Jonas's Father tells Jonas a story about when he was younger and his ceremony of 12 was coming up and how he felt. Jonas starts thinking about all the other Ceremonies he's witnessed, like The Ceremony for the Ones, when Lily was one. Every year, there are exactly fifty babies. And when they turn one, they get named assigned to their families. Jonas's Father confesses that he can take a look at the naming list before it's publicly announced, and he's already done so for the little sick baby boy he talked about earlier named Gabriel. This ceremony takes place every year in December for 2 days. Every year there is a specific prize that every child gets at that specific age. For example, when they’re nine, they get a bicycle. Every child becomes a year older together, no one has an individual birthday. Although it's against the rules to ride a bike before a child turns nine, this is one of the few rules that everybody breaks. Once the rules are established in the community, they're really hard to change and they are decided by the Elders.
The Ceremony of Twelve is when everyone learns what his or her profession is going to be. Since Jonas's Father was always so good with kids, he knew he'd be a Nurturer. It turns out that the Elders watch the young people to figure out what job they should have. Jonas wonders what Asher will be assigned, since Asher has a very lenient and fun character.  Jonas's Father explains that the Ceremony of Twelve is the last ceremony and that after that, no one keeps track of how old he/she is anymore. They stop seeing their friends, and life basically becomes about their work after that. At that moment, Lily shows up to ask for her comfort object. Her Mother reminds her that when she becomes an Eight, she won't be allowed to keep her comfort object anymore. The object is a stuffed elephant, which Lily receives and happily takes to bed with her. Jonas knows that comfort objects are always imaginary creatures, like elephants. His own had also been an imaginary creature, called a bear. So the parents go back to their duties but Jonas still has no idea what he might be assigned as a profession.