(Minghui.org) I always strive to remember that I am a Falun Dafa practitioner who must follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance in everyday life. This has helped people to change their attitudes towards the practice and even to express admiration for practitioners and Dafa.
When our second son and his wife were laid off at work, my husband and I invited them to come to our house for meals. We are not well off and have experienced hard times, so we are always scrimping and saving.
My daughter-in-law wasn't happy with the food we served, and often complained, “Why are we eating the same thing day after day?” My husband was upset when he heard this, and responded in kind, “We also eat the same food we serve you. If you don’t like it, you can buy your own food if you can come up with the money.”
This kind of exchange happened frequently. I often told my husband that he had to forbear her complaints, as we are Dafa practitioners. But he just couldn’t control his temper.
One Chinese New Year's day, my daughter-in-law came to our house in the afternoon. She complained that our son hadn’t come home to help out with the chores!
My husband was angry, and the two of them exchanged unpleasant words. She eventually slammed the door and left.
I reminded my husband to endure, as we practice Falun Dafa. He sighed deeply and decided to back down. But I could see that his heart was still full of bitterness and it was very hard for him to forbear.
Our daughter-in-law gave birth to a baby girl two years later, but she wouldn’t let us visit her. She did however expect us to do the baby’s laundry.
When our granddaughter started school, our daughter-in-law had no choice but to depend on our help. She sent our son to ask us to drop off and pick up our grandchild every day. But this didn't stop her squabbling with us.
Our in-laws were well aware of their daughter's behavior towards us. This made it easier for us to feel kindly towards them, especially when we learned that she treated them the same.
Sometimes my husband and I would wonder about what we'd done in our previous lives to deserve this treatment. We must have owed her big time!
Our neighbor often advised us that our son should divorce her, but I smiled and said, “We are Dafa practitioners. We can’t interfere with their lives.”
I kept trying to win our daughter-in-law over time and again. I insisted on being good to her and refused to dwell on her bad behavior and attitude.
I always took the initiative to talk to her. When she came to visit us, I would ask her if she had eaten and offer to make something for her.
Over all these years, I constantly tried to be strict with myself in accordance with Dafa’s requirements, and at the same time to be kind to her, in the hope of resolving her grievances and resentment towards us.
She eventually changed her way. She approached us on her own and offered us her sincere apology, saying “I did wrong. I won’t do anything to upset you again. From now on, I’ll try my best to respect and honor you to make up for my past misdeeds.”
She kept her word and became a thoughtful and caring daughter-in-law.
My husband did not succeed in passing his xinxing tests though, and passed away. Our daughter-in-law wept and told me, “He died because I upset him too much. If I had not constantly made him so angry, he wouldn’t have gotten sick and left us so early.”
I comforted her and told her that she wasn't to blame, as it was because he hadn’t cultivated well enough.
While I mourn the loss of my husband, I thank Master and the power of Dafa to have effected a complete change in my daughter-in-law.
Our daughter's husband had also given us much grief. He was often unhappy when she came to study the Fa with us. When he showed up at our house and found us studying the Fa together, he shouted at us, “The government has already banned Falun Dafa, and you are still practicing!”
My husband was quick to respond, answering back loudly, “It's not banned in my house!”
Another time, our son-in-law borrowed 20,000 yuan from us to buy a car. Our daughter knew we couldn’t afford the loan so she quietly made plans to save money to pay us back quickly.
Our son-in-law noticed that his household finances seemed to be a little tight, and asked her where their money had gone. He was outraged when he found out and punched her in the face, causing her nose to bleed.
I was deeply affected when I found out, and had to hold back the urge to go over to his house to seek justice. I had to keep reminding myself that I am a practitioner and I must forbear. I also realized that it was an opportunity for my daughter to look inward and pass her xinxing test.
My second son doesn't practice Falun Dafa but he believes that Dafa is good and often bows and pays homage to Master’s photo.
He went to his brother-in-law's home to talk to him, and said kindly, “Dear brother, you can come to me to share your frustration any time. But my sister is gentle and timid. Before she married you, we would never raise our voice to her, afraid she couldn’t handle it. Now, you got angry and hit her. Do you really think that’s okay? Won’t you say that’s not proper behavior?”
Our son-in-law was speechless and was ashamed of himself.
Over time, our compassion towards him helped improve our relationship as a family, and he and my son became the best of friends.
When my first daughter-in-law commented on how our family treats each other, I told her, “It’s the power of Dafa that changed us. It’s Dafa that has given us a family that can live together in such great harmony.”
My husband and I regularly went out to talk to people about Falun Dafa and the persecution, and distribute Dafa informational materials.
One time, I was just about to leave a DVD in front of an apartment when a man, who looked to be in his 40's, opened the door, so I decided to hand the DVD to him instead. I told him, “This is a disk about Falun Dafa. Please check it out.”
He looked at me and remarked, “You're quite an old lady, and you've climbed up seven flights of stairs just to give me this?” I nodded. “Amazing!” he exclaimed.
“I truly admire you guys who practice Falun Dafa,” he continued. “A lot of you are older ladies. You do what you do for the sake of others. Go on your way, but please be careful, and be sure to pay attention to safety.”
I was talking to a man in his 50's another time, informing him about the benefits of quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.
I went into great detail, and he firmly announced, “Yes, I’ll quit…I will quit the CCP using my own name and thoroughly sever myself from the evil Party.”
I spoke to a railroad worker about how the CCP preaches atheism – to the Chinese people’s detriment, about how the Party has always been clamping down on and abusing good people, about the inevitability of karmic retribution, and about how we all must quit the Party to have a bright future.
Before I could finish, he burst out, “The Party is rotten to the core! My grandfather was a landlord, so the evil Party persecuted my father and me. They used to harass my family every day. I joined the Party only to save my own skin and be left alone.” He immediately quit the CCP.
I also spoke to a rickshaw driver. He understood what I was saying, and at the end of our conversation he puffed up his chest, stood up straight and shouted: “Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is good!”
Tears streamed freely down my face.