Thediarygame for 4th April, 2024: truly an African mother! A day for Spiritual instructions

An African mother from history is known for their dressing which must include 2 waste wrappers and a blouse. Over the years, I have learnt to tie these wrappers which I learned first from my mother and then from those I lived with.

But recently, it seems that this fashion is fading away with the advent of the western cultures. Rarely will you see an African mother on this attire.

Getting married, I inherited 2 different wrappers from my grand mother in-law and I had used them on few occasions. I also bought few for myself in the past.

But I rarely tie them because they don't allow me to move freely. Your movements are controlled on them and I don't like that. The last time I wore that wrapper was during my 13th wedding anniversary and during our unfailing love convention. It was fitting to tie that colour. But since then, I rarely remember to wear it.

Last year December, during our convention too, I thought of wearing it but it was damaged while trying to iron it but it has been fixed.

But on this day of my diary, I decided that I should wear it no matter the inconveniences. It was our Assembly.

A lot of preparations were made in relation to this Assembly.

First, it was the preassembly meeting of the Pioneers with the Circuit Overseer. I am my daughter went for this 5 hours spiritual instructions because we are pioneers. The need to love people and make disciples were emphasized. We understood that we should give attention to the people as we carry on our life saving messages. It included series of videos and demonstrations.

Then, the day of the assembly proper arrived. I also made preparations as a mother and wife.

Morning section

Waking up by 3am, I did my work on Steemit and headed to the kitchen. I mixed the dry ingredients and the sugar solution last night because I will be frying the egg rolls this morning. So, at the kitchen, I mixed the dough, cracked the boiled eggs and fried the egg rolls in 2 batches. Yes, we arranged to take this simple meal to the Assembly to share with our dear brothers and sisters. I finished frying by past 5am and kept it in a flat tray to cool off as well as drain the oil in it as you can see in the picture below

I immediately took my bathe and everyone took theirs too. We ate our breakfast of Garry and soup. Though little because it is a heavy food. The reason for this is because, since we are snacking for lunch, we need to be well fed in the morning so that the kids will not be hungry that much before we are back.

We planned to leave the house by 7am although the programme will begin by 9:50am. Being early helps us to feel relaxed and prepare our minds for the programs ahead. We can also take pictures that early before the starting time.

We all got ready and at that exact time, the driver arrived that will convey us to the location which will take about 30mins or less to get there. We booked this driver a week ago though he complained that his vehicle is bad at the late hour, but he arranged for another vehicle for us.

We joined the vehicle to our junction and stopped to buy soft drinks and to pick a family that we had invited to join us in the same vehicle.

We moved afterwards and got to the Assembly ground, we located where we wanted to seat and kept our belongings. Then it was time to take pictures before the program begins. We invited someone to help take the pictures while we posed

We had enough time to greet our dear brothers and sisters and friends who we have not seen for a long time. It was a happy moment! The kids got the chance to get set for the program. We had them use the rest room so that they won't walk up and down during the program. At exactly the time, the program of event was handed over to us

	the program

You can see the title of the program: Enter into God's rest and it is based on Hebrews 4:11 of the Holy scriptures.

The program has morning section, the there will be break and then afternoon section.

The morning section began 9:40am with a music. Then at exactly 9:50am, we started with song and prayer.

Each of the sections were further divided into 2. For instance, the morning program has 2 parts, each part was introduced with a song while prayers were said at the beginning, after baptismal talk and at the end.

First part of morning section	second part of the morning section
First part of the afternoon section	second part of the afternoon section

During break

The morning section ended with the baptismal candidates filed out for baptism. They were 5 in number. We remained standing until they were all filed out, then, we were dismissed. But we watched from our seats as they were baptized, emersed in a body of water and we clapped as they came out of the water

Getting the pool ready	ongoing baptism

We then had our lunch. We had the visits of others who also joined us. We also received foods and drinks from others while we shared ours too. It was really fun. Among those who came around was @bossj23.

	bossj23 at the rare

We ate and ate until we were filled. We had the egg rolls that I made along with soft drinks, we had rice and stew from the family we came with, we had donuts and bread from others. Trust me, it was really fun 😊 😊 😊 😊! After the food, we went round to visit others at other auditoriums. The Assembly halls are 3, Auditorium A, B and C. We were in B. That's where we like seating and in front because it faces the platform directly, that way, the kids can really get the most out of the program.

In these auditoriums are monitors that are scattered so that those at the rare can really benefit.

The afternoon section began in earnest

Afternoon Section

It began in earnest with experiences. Then it ran through to the watchtower summary. And then the symposium where people were interviewed. Young ones, sisters and then older ones gave their answers to the questions that were posed to them. I captured these 2 older ones who were aged 74 and 77. They told us how they have been serving Jehovah faithfully till now. These experiences were very encouraging!

The programs ran through till conclusion and in the end, the lessons learned are as follows

• Entering God's rest means that one should be obedient to God, for his guidance and instructions until he has actualised his purpose of bringing obedient mankind to perfection after the millennium reign of Christ

• We need to keep looking up to God for directions as we make good decisions in our personal lives, we will contribute to the growth in his organisation and we will enter his rest in the future

• for us to receive the blessings from Jehovah, we must put our deep love for Jehovah into action by being obedient. We protect our heart and put Jehovah's will above our personal preferences

Whether young or old, we must keep striving to cooperate with the Almighty, remaining obedient until the rest ends in the future. We need to keep working just like Jehovah and his son has been working until now.

At the end, we went and exchanged greetings again, with those we didn't see during the afternoon break and those we met. We had interchange of encouragement and then took pictures again as a group

Evening hours

Our driver soon arrived and we boarded and left. Getting home, we discussed the lessons learned as a family, how interesting it was and our resolve to apply what we learnt.

I am my husband went out to buy petrol and bread for breakfast in the morning. On getting home,nit was already late, I had asked my kids to prepare rice and beans before leaving. They prepared it and it was great. We had ours and I retired to continue my Steemit work.

Dressing like an African woman made more sense toe but I was uncomfortable on it. I don't even know when next I am going to wear that outfit again.