 And I'm talking about cocaine, I'm talking about shrooms. I wouldn't think twice about it. I would just be, oh yeah, you know, I'm ready to try this. You know, give it to me and I would take it. I didn't come to a realization that I became addicted to it. I was raised into a strong Catholic family, but my intentions were never really going into a Catholic church. I was more into the nightlife, you know, partying, going out, drinking. I started hanging out with a certain group where there was smoke weed and I never tried it before. I would see these guys enjoying themselves, being into the music, you know, having the time of their life. There came a time where I decided to inhale marijuana into my body and I thought I was having a great time, you know, enjoying life, living it up. That one night that I tried it, I thought that was going to be my only occasion. As I started smoking marijuana, I came to the realization where the pain in my knee that I got from a lot of sports injuries decided to go away during the moment of that usage. As time kept progressing, I would smoke little by little more and more to remove this pain. I came to a certain point where I realized that I wasn't even smoking every bit in there. It became a daily usage from waking up to the morning to before I would go to school to during school breaks, after school, lunch, at home and doing behind my family's back. I started believing that I'm using it for a medical way, that it's removing my pain away. So I seen it as a good thing, you know. I didn't see that I was going to open a gateway to other drugs. As I kept partying more, I started dozing it more and more and it made my mind go blank. I wouldn't think properly. I no longer was using it for a medical use, but for my own pleasure. When I would use these drugs, these heavy drugs like cocaine and shrooms, I would black out. Honestly, I would not remember how I would get home. There would be times where I would be so gone that when I would come home, my mother would be waiting for me. She would be angry towards me, but I did not care one bit. I would receive my check. The first thing that came to my mind was I need to buy weed. I need to hit up my connect. I'm not talking about I would spend $20 or $40. I'm talking about at least half my check would go towards marijuana. It wouldn't last me for a long time. As much money as I would spend into it, I would smoke more and more and more. My priority at that moment became marijuana. I was stuck in a way where I would come home and see my mother in tears knowing that it should have hurt me. It took no effect. I would just ignore her, let her go through one ear and come out through the other. I would tell her, you know, mother, you're speaking nonsense. Weed is helping me out. Weed is healing me. Weed is taking away my pain. This pain that I've gotten from sports injury, it's removing it. What can you not see about that? And I became so ignorant, I came to a point where in my life, something needed to change. So some friends invited me to a church conference where healing and miracles are supposed to take place. As I went to that conference, I seen people with diseases, illnesses, chronic pain as myself being healed by God. A few days later, you know, it hit me, why can't I myself be healed? Why can't I be healed from this chronic pain I'm having from my knee? I am no different from those people that were there at the same conference to receive healing. So I decided, you know, one night get on my knees and spend time with God. I just ask them, if you can heal me, Father, if you can remove all this pain from my body, anything that's not of you, if you may remove it, I would truly give my life to you. I would dedicate my all to you. I got healed, you know, it was amazing. Just to see the healing happen, I decided to stop smoking weed. And there was a certain day I was just roaming through Facebook. There was a friend of mine that I went to high school with, and I see him. I seen him check into a church I used to attend a while back. I messaged him a few days later after the service was done, and knowing that he went through the same stuff that I did, the addicted to marijuana, and seen him break free, seen him attend church, you know, be a servant of God, living a great life. I wanted to live that as well. And so I started talking to him, catching up with him, how he's doing, how's life going with him, how's church going. He told me that church has been amazing since day one since he's been there. So I spoke to him, you know, if he can save me a seat one day, who would have known that that same day that I attended service, I gave my life to Christ. Since the day of my salvation, my life's been on the right track. I decided to publicly announce that I'm giving my life to Christ, so I decided to get baptized. And since I got baptized, I joined a home group where I am challenged to grow spiritually, financially, and mentally. And not just that, but that relationship that I did not have with my family. It's all come to a change where I come home, I see a smile within my mom. She tells me, I love you, before I even get the opportunity to tell her. It's a lovely thing to hear, you know. I come to realize that I have a purpose. I know because of all this, the best is yet to come. My name is Marvin Soto, and this is my testimony.