Do You Remember the Day of Your Baptism?

by minimus 50 Replies latest jw friends

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  cruzanheart

  May 25, 1965 was the date of my baptism and I was 9 years old, like minimus! And like onacruse, I was in the Los Angeles area (Anaheim) BUT mercifully someone had donated their heated pool for the event, so it was very pleasant. I was the youngest one getting baptized and what I remember is my mother running the show, as usual. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out as soon as the "amen" sounded so that I would be the first one out and the first one to be baptized. I was so embarrassed! I just wanted to be part of the group, not singled out for anything. Oh well, Mom was good for stuff like that . . . .

  Nina
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  Francois

  Onacruse, your statement about your post-DF behavior is heartwarming and right on the mark. It proves you know what you're about, and what The Master was about. Congratulations brother.

  I was baptised in Lexington, KY at the age of 18, in the year 1963. I did it so I could date this particular girl in the Kingsport, TN congregation where I visited my uncle (the congregation overseer) every summer. Big mistake on all counts. My association with JWs I account is responsible for at least 95% of the pain I have experienced in my life. If I could go back and take it back I would do it in a heartbeat.

  francois
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  TresHappy

  Sometime in 1986...that's all I remember...
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  gumby

  I was dunked in 1970 when I was 16 in a pool at a motel they used for the baptism during an assembly.

  I remember my mom was late with my aunts and uncles because they couldn't find the place they said. ( my mom could get lost in her living room)

  Back then, preparation for baptism was like a book study. Candidates from the hall would meet in a room with an elder who would ask questions, and you simply raised your hand to answer.....there was no one on one questions with an elder. It was much easier to get baptised then compared to now.

  Gumby
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  gitasatsangha

  I was 16 on a September 16th day. Me and a friend had both been studying that year to get baptized. I remember the date because people kept telling me it was the most important day of my life and I'd never forget it. My friend and I sat together on the front row of the candidates section. When they ask the questions or baptism, there is always some jerk-off with a microphone shoving it in one person's face so everyone can hear that one person's answer. That was me. A really loud gung ho "YES". That was kind of embarassing. I was very shy. I remember seeing some really young kids (like some of you who were 9) and I remember thinking that was WAY too young to be making this kind of decision. The place we had our assemblies in was part of a sports complex and had an indoor swimming center, so that is where the dunking took place.

  Why do the baptizers wear t-shirts? anyway, it was over and done and I felt pretty good about it, but nothing really changed. Within three weeks I was in seriousl trouble for some busness involving a "worldly" girl. If I'd stayed out of that pool it would have been pretty much ok. After that I wrote "September 16" in the front cover of my bible to look at every meeting, cause I knew without reminding myself it was important, I'd forget it. I felt guilty about that for years.
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  Fire Dragon

  I was 20 years old. I remember thinking that I wasn't ready to get baptized because I still dealt with fleshly desires like masturbation and lesbianism. (Glad I'm over feeling bad about that! ) I remember thinking that I didn't truly have jahoover's blessing because as soon as I came out of the water I felt sick to my stomach. I promptly went to the bathroom and heaved! Very symbolic don't you think?!

  Fire
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  Satanus

  I marked down my baptismal date in the 'lamp' book. Remember that book? It had a page at the back for this. Then i threw it out as instructed by the wt. It may have been 1966 or 1967, in the summer, in kamloops, bc. I was13 or 14 yrs old. It was a nice pool. I was nervous also. The brother who had been sort of helping me along was happy, and took a picture. I did it because i was trying to prove something to my dad.

  SS
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  MoeJoJoJo

  I was baptized on September 11th at the ripe old age of 13.
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  Gopher

  :Why do the baptizers wear t-shirts?

  I had a JW friend tell me, in all honesty, that opposers (of the JW's) had taken photos of earlier baptisms (where the dunkers were shirtless) and began to spread rumors that "JW's baptize in the nude"!! And then when the WT Society got wind of that news, they issued a directive that the dunkers should wear t-shirts.
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  blondie

  Then i threw it out as instructed by the wt.

  SS, I still have my Lamp book and was never instructed to throw it out by the WTS and I double checked with another inactive JW from the same period who still has their copy. There is a copy still in the KH library of the last congregation I went to. It must have been a regional thing.

  Gopher, some brothers are gross without a T-Shirt. It might have been a beautification effort. Or maybe it was turning some sisters on, naughty, naughty.

  Blondie