an even higher dose of testosterone that WOULD have killed me.  It's a surreal thing to think about.  There could have been a real possibility that I may not have been here to even be typing this blog post today.  The second powerful realization is how lucky I am to have a doctor as a brother-in-law who is a good doctor and cares for all of his patients, and takes the time to listen to them, and then do anything and everything to figure it out.  I am also alive today because of him, and I am very grateful for that.  I am so very grateful that I am able to sit here at my computer on this lovely but bitter cold day in January 2025 because I almost wasn't.  It makes you look at life differently, and makes you appreciate it all the more.  Although I will never, EVER like winter, and I will still always hate January!!  But I can be thankful that I am still able to be here to hate winter and January!!  It's the small things, right?!?! 

After my TIA, we had a bunch of ward members come over and helped to do some needed yard work.  I am so grateful for them and their service.  Sadly, I was not feeling well enough to take pictures of it.

Okay, enough of that!! Let's move onto something more happy, bright, and uplifting, shall we?  We still have to find out what Jimmy, or I should say, Elder Davis has been doing.

He got his cast off!!  Still gives me goose bumps to think of that tender mercy and miracle.












Exciting news, we got four emails from Jimmy in the month of July!!  But before I post those, I somehow missed an email from June, so I will post that one first and then we can get into the emails from July.

The one from June is from June 25th.  The one I posted yesterday that said from June 25th was actually from June 18th.  The June 25th email was somehow down at the end of the one from the 18th and apparently I just didn't scroll down far enough, and now I wonder how many other emails I've missed.  I may have to go back and check.  So, fair warning, I may have to post some older emails, that is if I find any.  Enough rambling, here is the actual email from June 25th

How's it going everyone. I'm trying to work on my weekly emails a bit better. First of all, making them weekly. And secondly, making it correctly worded. So, let's get into it. We had a pretty cool week, just doing missionary work. The cast on my arm is barely an inconvenience. The worst part might be the trashbag in the shower taped to my arm. Other than that, I've just been doing the glorious work of God. Had a fun exchange with Elder fairwell, who goes home in a couple of weeks. We had a member come out with us and then take us to his house for lunch. While we were eating corndogs, their son said the dog caught a baby bird. Turns out a baby bird fell out of its nest, and their dog brought it inside. So that was cool. Dont know what they did with it. It seems every time i bring up the fact that i'm in a four Elder apartment. It's fun. The other Elders are in a YSA ward. So they are in a different zone than us. They had a trio exchange where the district leader came over. And he is also about to go home. But he taught us how to take 100 feet of rope and a wrench, and you can make a pretty fine whip. So we made a whip, and now our arms are sore from whipping it around. I managed how to figure it out and whip it while it spinning in the air. So that's some fun stuff. Had really good weeks tons of fun and miracles. It was chillin in the 90s for half the week until it hit 108, and then it hit 113 yesterday. We tried the technique of no AC in the car. It felt horrible until we stepped outside, and then it felt like 80 degrees for 10 minutes. Other than that, it's been a good week. Wish you all the best. Love you all. Luv ya bye.


I love the scripture john 14:26-27 "26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid"

It beautifully tells us what the holy ghost is and what it gives us. It also tells us how we get it. 

D&C 100:8-7 "But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things. 
8 And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say."

It is through his holy name. Jesus christ. That the holy ghost is given. Its when we act in his name, that is called the priesthood, which we have! When we testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. When we close our solemn prayers in our saviors name, Jesus Christ. When we command in the name of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God Cannot be constrained. It will shed a light so strong it cant be put out. It will peirce the soul and testify to us that we are the children of God. It will (teach you all thing)

Embrace in Jesus who is The Christ, the Redeemer. Embrace His priesthood which He gives to us. Love Him.

