(Minghui.org) Becoming a Dafa practitioner during the Fa-rectification period is a supreme honor. I am grateful for Master’s compassionate salvation. I want to share the story of a woman named Xiaoxiu (pseudonym) whom I’ve known for more than a decade. Through my and other Dafa practitioners’ unwavering efforts to clarify the truth, Xiaoxiu went from being arrogant to respecting Dafa and choosing to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. She eventually started to actively spread Dafa information.
Planting the Seeds of Dafa’s Principles in Her Heart
I was in my third year of incarceration in Liaoning Province Women’s Prison, where I was persecuted for upholding my faith in Falun Dafa. The conditions there were extremely harsh, with very heavy labor. Apart from having minimal time allotted for eating and sleeping, we were forced to do intensive labor. We were only allowed to use the restroom twice a day during work hours. The food was horrible. Aside from two meals of plain rice a week, each meal consisted of only steamed buns and porridge with basic dishes like boiled vegetables and pickles. It was hard to swallow.
Basic necessities like toilet paper and toiletries were not provided. If one had family visits or money deposited, it was possible to buy some food and daily necessities. Otherwise, the situation was dire. Moreover, the prison rules forbid exchanging items, so we were not allowed to give things to others. There were only four or five Dafa practitioners in my division. The prison forbade us from talking to each other. If we were found talking, we would face physical punishment. The guards would even punish the inmates who were assigned to monitor us by subjecting them to physical punishment or stopping their provisions of necessities.
After several hunger strikes protesting the persecution, my living conditions somewhat improved. The intensity of the labor demanded of me was also reduced. My family could visit me once a month and deposit some money for me, so I could buy some daily necessities and simple foods, like instant noodles and biscuits.
When Xiaoxiu first arrived at the prison division where I was illegally detained, she was in her 30s, about 4 feet 9 inches tall, and rarely spoke. She was clearly a decent and honest housewife. I later learned that she had been sentenced to 13 years in prison for stabbing a woman who had an affair with her husband.
New inmates who couldn’t keep up with the work were often deprived of food. The guards and managing prisoners would punish them with physical penalties and visitation bans to force them to adapt to the labor quickly.
As a Dafa practitioner, I remembered Master’s teachings and even while in prison strove to conduct myself according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. When fellow inmates lacked food or necessities, we did our best to help them and tell them about the goodness of Falun Dafa.
When Xiaoxiu arrived, I helped her as much as I could and taught her many work skills so she could keep up with the labor and suffer less. I also made use of opportunities to tell her the truth about Falun Dafa, hoping she would understand and have a better future. Perhaps because she was new to prison, she appeared fearful and unresponsive at the time.
When a work team for making clothes was formed, Xiaoxiu and I were placed together. Since I had learned clothing production before, I taught her and helped her solve many problems. To maximize the prison’s profits, the guards and managing prisoners often resorted to cruel methods to force the inmates to work. For example, when it was time to use the restroom, they wouldn’t allow it. When it was time to eat, they wouldn’t care if you were too weak from overwork to continue. They’d withhold the food, sometimes even dumping meals in the toilet to prevent people from eating.
During one particularly long work shift past mealtime, everyone was extremely hungry. I secretly gave Xiaoxiu some biscuits when the head prisoners weren’t looking. She was very grateful and asked how she could repay me. I told her to remember to be kind and to help others in need when she’s able. She nodded thoughtfully.
After she became a head prisoner, she maintained a good relationship with me and helped others as much as she could. A Sichuan inmate, Xiaomu (pseudonym), who had no family support and worked slowly, was often bullied. Xiaoxiu helped her just like I had helped Xiaoxiu. Later, when Xiaomu mentioned Xiaoxiu to me, she was very grateful. I knew kind seeds from Dafa practitioners had been planted in Xiaoxiu's heart.
