February 8, 2000

In last Nov., Mr. Steve contacted us to see if there was any Falun Dafa practice site in Montana. We feel sorry that the answer was No, but we kept thinking about him and Montana. Early in January, Steve told us there was going to be a Chinese New Year celebration in his hometown, Butte. He invited us to join them and introduce Falun Dafa to the folks and collect signatures for the International Appeal Letter. We thought that was a great opportunity, so we decided to make the trip.

Steve was very kind and helpful. He rented a lecture hall for our workshop, compiled a news release to the local press. He also made a colorful flyer, which was posted all over the town and even in nearby city Helena. He tried to contact the local Representatives to get the public support on Falun Gong issue.

He was worried about our journey, since we had to go through Lookout Pass, and the forecast said it was going to be snowy all these days. We were also concerned a little, because two weeks ago, when some of us drove to Spokane, we witnessed many accidents. But deep down, we were very calm. By the Chinese New Year eve, the forecast changed. The temperature was 10 degrees higher. Two of us drove smoothly to Washington State to join our fellow practitioners there. On the first morning of the Dragon Year, we traveled 5 hours to Butte in beautiful sunshine, without a single drop of snow, just in time to catch the New Year parade.

Butte has a long history of Chinese gold mining. People are working hard to preserve their Chinese culture and history. About several hundred people were dressed up in traditional clothes. They were holding the lanterns and New Year Blessings in Chinese, lining up after the big Dragon dance. Even though the firecrackers were so loud, our Falun Dafa music brought a peaceful atmosphere. Steve was holding the poster with Teacher Li's picture, and attracted a lot of attention. Journalists videotaped us for quite a while. We were all very happy.

In "Lecture in the First Conference in North America", Teacher once said: "When I visited the countryside and some small towns in the U.S., I saw many kind-hearted people and kind-hearted Caucasians." We have lived in the Inland Northwest for many years. We felt folks among the Butte Chinese New Year parade were very kind. There was no shouting, screaming, everyone greeted each other with a smile. We distributed many Falun Dafa flyers along with the Appeal Letter. Almost all of the people signed their names after reading the Appeal Letter. Some of them asked when we would go to Helena, Montana.

The evening workshop was a success. Steve introduced himself and us. He was seeking the true teachings for a long time. He felt Mr. Li's teaching makes a lot of sense. Falun Dafa is very simple but profound. It can raise one's moral level and purify one's body and soul.

We had a short slides show, then we helped people master the 5 sets of exercises.

Steve was very happy that we had a pleasant and safe journey. He also treasured this opportunity to exchange experiences and being in a group of Falun Dafa practitioners. He joined us for another group practice the next morning at 6 am. He was deeply moved by the power of Falun Dafa, especially impressed by the fact that all Falun Dafa activities are free of charge. He volunteered to be the contact person in Montana. We left him some Falun Dafa materials.