I love you all and pray that His Holy name can be upon you all. And i say these things in the name of the one who bares our pains on his hands and feet. Jesus Christ, Amen

And now for the July emails:

The first one is from July 2nd

How's it going everyone? It has been a great week. I am officially in the Nevada Las Vegas East Mission now. My new mission President is President McFarland. Boy am I excited and I am ready to enter this experience. This wonderful, joyfully fight against sin. First thing I did this week was get my cast off. Which is sweet now I can drive, ride a bike, and baptize so that is an upgrade. Our friend skye has found the great gospel of jesus christ and he is ready to use the gift of the Holy Ghost in his life. Had a miricle happen as well. When I fractured my wrist i was permitted to leave the mission to go get it Checked out. Most of the Doctor's and nurses were members there. But the guy working the x ray machine wasn't a member. He seemed cool and one of the other nurses made a joke about me finding this guy in the Doctor's office. Eventually I got my cast and left. Later that week we had an exchange, and the exchange was then delayed a day because our district leader wanted it to be a full day exchange. Me and the elder I was on an exchange with Unknowingly went to his house to do some quick service for him. He opened the door and I couldn't placd my finger on who he was. Eventually he recognized me via my cast. Later I saw him at the office again getting my cast off. Later my district leader gave us a call. He said that we hadn't had an exchange yet together. So we had a surprise exchange come up. And Lo and behold on the exchange we taught this man. It's crazy to see the way God works. I love you all, that's pretty much it sorry about the late send for some reason it didn't send, womp womp 

I love 2 nephi 27:23 '23

 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith."

God works many marvelous miricles around us daily. Sometimes we just haven't opened our eyes enough to see them. The amount of good that is worked in our lives is insane. And the beautiful thing Is that which is good is of God.

I personal have seen His miricles, I have seen His grace, His glory. He knows me and allowed me to fracture my wrist to humble me and to find this man who I eventually taught. I know there are no such things as coincidences. The chance of you being you is 100% for that is the plan God has for us. 

I love God And His Beloved son Jesus Christ. The one who suffers our pains with us that we may become heir to the kingdom of God (romans 8:16-17)
May we dwell together in His Holy presence. In the name of the Messiah, Jesus christ, amen

The second one is from July 8th
It was a good week. Pushed through the heat. It started at a "cool" 108-111 degrees. But the last two days it jumped up to 116 and even 119 is what my car was saying. At that point, when you get a "cool" breeze, it's more like a blow dryer in your face. Thankful the Lord gives us much strength to endure such heat. At least it's a dry heat. As for my week. We had some fun stuff go down. Met my new mission leaders. They're pretty cool, originally from Oregon, but they moved to Utah for school and have since then stayed there. Of course, I had an amazing 4th of July. In Utah, you usually go to a place to watch fireworks, like a park where the city holds a show. Well, boy, is it different here. The strip, of course, holds a show. But everyone else gets their own, and they get enough for themselves, their dog. and their mother-in-law. We went up the hill to see the sky line, and at first, it was a couple of fireworks going off. Eventually, it was pretty much every second. When we ended up driving home, there was so much smoke that the roads looked foggy. And there was not a second where you couldn't hear multiple fireworks. Near the end of the night, it was literally a fire ground. Explosions everywhere around you and no stop. A lot of the people who live in Las Vegas are Hispanic. And they do indeed love fireworks. Other than the fourth, I had a good week. Taught two Elders in my apartment how to solve a rubix cube. Still have a car, but we are trying to involve bikes more. We are teaching a guy who believes a lot about aliens and the grim reaper. He's cool. Pretty much it. As of transfer news. We are both staying, and sadly, we might be moving apartments. I don't know where, but somewhere, who knows, we might just stay. Also transfers are on Tuesday now, which is why my email is today on Monday.
Love you all and wish you all the best. Luv ya bye

Now, as I have found out this week, all the missionary lessons are extremely important. They work with each other, and they all testify of Christ. Today, I would like to talk more about the Plan of Salvation. From what I have seen, we mostly teach people the Restoration. Which talks about how God's church was and how it came to be. It introduces some major doctrinal pieces the Church of Gods' needs. Such as prophets and apostles. We also teach a lot about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Which is the good news that was brought by the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The whole lesson revolves around our purpose as missionaries which is to "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end"

Now, those two lessons are important and the same as becoming a lifelong decieple of Jesus Christ. But without the Plan of Salvation, the whole circle of success doesn't pass. 

