I have been thinking about how the events surrounding my baptism may be of some interest to this board, so here is my story.
I began to talk about baptism when I was seven, but nobody took me seriously. I let the matter drop until I was ten. I was persistent this time so arrangements were made for the elders to go over the questions with me.
At the time, it was customary for baptismal candidates to study the Live Forever and United In Worship books. I already studied these in a haphazard manner at the book studies, but it was suggested that I go over them again. I did this on my own, underlining the few chapters that I missed when preparing for the book studies.
I found the question sessions with the elders to be pretty easy, with the exception of one question that caught me off guard. It had something to do with if I had already dedicated my life to God in prayer. I hadn't done this formally at a specific time. I mentioned in my prayers that this was my desire and I felt that God and I had an understanding. I thought that the baptism would seal the deal. I told the elder that I misunderstood the exact procedure and would perform that ritual soon. (It occurs to me now that they never followed up to see if this actually happened.)
That night I offered up my dedication prayer. I don't remember all the details, but I specifically remember promising that I would never be part of an organization that commits spiritual fornication. I think the Watchtower must have been focusing on that issue around that time.
When the question sessions were over, the elders said they would meet and let me know if they decided I was qualified for baptism.
The day for the circuit assembly arrived and I still didn't have an answer. When I talked to an elder, I was told that they still had to discuss it. The program started and I still didn't know if I could get baptized. I kept looking for an elder to give me an answer. Eventually the baptism talk started and there was an announcement that all baptism candidates should be seated in the assigned section. It was getting serious. It could be several months before the next assembly and what if Armageddon happened first? I was at that awkward age when I couldn't be sure if I would survive unless I was baptized.
My mom knew that one of the elders was working in the first aid department, so she suggested I go there to find out. When I opened the door to the first aid department I was greeted with a bare breasted mother nursing her child!
I left in embarrassment and returned to my seat and told my mom about this unexpected obstacle. She told me that the first aid department and the nursing mothers section were sharing the same room. She told me to look immediately to my left when I entered the room and then take the first door to the left.
I did this with my hand shielding my face to prevent another embarrassing incident. I then learned that I could, in fact, get baptized. I also learned that a partition was expected that would divide the room into two sections. In the meantime, everybody was trying to make do with the current "theocratic arrangement".
I quickly found a seat for the remainder of the baptism talk and answered the two pre1985 questions that didn't involve being baptized into an organization.
After getting into my swimming trunks, I had to go down some long and narrow hallways and eventually came to a small pool in an utility room. It wasn't a very public expression of my dedication since it was only witnessed by one person who actually knew me, my mom.
And that was that. I was now qualified to conduct meetings for field service and direct car groups and did so on a regular basis because I was in a small congregation. The older sisters in the congregation had to submit to another bizarre "theocratic arrangement" that involved a preteen directing their actions in the ministry.
I may have forgotten about the details of my dedication prayer if it weren't for the strange and stressful events that happened before I was baptized. However, this came vividly back to my mind when I learned about the Watchtower association with the United Nations as an NGO for almost ten years. This was blatent spiritual fornication according to the understanding when I made my dedication. I felt that I wouldn't be living up to my dedication if I remained a Jehovah's Witness. I disassociated a few weeks later. By that time, I had many more reasons for wanting to leave, but the UN scandal was one of the most important.
I think it's ironic how my baptism directly led to my disassociation.