Sunday August 30^th Sister Woodward and I were invited to a birthday party for Mahendra Prasad. He is 58 years old, has only one leg, and lives in Siberia. He has trouble making it to church because it is a long walk, and his wife prefers to attend a closer Hindi church. A week before, Elder Kumar said Brother Prasad wanted me to MC the party and dedicate the house.

When we arrived Sunday evening, I was relieved to hear that the local minister would MC. We were immediately escorted inside the house. We greeted the women making food preparations, and Brother Prasad had me dedicate his house.

We went back out and sat down. I watched as people came in and just sat on the mat on the ground and quietly waited. There were four or five 6 or 7 year olds just a few feet in front of me. They were staring at the front empty table with a tablecloth and floral arrangement. It was as if they were in school waiting for the teacher to come. I could not resist. I showed them how to do the circle trick where one hand turns one way in front of me at the same time as the other hand turns the opposite way. Then I told them if they want to be really fancy, they could make one circle turn slowly, while spinning the other quickly. They tried really hard, but no one succeeded. They just laughed. Then I sat in front of them and tried to teach them Simon Says. They followed all my actions even when Simon did not say. I tried to explain, and I had the sister missionaries try to explain. They still followed all my actions; therefore, being the old teacher, I changed the activity and the teachers. I had the Sister Missionaries teach them some songs like, “The Wise Man Built a House upon a Rock,” “Popcorn,” “Once there was a Snowman,” etc. That went better.

Just before the party started, Elder Kumar brought me a program written in cursive and said I was the MC again. It was not a good sign that I could not pronounce the first name. Sister Woodward and I were then escorted to sit in chairs at the front table with the birthday boy and his wife. What an honor.

Mahendra Prasad -58th birthday

There were about eighty people at the celebration. All but a chosen few sat on empty feed bags sewn together to make a mat on the ground with a temporary tin roof above. It was decked out to the max with streamers, balloons, and posts decorated with woven palm fawns.

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The Program felt somewhat like the Battle of the Religions --Opening song “The Spirit of God” led by Sister Fui. (The LDS members were the only ones singing.) The local minister gave the opening prayer. Testimonies by the Sisters and the Elders, Four Hindi church songs led by the Minister, remarks by Me, and closing Prayer by Sister Woodward. 

In Rex’s closing remarks, he said how rich and blessed Brother Prasad was to have that many good friends and family. It showed how good of a friend he was. We melted into the crowd while they took pictures.

Hindi Minister playing the guitar and singing with the group

Then they brought out a regular sized two layer heart-shaped cake and some candles. His wife arranged about fifteen candles almost touching right in the middle of the cake. When Brother Prasad lit them, it turned into a glowing inferno; and by the time they sang Happy Birthday, the candles were less than ¼ inch long. 

When he finally tried to blow them out, three of them restarted like trick candles twice, and the whole thing lit back up. The third time was the charm. Everyone clapped 58 times to wish him a happy birthday. His wife cut a tiny piece and gently gave him a bite. Then he gently fed it to her.

After the cutting of the cake, the minister went up and put a hand on Brother Prasad’s one shoulder while another man put his hand on the other shoulder, and the minister gave him a very long and very loud blessing in Hindi.

When they moved to sit with the crowd, we went back and sat on the front chairs. 

They brought each guest a big square of plastic wrap and served treats on them. 

Instead of giving us plastic, they treated us like guests of honor and brought us each a beautiful china bowl. One lady insisted that we needed a small table. We assured them that we were fine, but they brought the table anyway. After treats, they offered us each a plate. We were a little confused, and said we were good, and we melted back into the crowd. They brought out plates for everyone and heaped on them the main rice dish. We're not used to having dessert served first.

They also brought out Grog for the men. Grog is an addictive drink that numbs the mouth and brain. When I said “No” to Grog, they asked, “Is it not allowed? I told them I didn’t want any.

Since we didn’t eat any of the main dish; before we left, they gave us a big container of food to take home. When we got to the truck, we gave the food to the very appreciative Seaqaqa Elders. Since only two families of members live within the city limits, they seldom get fed by the members. They were happy to have some food.