Funny enough, the quote of the day on the gospel library is from Elder Kearons' talk
"Our Father’s beautiful plan, even His “fabulous” plan, is designed to bring you home, not to keep you out."

-Elder Patrick Kearon

It is crucial that we teach this lesson. We are teaching this really cool guy named Benjamin. We found him by focusing on temples and keeping his eyes set on the temple. When we do that, it brings peace to the mind, and it shows them that baptism is not the end but is just a gate on this beautiful path to bring us home. After we taught about temples, we taught him the gospel of jesus christ, which he mostly understood. We later taught the restoration, and it seemed like he had hit a road block in his teaching. We almost felt like he would drop us that very same lesson. We left him with a prayer and considered what to do. Eventually, we decided to continue teaching him about the Plan of Salvation. Thankfully, when we taught him about this beautiful plan. The spirit gave him peace, and he said to us that he eventually wanted to make it to the temple so he and his loved ones could be sealed. It removed his road block in his teachings. He even accepted a Book of Mormon because of it.

I am truly grateful for the plan of salvation. And how it brings peace and will remove roadblocks. I say these things, in the name of my master, Jesus Christ, amen.

The third one is from July 16th

Good Tuesday to you all. Hope you all are doing well. I am glad to be able to write to you. As the title says, this week was a little hard. Nothing too crazy has happened. When I still count my blessings, I realize the nothingness I went through. But definitely some unfortunate experience. To start, it was a long week, which is understandable since last week was a short week. But it all started when we got our transfer news. We were excited to hear that we are both staying. We also were excited to hear the other elders who lived in our apartment are also staying. But the news hit us the day later when we found out they were moving out. It was sad, but I am amazed at all the great memories I gained in that apartment. It was probably the least contentious apartment I've had. And the friends I made along the way are great. Our zone lord's, texted us and even said to us inperson at our pday activity that we would be staying in the same apartment. It was a nice apartment, and It needed some cleaning up from the last transfer, but it was good. When we finally got home from all our pday stuff. They texted us that we are actually moving. I was ok with moving, a little unhappy that they told us so late in the day because we already bought groceries and it gave us less time to pack. Nevertheless, we packed up, and we're ready for transfers. The next day, we went to the chapel and picked up the new missionary. This is where we started to see the difference in missions. The west missionaries started to mix with the east and started to blend. They are interesting critters. Funny people just have different mission standards. Anyways, we had to drive up to north Las Vegas and then even further up north because they didn't have a bike rack to go to his old apartment to get the bike. A member gave us free food at a gas station, though, so we already saw the blessings from that. They needed to go shopping and we also needed a few things. At that point, we missed a lesson because we were driving. The fellowship who we set up yelled at us for not confirming the appointment and that weren't able to make it cause things happened. It was a little frustrating cause there was nothing in our power we could do other than say we are sorry for canceling. After all that. We finally were able to start moving. We get about half our stuff and move to the apartment. We didn't know which spot was our parking spot, but we found one. We grabbed stuff and walked around 2 buildings before we found our apartment. It was upstairs, which is something I always wanted so that was pleasing. However, we unlock the apartment and get hit with a wave of hot air. We walk in. Nothing. No beds, desks, chairs, pots, pans, shower curtain. We were expecting a new apartment but we weren't expecting nothing. It was quite the slap in the face. Not as bad as the slap in the face with hit air in our face. The ac wasnt working Keep in mind it was 115 outside and outside was cooler than inside. The office was already closed, and we didn't know what to do except endure. So we transferred the rest of our stuff. Told the zone leaders there was nothing. And a blessing was given to us. We were able to help our neighbors also move. They seem really cool, and we were able to refer them over to the missionaries that cover their area. Luckily, our last apartment was a 4 man and was now a 2 man. So we took enough stuff to last. Now came the night of sleep. In normal places of the world. Night time cools down. In Las Vegas, it also cools down. To a nice cool 108, and then eventually a chilly 102. By the morning, it drops to about 96. Before it starts to heat back up. And without ac blowing out, we had a rough night. I pretty much slept for about 2 hours and woke up sweating. Drank some water. I ate some salt and slept for 2 more hours until it was morning. The floor was warm to the touch. And boy, were the cold showers nice. We got the ac fixed the next day, and it was about 80 degrees the next night, which was much better. From there, we were able to get some things from the mission office. And now we only need barley anything else. After that, the week kind relaxed on by. We had 2 district councils since they were moved to Monday now. Taught an English class to Spanish people. That was difficult due to us not knowing Spanish well. Ran into a basher. He was nice until he wasn't. He loves the Bible but doesn't love it enough to not be contentious. his TV was playing some crazy news. At church, we had this guy come who we didn't expect to come, which was great. Got like 3 aggressive drivings for speeding up on a hill. So that was nice tiwi. Other than that. Had a good week. Lots of peace and blessings met great people. Enjoyed the gospel. Quite lovely. Hope you all had a great week. I sure did. Love you all very much. Luv ya bye.

