(Minghui.org) I had a chance to read the book Zhuan Falun in 1997, the year I was 27 years old. The book answered many of the questions I had about life.
I was surrounded by Master [Li Hongzhi's]'s mercy, and every time I watched his lectures, I could feel big changes inside me. Studying Falun Dafa at that time laid a good foundation in my cultivation, which ensured that I pass through the difficulties I faced later.
Telling the Truth about Dafa at My Workplace
Falun Dafa was slandered in China, starting in 1999. I told the leaders at my work: I am still practicing Falun Dafa, and I may go to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Dafa.
I was immediately put under house arrest. The leaders asked my husband, my parents, my friends, and my relatives to come and try to convince me to quit practicing Dafa. Some of them were crying, some were begging me, some were angry. I was very firm that I would not quit Dafa.
In the end, the leaders said that if I insisted on following Falun Dafa, then I would be kicked out of the communist party. Without hesitation, I wrote a resignation letter: “As a Falun Dafa practitioner, I now have a different belief from the communist party. Here I declare that I withdraw from the Party.”
One of the leaders asked me, in a friendly way, why I declared that I practiced Falun Dafa while knowing this would put me in danger of losing my job, family, and maybe even my life.
I told him that although I love my husband, child, parents, as well as my job, I cannot lie about Dafa since I have benefited from it.
He asked: “How would you live if you lose everything - your job and your family?”
I smiled back: “My Master said Dafa practitioners are blessed. I don't think I would lose everything. Even if I lose something, I will still have Dafa!” We talked until midnight.
At the end he said he admired me and he would have hired me if he was the boss of a private company (the company I worked for was related to the military and it was government run).
I was fired, and I did not get any unemployment benefits or compensation. At the time there was an urgent task and I was the only person in the company who knew how to do it. I decided to stay an extra month to help them out, without receiving any pay. A year later, I wrote a letter to the company leader.
I told him that losing the public employment job did not defeat me, as I was doing very well. I told him to remember “Falun Dafa is good.” He called me and said: “You are a good person. I will remember Falun Dafa is good.”
Touching Family Members' Hearts
I lost my job, but I still had a loving husband and an adorable daughter. Before the persecution, my husband took care of our daughter so I could have time to participate in the morning exercises, evening group Fa studies, and weekend activities.
When the persecution began, out of fear he was against me continuing the practice. My husband was under tremendous pressure after I was arrested for going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Dafa.
Many thought he would divorce me. He said: “I cannot let my daughter lose her mother.” Thus, we stayed together.
While trying to help his family's business in 2006, he offended a local governor who gave him a very hard time. Years of worries and fear led him to severe depression.
One day, he reached a breaking point and committed suicide in front of me (he jumped from a building). At the moment when I saw my husband land on the ground at the foot of the building, I realized my family was broken.
I was determined not to be defeated, as I knew I needed to live like a Dafa practitioner. Every day I kept reciting Master's Fa in my mind. As a result, my mind became more and more tranquil, and I was further away from sadness and human attachments.
My husband's family blamed me for his death. They thought he broke down because I practiced Dafa.
During the past 10 years when my husband was alive, I treated all his family members with kindness and helped them a lot. Now suddenly they did not even want to speak to me. However, I understood their feelings.
My husband used to be the most honored in his entire family. He was the only person from his hometown village who attended college. Naturally they would have a very hard time accepting the blow. If it was me who killed myself, wouldn't my family members blame my husband?
I said to my sister-in-law: “Sister, trust me. I won't re-marry. And I will treat your family members the same as before, since you are all my family.”
Despite my own financial difficulty, I tried to help my in-laws. Each year during the Chinese New Year holiday, I visited their village and brought gifts to all the relatives, just like before. My mother and sister, both practitioners, also helped me prepare gifts.
I tried to participate in their important family events such as weddings and funerals and often helped them with cash. I was again welcomed in their family.
My father-in-law even once sewed a bedding cover for me. I could see he cared for and respected me.
Last year, my sister-in-law asked me if I could lend them some money because her son was buying a house. Initially I was surprised. I was a single mother trying to raise my daughter on my own. How could you ask me for money? But soon I found my initial thought was laughable. It showed that she trusted me when she asked me.
In fact, under Master's protection, my salary was very good during the past few years. So I lent her 20,000 yuan.
Last winter, my sister-in-law had an operation in a hospital in my city. Whenever I had time, I went to visit her in the hospital and cooked good meals for her and her son.
My mother and sister also visited and often brought them food. Other patients in the ward were very surprised that I still had such a good relationship with my in-laws eleven years after my husband had passed away.
Dafa practitioners have experienced countless tests and tribulations during this period of time. Our righteous actions shock heaven and earth. Acting as a Dafa practitioner in daily life, at work and with family members, displays Dafa practitioners' qualities.
