(Minghui.org) The idiom “a leopard can't change its spots” has been applied to people that are unable to change their character. But, there is a way to change one's character for the better and that is Falun Dafa, a cultivation practice of the Buddha School. This practice is responsible for millions of Falun Dafa practitioners improving their physical health and achieving spiritual well being. Furthermore, the practice is responsible for improving people's temper and character for the better and making them better people.

Below, please find some stories recounted by selected practitioners from Hebei Province.

Falun Dafa Improved My Temper

By Li Rong, a practitioner in Hebei

I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. Having practiced for more than fifteen years, I state that I hold firm faith in Falun Dafa. Before I became a practitioner, I had many ailments, including insomnia, stomach pain and headaches. After practicing Falun Dafa I became healthy without expensive treatments. What's even more important, I turned from a bad-tempered person to a broad-minded person.

I have three daughters. My husband passed away at a young age, so the burden of providing for my family fell on me. I was under so much pressure, which made my temper turn for the worse. My eldest daughter said that I was easily angered, so I argued with her. My second daughter is disabled and is married to an alcoholic who sometimes became irrational after drinking. Once he cut his arm with a knife, and twice drank an insecticide used for crops and animals. He often appeared at my home and started a quarrel. He stopped us from sleeping and demanded that the doors be kept open. I was in fear whenever I saw him. These troubles put me under a lot of stress and resulted in headaches, insomnia and other ailments, forcing me to take medicine daily. Furthermore, the house was filled with noise and there was no harmony.

After I began to practice Falun Dafa in 1996, I lived by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and so improved my character. I became healthy and I let go of my bad temper.

When one person practices Falun Dafa, the entire family benefits. My second son-in-law no longer is an alcoholic. I smile all day long, so my daughters say, “Mother's temper is better after practicing Falun Dafa. She no longer has that ferocious-look. Falun Dafa really can change people.”

Now, all my three daughters are married, I am in good health, and my family life is harmonious. We have to thank Falun Dafa for this improvement in our family life.

“It is so great to be neighbor with you, a Falun Dafa practitioner.”

By Hui Yan, a practitioner in Hebei

I began to practice Falun Dafa in March 1999. Soon into the practice I became healthy. I used to suffer from stomach ailments and hemorrhoids. It is wonderful to be healthy.

I want to recount how I harmonized my neighborhood and validated Falun Dafa by living by the principles Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Liu Jie, a retired teacher used to live next door. She had been divorced for many years and lived with her mother who was in her nineties. Because of the stressful events in her life, such as a broken marriage, she suffered from melancholy and depression. She isolated herself and stayed aloof from others.

After she moved next door, I cleaned the outside of her place and swept the stairs daily. I tried to help her and told her that practicing Falun Dafa would benefit her physically and mentally. She would turn into a different person, one that is kind to others. She said, “You practitioners are different from others. I get along with you, feel at ease and am peaceful.” From being around me, she became more and more cheerful.

Once she had to go on a business trip and was worried about her elderly mother. Once I found out, I said, “If you trust me, I will take care of her.” She was very thankful. I cooked for her mother daily, stayed with her at night and helped her with all her personal needs. It was not easy to take care of her, but as a practitioner I treated her with compassion. Because of watching me, mother and daughter learned about the goodness of Falun Dafa.

After some time she remarried and lived a harmonious life. She trusted me fully, so she left her wage card and passbook with me and asked me to send her the funds upon maturity.

Before she left, she took my hands and said to me with tears covering her face, “It is so great to be neighbor with you, a Falun Dafa practitioner.”

Practitioner Returns Lost Money

By Xiang Lian, a practitioner in Langfang, Hebei

I was introduced to Falun Dafa in 1996. I can't say that I was seriously ill before practicing Falun Dafa, but did suffer from many minor ailments, including arthritis, gynecological disease, athlete's foot, anal fissure, pharyngitis, frostbite, and nosebleeds. I used to take a lot of medication. Once I practiced Falun Dafa, I became healthy and my family benefited from my practice and rarely gets sick.

I truly thank Teacher for purifying our thoughts and bodies.

One day around noon in the summer of 2010, when I went out for lunch I saw a bundle of money on the ground. I looked around and saw no one, so I picked it up. It was 1,600 yuan. I thought that the person that lost the money would be very anxious, so I waited for a while. No one came to claim the money, so I went to a fellow practitioner's home whom I asked to help me look for its owner. We found the owner and returned the money. He said, “Thank you, thank you, where can we find such good people in today's society!” I replied, “I practice Falun Dafa and live by the principles Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. My Teacher guides us to be good people and always consider the need of others first. You should thank our Teacher!”

Apple Vendor Benefits from Supporting Falun Dafa

By Xiao Ying, a practitioner in Langfang, Hebei

I went to the market to buy fruit and tell people about withdrawing their memberships in the Chinese Communist Party and its Young Pioneer and Youth League. A middle-aged woman who was selling apples told me that she had done the three withdrawals, that she understood the facts about Falun Dafa and believed in the goodness of Falun Dafa.

I gave her a Shen Yun Performing Arts show DVD, truth-clarification a calendar and other Falun Dafa materials. Respectfully, she put the materials in a clean plastic bag and then in a cardboard box.

At one time she said, “I am very tired when I get home after work. But, when I watch the Shen Yun DVD after dinner I feel especially comfortable. I watch it whenever I have time.” Also, since she believed in Falun Dafa and did the three withdrawals, her business has been more successful. She said, she repeats Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good whenever she can and thus is rewarded in her daily life.

Last Chinese New Year, I wanted to buy a box of apples and she promised to bring a box on the following day. The next day, I went to pick up the apples with a non-practitioner friend. I didn't open the lid and was about to leave. My friends said, “You should take a look, what if there are bad apples!” I replied, “There is no need to check, as long as they are edible, I am OK with it.” The apple vendor smiled at me and did not say anything.

After opening the box we found that all the apples were big and red, and indeed carefully selected. When I went to buy apples again, I told her and she said with a gentle smile on her face, “You Falun Dafa practitioners live by the principles Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which I should also do!”

After some time, she told me that she began to read Falun Dafa books.

Becoming Literate from Studying Falun Dafa

By Lian Ying, a practitioner in Hebei

I began to practice Falun Dafa in 1997. I am 77 years old. I only prepare meals and spend the remainder of the day studying the Fa and practicing the exercises.

Before I became a Falun Dafa practitioner, I was illiterate. I had only three months of schooling. In my seventies, I attended literacy classes and learned some simple and commonly used words, but since I didn't use what I learned I forgot everything I had learned.

At the beginning of the practice, I joined a study group daily and listened to Teacher's lecture recordings. When I heard fellow practitioners reading Zhuan Falun, I knew it was good, but once I opened the book, I could not keep up with other practitioners. Sometimes I looked at the words and thought, “You know me, how come I do not know you?” I felt very anxious.

At home, I read the book, word by word and asked my daughters for help with the words I did not recognize, but forgot them shortly after. My daughters told me homonyms with different meanings, which I wrote down, so I could recognize the word next time. I was able to read through Zhuan Falun in 1998. Now, I am able to read Zhuan Falun, Teacher's lectures and Minghui Weekly.

When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) banned Falun Dafa in July 1999 my mind was not disturbed. I was not fooled by their lies. I continued to study the Fa diligently, do the exercises, and transcribe Zhuan Falun. In 2004 we established a study group and we could again study in a group as we did before the CCP began persecuting Falun Dafa.