Now, as much as I had to endure. My companion helped me realize that there is opposition in ALL things. 

2 Nephi 2: 11-12
 "11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. 12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God."

No matter the pain, no matter the trail. It doesn't matter how hard it gets. The opposition is there. It will come. And it will be amazing. And it's a key part of God's plan. 

"25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy"

We will receive joy. God's plan of happiness gives us happiness. It's just that we got to go through something uncomfortable first. My parents are great examples of this. Trail after trial. They still endure. They still push through. The opposition is coming and will come. So, no matter how many heat records Las Vegas breaks, this work will continue. Blessed be the name of the Most High God. 

Alma 26:12 "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

I love my God, and his plan for me, and for everyone. May God bless you all. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

And the fourth one is from July 23rd

Might be a little quick one here. Not much is new. Teaching a guy named Joe who has an underground boat in his back yard and lots more. Believes in some crazy stuff. It's been hot. Fun stuff. Had a fun exchange with elser Swenson. Saw a ton of cats in a bush. Did missionary work. It was jolly. Love you all. Hope everything is going well. Luv ya bye.

It's a crazy world, and something I like to tell people is that we bring a message from Jesus Christ that brings a lot of hope. And in reality hope is just faith as we know from alma 32:21

"And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

But what do we have to hope for. A lot of people don't know why we should have hope. Luckily, we have the scriptures to tell us Moroni 7:41

"41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise."

This is the thing we hope for. The Atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God. And His resurrection! So when life gets tough and you think all hopes are lost. Remember, remember, Jesus Christ did die for us. He suffered for you. Now that right, there is something we can hope on. And with faith, we can start moving a long through the gospel of Jesus Christ. To better paths. 
In the name of Jesus christ, and with hope. Amen
With great love, Elder Davis

Well, this may not have been a long photo dump blog post, but it sure was a long reading blog post.  But here we are, finally at the end of July 2024.  I hope I didn't overload you all with too much information. But I needed to get it out of my system, plus life isn't all about rainbows and roses.  I can post all the pictures of the good times we've had, but that doesn't give such a realistic look into what really goes on behind the scenes.  From here on out, things get more stressful for the Davis family.  Some of the things I can talk about, but some of them I can't because they are about other members of the family and that is their story to tell.  If they give me permission to share, I will, but if they don't I will respect their wishes.  But despite the stressful things, there will be the funny and the silly pictures of the good things that happened in our lives.  So, until tomorrow............