(Clearwisdom.net) I haven't been back to my hometown in years, and I was recently on a business trip where the destination was very close to my hometown. So I decided to go back, since I had lots of relatives there. Before setting off, I prepared some truth-clarification materials.
My relatives prepared a sumptuous dinner and the whole family came--almost twenty people spanning three generations. The first thing they said when they saw me was, "Wow, you really look terrific and stronger than before." (I was very thin before practicing Falun Gong due to many diseases). "You look younger, you look thirty years old at most." (my real age is 40). "Did you take medicine from heaven?" I told them proudly that it was because I practiced Falun Dafa. They asked me, "Is Falun Gong really that good?" I then told them how beautiful the practice was, and about the persecution started by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), etc. One of my cousins said, "The CCP is the worst! I wanted to learn Falun Dafa a long time ago, but I'm too attached to drinking, so I dare not learn it." He also told me that at one time he was given truth-clarification disks, so he already knew the truth, that Falun Dafa was good! I briefly shared with him about what cultivation was, and I promised to give him Dafa materials later.
After dinner on the second night of my stay, seven or eight relatives sat together chatting. My female cousins asked a lot about my family and my life. I told them about my changes after practicing, and that I now followed the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," which helps me balance my work, family and cultivation. Of course, I did not intend to show off how good I was, but to tell them that Falun Dafa was responsible for all of my positive changes. After hearing this, my brother-in-law asked all my cousins to listen carefully and to remember what I said. At this time, my brother-in-law wanted to drink some water, so my cousin immediately brought his cup to him, to be helpful. My brother-in-law said to my cousin, "Wow! You are becoming better." My cousin then replied, "I'm going to learn Falun Dafa (and he wanted to start by being a good person)." Two of my male cousins and one of my female cousins told me they wanted to learn Dafa, and that they had all quit the CCP. One of my cousins has two children, and one of them asked me, "I did many bad things in the past. Can I still learn Dafa?" I said, "Yes!" and told them how good Falun Gong was. Those two little guys asked me secretly, "Do you have a VCD?" "Yes," I replied. "So, we can do the exercises by watching the VCD."
I stayed at one of my cousin's homes, and in the evening we watched the video of "2008 NTDTV Chinese New Year Splendor" together. My brother-in-law was full of praise, "This is real art! How beautiful! How benevolent! It reflects the message of pure compassion and pure beauty. Look! Falun Gong can do such an excellent job, and how about the CCTV's (state-run television) New Year show? It was a total mess! What a huge difference!" My cousin said, "For such a wonderful show, they should make a great effort! Look at CCTV. It collected programs from the whole country with so many people participating, but it is severely criticized by people every year."
I'm very gratified for their learning the truth and that "Falun Dafa is Good," but it is a pity that no matter how I persuaded them, due to their fear of the CCP, my cousin and her husband dared not quit the CCP and dared not read the Nine Commentaries. They said that they knew that as long as they read it, they would quit the CCP for sure, so they dared not read it. And they also told me that they'll depend on me in case something happens.
During my three day visit to my hometown, no matter what I did, I followed the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." I also found that my two cousins who wanted to practice Falun Gong would say, "Falun Dafa is good" when they were helping someone.
On my way home, I also went to my aunt's home in another city. My aunt's family started practicing Dafa two years ago, but they were not diligent. It was already 10 o'clock in the evening when I arrived at her home. All her family read Zhuan Falun many years ago, so I gave her an electronic version of all the Dafa books and materials. This made her very happy.
When I arrived that night, my aunt had already warmed the dishes, so I played the video of "2008 NTDTV Chinese New Year Splendor" for her family while I was eating. My aunt was full of praise and said, "I'm almost crying. What a pity for the Chinese people in mainland China. They are living in the midst of the CCP's lies and deceptions, and have no chance to watch such a good show." Although my little cousin was going to school the next day and had to get up at 5:30 in the morning, she still watched the show until midnight before going to sleep. She was afraid that they would never see it again after I left on the second day.
I stayed only one night at my aunt's home. We made good use of the very limited hours to share our understandings and experiences about cultivation, and only spoke a few words not related to cultivation before she sent me off.
I have no regrets from my trip back to my hometown. Every time I saw a sentient being learning the truth and having a chance to be saved, I had to control myself to not let the tears flow. I knew it was all arranged by Master, and I cannot express in words my thankfulness and respect to Master.
The moment the Fa rectifies the human world is approaching. I hope that every practitioner will be diligent, do the "three-things" well, and have no regret of being a Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period.
Please point out anything inappropriate with compassion.
April 9, 2008