By a new practitioner in China　　　

　　I am 30 years old. I am from Jinzhou City in Liaoning Province. I am now detained in a forced labor camp in Jinzhou City because of theft.　　　

　　I have a dark history. I left school when I was only 10 years old. I was sent to the City Labor School because of theft when I was 15 years old. Two years later, I was given a sentence of 1.5 years in prison as a thief. When I was 19 years old, I was given a sentence of 10 years in prison, again because of stealing. I was released in 1996. In 1999, I was given a detention of 15 days for stealing and I escaped through a window. Ten days later, I was caught and taken back to the detention center and detained together with some Falun Gong practitioners.　　　

　　At that time, the Chinese Communist regime was attacking Falun Gong madly on TV and in the newspapers, claiming that Falun Gong was harmful to people. Therefore, I was very curious about Falun Gong practitioners, and I wanted to know how bad they were and whether they were even worse than me. However, the truth was beyond my expectation. They were from all walks of life. There were workers, farmers, officials, and doctors. hey were detained because they had gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong or practiced their exercises in the parks. They did not look down upon me just because I was a convicted thief. Instead, they told me to be a good person and not to steal and not to do bad things anymore. I was deeply touched by their words. In particular, some of them had no hatred or complaints when they were being cursed at or beaten up by the guards. hey always treated those guards kindly and told them about the principles of becoming a good person. I was very surprised and also perplexed. he TV programs had been saying how bad Falun Gong was. hen how come so many people had become so good after learning Falun Gong? I had to admit that they were really good people from what I saw.　　　

　　I suddenly felt very regretful that in the past ten years I had committed so many bad deeds. How wonderful it would be if I could be a good person like these Falun Gong practitioners! Then I told my thoughts to Yan Li, Li Huan- bao, Liu Wan-sheng and other practitioners in my cell. hey gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun (the main text of Falun Gong). I finished reading it with great eagerness. Then, I had a sleepless night. My past life as a thief for a dozen years appeared in my mind. I had done so many bad things.　　　

　　I remembered that my neighbors had praised me as a kind child. However, when I grew up, all kinds of bad thoughts in society and the desire for money started to pollute me and control me and push me into the abyss. In prison, I had been educated about the laws. Some of the better guards had also tried to help me to change. However, these were all useless to me. Those evil thoughts still controlled me and I could not free myself from doing bad things. After finishing reading Zhuan Falun, I understood that laws and policies in human society could only change someone on the surface, and that only a higher law could change someone's heart and make one become genuinely good. I was really lucky to be able to learn Falun Dafa in prison. I decided to be a good person from then on.　　　

　　Later, I was sent to a labor camp in Jinzhou City. I was worried very much that I might not be able to meet other practitioners because I still wanted to ask them many questions. Surprisingly, however, I met many other practitioners there! I suddenly realized that Falun Dafa would shed light into every corner of the world.　　

　　When my family members came to visit me, they became very angry after they learned that I had started to practice Falun Gong. They said, "How come you learned Falun Gong here? Right now the whole country is attacking Falun Gong!" I told them, "You do not understand the truth. Falun Gong is not like what is said on TV and in the newspapers. Falun Gong teaches people to become good people and is wonderful." However, they didn't want to listen to me. hey even threatened that they would not visit me again if I continued to practice Falun Gong. I started shedding tears on the spot. However, I realized immediately that it was a test for me. I would become a good person by learning Falun Gong and in the future my family members would then know that Falun Gong is indeed good.　　　

　　I have studied Falun Dafa now for three months. The guards and criminals in the detention center and labor camp all know that Falun Dafa practitioners are good people.