Telling Her the Truth Repeatedly
Because Xiaoxiu was good at her work, she was transferred to another team to become a head prisoner. She still treated me with respect and friendliness. I had the chance to speak with her once and took the opportunity to tell her the truth about Dafa again. She laughed heartily and mentioned that she had read Zhuan Falun. She followed up with a disdainful and disrespectful remark. I was deeply saddened for several days, lamenting about her inability to understand the precious teachings.
Once, after refusing to do forced labor, I was put in solitary confinement under strict surveillance. Nearly two years of persecution failed to change me, so the guards let me return to the workshop.
To clarify the truth to the detained individuals, I swept the floor every evening after dinner. I noted the names of the people in my division and waited for opportunities to sit by their workstations to introduce Dafa to them and persuade them to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
Over time, all but one of the 50-plus individuals in my division had withdrawn from the Party. I also made use of opportunities to clarify the truth to individuals of other divisions and encourage them to withdraw. Some of them secretly read hand-copied versions of Zhuan Falun during the rest time in their cells. I had to undergo two body searches every night to bring Zhuan Falun to them. Sometimes, we had 12 people in one cell, including me, another Dafa practitioner, and one North Korean who couldn’t understand it, so nine other people were reading Zhuan Falun at the same time. Through this method, about 30 people learned about the Fa, some saw scenes in other dimensions, some had their illnesses healed after eliminating karma, and some received blessings from following the teachings.
One evening after dinner, I went to clean the floor and saw Xiaoxiu nearby. She greeted me warmly, so I took the opportunity to sit by her workstation and talk to her about Falun Dafa again, including a warning about a future global pandemic and how withdrawing from the CCP and reciting “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” could help one avoid the pandemic.
She mentioned that someone (a practitioner) had given her a hand-copied Zhuan Falun, which she had read. This time she was not arrogant, but more reverent and humble. However, she still did not withdraw from the Party.
Because of her reduced sentence, she was nearly three years ahead of schedule to go home. The day before she left, I visited her cell. We talked earnestly, and I once again spoke to her about the truth and urged her to withdraw. She said, “Let’s talk about it later!”
I was about to end my more than a decade of illegal imprisonment and regain my freedom. We exchanged the contact information for our families, promising to meet after being released.
She Finally Withdraws from the Party
After leaving prison, Xiaoxiu found a job in a garment factory. Soon after I returned home we reconnected. Months later, I visited her workplace, about 20 miles away. We were very happy to see each other again, and I gave her two truth-clarification booklets, suggesting she pass them on after reading them. She smiled and accepted them. She said she had found and read some of these booklets since she had returned home.
I told her, “Withdrawing from the CCP and its organizations will bring you blessings. We’ve been friends for so many years; I wish you peace and safety.” This time, she readily agreed. I was truly happy for her. After 10 years of relentless efforts by Dafa practitioners, Xiaoxiu finally chose a beautiful future!
Xiaoxiu and I have kept in touch. After I lost my phone and she couldn’t reach me, she was so anxious that she called my sister so she could get back in touch with me.
At the end of 2019, when COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan and quickly spread worldwide, many people died. In the summer of 2022, while my city was under lockdown, Xiaoxiu called me from another region. She was doing well and had not reconciled with her ex-husband but had met a man who treated her very well, and they were about to marry. I could sense her happiness. Her daughter had been admitted to a university and was about to graduate. Her health had improved significantly. I knew these blessings had come about because she withdrew from the Party and understood the truth about Dafa.
What she said to me next truly took me by surprise. She said, “I’ve mentioned you to many people around me. I’ve told them ‘I have a friend who practices Falun Gong (referring to me), do you know how amazing she is? Many years ago, she told me that there would be a global pandemic in the future. At that time, I thought she had lost her mind from practicing. But it turned out she was right. Those people (who practice Falun Gong) are good people.’”
I told her, “All these things were told to us by our Master.” I advised her to recite the two phrases (“Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”) that I taught her whenever she could.
I am sincerely happy for Xiaoxiu, a saved life, who has now become a medium to spread Dafa information.
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Category: Clarifying the Truth
