20th year anniverary at Zaison Hill

Audience for the 20th year commemoration of the dedication of Mongolia for the preaching of the gospel

The Russians built a friendship monument between Mongolia and Russia in the 1960s on top of Zaison Hill. The site commands a beautiful view of Ulaanbaatar.

In recent years there has been a lot of growth and development in this part of Ulaanbaatar. The monument has a circular mural with many scenes of Russian/Mongolian cooperation against the Germans and also the Japanese.

Tawny and Tara in front of Buddha

A park with a golden Buddha as its centerpiece is just below Zaison. We visited that park prior to the ceremony that was to take place at 4:00pm.

Snow-capped Buddha

On April 15, Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the 12 apostles dedicated Mongolia for the preaching of the gospel. There were 2 members and 6 investigators present. Other church, civic and governmental leaders were also a part of the dedication. It was a windy day and it was difficult to hear.


View of Russian-Mongolian Friendship monument on Zaison Hill from below.

In commemoration of this event, the church planned a week of events to celebrate 20 years of the gospel being in Mongolia. One of the main events was at Zaison Hill at 4:00 pm, the exact hour of the first meeting.

Our family on Zaison Hill

Elder Maxwell's prayer was broadcast over a loudspeaker. The audio recording of the prayer had been technologically enhanced to eliminate the sounds of the whistling wind.



I helped sweep the stairs

It was a snowy day and the members turned out in force to shovel and sweep the stairs leading up to the monument.

One sweep ahead of the crowd
 

The choir did a great job

A choir sang an a capella rendition of "High on a Mountain Top" in Mongolian. 



View of new high school and apartment buildings from Zaison Hill



Then after an opening prayer, remarks were given by President Clark, Sister Cook - wife of the first mission president, and Elder Tai who was present for the dedicatory prayer in 1993.

Ulzickz and her mother Naranchimeg were there

Then Elder Maxwell's dedicatory prayer was broadcast to the audience followed by a Mongolian translation read a paragraph at a time by several members.

President and Sister Clark greeting members and guests

The snowy setting, the crowd and the enthusiasm told its own story of how the gospel has progressed in Mongolia.

Jiguur translating for Sister Cook

Afterward many people crowded into our van to get back to the center of town.


The celebration ends

We had dinner waiting for us at the apartment. After two big days, we and our daughters didn't go anywhere else that evening.



Will they be here for the 40th year celebration?