(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioners from Utah recently participated in the America’s Freedom Festival at Provo, Utah. Each year, the festival celebrates the values of family, freedom, God and country, drawing visitors from across the United States and abroad. At this year's event, there was great interest in Falun Gong and many people learned the exercises during the festival.
It was very hot with highs over 90 degrees Fahrenheit on July 1 and 2. Despite the heat, the practitioners were very active talking to people about the practice of Falun Gong and the ongoing persecution in China. After the grand parade on July 4, there were even more visitors to the Falun Gong booth.
Practitioners talking to people about Falun Gong at the America's Freedom Festival, in Provo, Utah
Many people were interested in learning the Falun Gong exercises
During the festival, a practitioner demonstrated the fifth exercise, the sitting meditation, on the lawn in front of the Falun Gong booth. He sat in tranquility, motionless. Many passersby stopped to watch, and some took photos of him. A number of people expressed interest in the meditation.
On July 1, a German girl and young American man stopped at the booth. They wanted to learn about Falun Gong, and after listening to a practitioner's introduction, they expressed great interest in the practice. The young man also asked questions about cultivation. The practitioner recommended that he read Zhuan Falun. After reading through the table of contents the young man said that the topics were all issues that he wanted to know more about. He immediately bought a copy of Zhuan Falun and said that he couldn’t wait to read the book. The couple left after talking to the practitioner for over half of an hour. However, they soon came back to learn the exercises. After learning the exercises, they wrote down the names of Dafa publications so that they could read them online.
People were shocked to learn about the brutal persecution in China and wondered how it could be happening in this modern era. They said that they would tell more people about it and contact their elected officials and the media, asking them to pay more attention to the persecution. There were many people who hugged practitioners to express their support. A Western woman cried after hearing about the persecution in China.
A young couple came to the booth. The husband spoke very good Chinese and communicated with practitioners mostly in Chinese. He said that they were from Canada and he knew about the persecution. He added that he had several friends who were Falun Gong practitioners.
One of the festival committee members brought his wife to the booth to learn about Falun Gong. The committee member already knew a lot about the persecution.
The practitioners also met a Chinese refugee from the June 4 democracy movement. He said that he was very happy to see Falun Gong practitioners participating in the festival.
