This morning Elder Richardson said he would drive us up to Zaison. So he and his wife and Elder and Sister Martin (mission doc) drove us all up to this monument. It has 293 steps to get to the top according to President Clark.
It is quite a climb and, when at the top, provides a great view of Ulaanbaatar (UB). The Richardson's were up here a year ago and noticed how much new construction there had been since then. Many of the buildings are just going up, but there are also some really nice ones already finished.
Notice the white tents (gers) in the
picture on the right. We were told
that these are the homes where the
construction workers live while they
are working on the project. They don't have running water so have to carry all their water from the water
station, which in this case, didn't seem too far away. Sometimes they have to carry water for several miles and many times more than 4-5 miles. But they are easy to take down and move when it is necessary.
ZAISON MONUMENT
This monument was built by the Russians and depicts some of the events that occurred while the Russians occupied Mongolia. It is made out of ceramic tiles, I think, and is very beautiful.
The picture above left is us with Ulaanbaatar City in the background. It was kind of a windy day, but was much nicer than the day before or the day after when it rained almost non-stop.
Elder and Sister Richardson.
This is also the place where Elder Neal A. Maxwell dedicated the land of Mongolia for missionary work on April 15, 1993. We read the dedicatory prayer while were there. He did such a nice job of tying in Mongolian lifestyle with the blessings of the gospel.
We stopped at the gift shop at the bottom of the monument and I bought a bone game--a traditional Mongolian game which is played with animal bones. We don't know the rules yet, but we hear they are available on the internet so will have to check that out. While at the giftshop, Alan tried on a traditional Mongolian hat. He still doesn't look very Mongolian, does he?
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