I served my mission in Florianopolis Brazil, and after about a year I was in a little town called Irani. One morning we got ready for our usual routine, rice with molasses, work, lunch, work harder, dinner. But that morning I had a cramp in my stomach. I tried to think of what I might have eaten, but we had been in a poor area of town, and who knows what it could have been. I worked anyway, with a painful stomach. My companion suggested I could see a doctor.The next day the pain was sharper, and I figured it was some sort of food poisoning. It wasn't bad enough to stop a missionary. Besides for food poisoning it will eventually get better, you just have to make it long enough. I would walk slightly doubled over, but when we met someone I would straighten up and grit my teeth. Whenever there was a chance to rest I would clutch my gut and pray. My companion suggested I could call the Mission President.
The third day I was wondering if I had been poisoned deliberately. The lord said specifically of missionaries, "And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them." (D&C 84:72) So I figured I would survive, but I wasn't sure if my patience could wait long enough for my body to deal with the venom. I stumbled to our lunch appointment, but there was no way I would be able to work in the afternoon. I explained my pain to the Sister who was kind enough to give us lunch, Sonizete. She went to her cupboard and pulled out an old bottle of medicine. The beat up label said, "Pao Amargo" (bitter wood).
She gave me a little spoonful and my tongue thought it was going to die. Take the oldest moldiest piece of nasty bark and soak it in pure bitter. It drilled into my tongue and I thought I would puke. If it was that horrid to my tongue I couldn't imagine what it would do to my stomach. Yet by the time lunch was served I was feeling better. That afternoon I was fine, although I could feel that my stomach was sore from the cramping. I figured a solid 24 hours without cramps would give my stomach the time to repair. My companion was relieved that I was feeling better.
The next day I was doubled over with pain again. My companion suggested I call the mission president. Since our plan that morning would take us past Sonizete's house I had a better idea. I asked her if I could have just one more spoonful of Pao Amargo, another day for my stomach to heal. She said there wasn't a lot of it left, so I could just take the bottle. The nasty stuff tortured my tongue, but that day we got a lot of work done.
The next day I started with a spoonful of the horridly bitter Pao Amargo and rice with molasses. Work, lunch, work harder, dinner. By night my stomach would be hurting, but I knew in the morning I had the Pao Amargo. My companion suggested I call the Mission President's wife. The fourth day of using Pao Amargo it wasn't so bad. That bitter taste isn't so bad. The fifth day I didn't mind it at all. I looked forward to the quick relief and figured if I just kept it up long enough my stomach would finally heal up.
Day six of the good ol' Pao Amargo, and I realized it was almost gone. That's ok, my stomach should be healing soon. My companion asked me when I planned on calling the Mission President. After a week of the good medicine it was gone. I kept the empty bottle with me. I was hoping that would be enough time to be better, but that morning I could hardly walk. We headed towards downtown, but eventually I had to sit on the curb and groan in pain. My companion suggested I talk to ... then I saw the pharmacist. It was perfect - I walked in and gave him the empty bottle. "I need another one of these". And there was a beautiful full bottle of shiny new Pao Amargo.
A quick swig and the delicious medicine made me whole again. The next day I had the routine, Pao Amargo with rice and molasses, work, lunch, work harder, dinner, and bed. By the end of the day I could feel my stomach cramping, but now I knew how to deal with that. By day nine I loved that Pao Amargo. Better than a juicy pickle, better than a fruity grapefruit. The tenth day of the medicine my companion caught me taking my morning spoonful.
"Do you take some of that every morning?"
"Yeah, so?"
"I just worry about whether that's a good idea. Do you even know what it is?"
"It's Pao Amargo. And it's the blessing that is keeping me in the service of the Lord. It heals my stomach for a while, but then it comes back. I just need to keep my stomach strong long enough to heal. It must be good, are you sure you don't want to try some? You'll like if you give it a try."
"I'm just thinking it's better to know what's wrong than to take a strange medicine every day."
On day eleven I woke up eager for that "Bitter wood". What a blessing that in the bounty of the Lord's earth he had provided some tree to provide relief from stomach cramps. Day twelve I wished there were other foods that tasted like the Pao Amargo. It's so delicious I think if people just tried it they would like it. In fact, with my stomach cramping in the evenings I might need a second spoonful at night. Day thirteen I had a spoonful in the morning, and then I needed a second spoonful with dinner to sleep. My companion suggested I call... "you know what just do what you want. You don't even know what it is you're taking."
Day fourteen. Two weeks of wonderful Pao Amargo. As we headed out for our work, I couldn't help but thinking. There were warning bells, but I wasn't hearing them anymore. My macho manhood wouldn't let me go to a doctor, my pride wouldn't let me worry about a strange medicine, and now that it had been two weeks there was no way I would call the Mission President or his wife. There was still one warning system left, the spirit. The more I thought about it the more something felt off. Then I realized with the bottle of Pao Amargo was in my pocket. At least I could read the label.
In case you're wondering, Pao Amargo is commonly called Lidocaine. You may have heard of it's brothers, Novacaine (used by dentists to numb your mouth) or maybe Cocaine (illegal for how it numbs your brain). Basically I was pouring anesthetic into my stomach, and then I was amazed to feel better! I remember the sudden realization that I had never been healing anything, I was only numbing how sick I really was. There was something seriously wrong with me and I had delayed two weeks without listening to my body. Even worse, I had been dumping chemicals into my body that only did harm.
To read the story quickly it's amazing that it could happen, but spiritually this is an old story. Paul said some people end up "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Timothy 4:2) To sear your conscience with a hot iron is to dull your ability to sense the spirit. It is so easy to do slowly, but the Lord gave us help. Friends, family, and mission companions can sometimes see dangers that we cannot. The Lord commanded us to "set watchmen upon the walls thereof—built the tower also, and set a watchman upon the tower" (D&C 101:53). How often in the scriptures have friends helped someone realizing they were slowly missing blessings? When Naaman came to be healed of leprosy by Elisha he was offended by the task given to him to wash in the river Jordan. Unlike me, he listened to his friends, who said "if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?". (2 Kings 5:13).
"I think you should call the mission president." Finally I listened. I called President Wallace and explained that I had stomach cramps and had been taking Pao Amargo, but after two weeks I discovered it was anesthetic. His reply was short,
"Have you gotten the next set of deworming pills?"
"Uh, yeah, I think we've got them, we're not supposed to take them until..."
"Take the pills. Call me back in two days."
In two days I was cured - for real this time. How very symbolic! All this time I was numbing myself allowing an evil parasite to grow inside. The Mission President said, "Good. Now get to work." The spirit had something bigger to say. There are times in my life when an evil grows within me, and I don't realize it because I numb myself to it's effects, and turn off the warning systems. At what point had I made the mistake? Getting a bit of medicine seems harmless. If once is harmless, so is twice. What's the big deal about getting more medicine when I've already taken it for a week? Each step was tiny, but in the end I dumped the bottle of Pao Amargo. This type of thing happens in so many ways.
For example, Paul said, "But shun profane and vain babblings: or they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker:" (2 Timothy 2:16-17) There are so many profane or vain movies, games, and forms of entertainment. The violence and sin build inside, but we numb it with Pao Amargo called, "Really awesome special effects!" or "The plot was so clever!" I try to listen when people tell me something has foul language, or immorality. I was fooled once, but I hope it has given me the skill to avoid it the next time.
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