I have always considered myself a Christian. I have grown-up in a Christian household with loving parents who also love the Lord. I have always sensed what is right and what is wrong, but sometimes I can give into what I know is wrong. I was baptized on January 23rd, 1994 at the age of nine. I don't think that I knew what the signification of being baptized was. I now can see the outward expression of showing your love of the Lord to everyone.
             My life has been pretty easy for the most part, only minor problems have arisen in my life. Last year, my faith started to head down hill for a little bit, I was hanging out with some friends, who I knew were not good Christians, I didn't even consider them to be Christians. My intuition told me that what they were doing was wrong, and it was, but I never joined them in any of their shenanigans. I was just hanging out with them to be accepted, but I now realize that it was better to have not many friends than ones who bring your faith down.
             Last spring break, I went on a trip to Japan with my Japanese National Honor Society. This trip was supposed to be one of the best times in my life. But, practically all of the students who I traveled with got into some drugs while over there when they were not supervised, although they were legal there, it were still illegal here in the U.S. They tried to tempt me to drink, but I never gave in; peer pressure was a large part of that trip for most of the students.
             While in Japan, I realized that I needed to speak up and stand for what I believe. I also realized that without God on my side, I probably would have been into that stuff with them.
             When we got back in the U.S., I realized that I had to drop my so-called-friends and pray for some new ones. I prayed for good Christian friends for a while, finally about three months later, during the summer, I realized that I was hanging out with solid friends and that God had...