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Voice of the Saints in Mongolia

Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou
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Key Church Historical Events in Mongolia

YearKey Church Historical Events in Mongolia
1984Monte J. Brough, who would later be called to the Quorum of the Seventy, traveled to Mongolia on a hunting trip with his sons and fell in love with the Mongolian people.
1990–92Paul Hyer, chair of Graduate Asian Studies at Brigham Young University, procured a formal invitation for the Church to discuss humanitarian services in Mongolia.
1992May. Elders Merlin R. Lybbert and Monte J. Brough of the Asia Area Presidency met with Mongolian government officials to secure an agreement to provide missionaries to teach English and other subjects, and Mongolians join the Church if desired.
199217 September. The first Latter-day Saint missionary couple, Kenneth H. and Donna Beesley, arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and held the first sacrament meeting on 20 September in their apartment. Five other missionary couples arrived between October 1992 and May 1993, including Royce and Mary Flandro, Richard and Anna Harper, Stanley and Marjorie Smith, DuWayne and Alice Schmidt, and Gary and Barbara Carlson.
199211 October. Elders Richard Harper and Stanely Smith were set apart as first and second counselors in the branch presidency. Elder Kenneth H. Beesley was previously set apart as leading elder and branch president by Elders Packer and Maxwell in Salt Lake City, Utah.
199220 December. Marjorie Smith was called and set apart as the first branch Relief Society president in Mongolia.
19936 February. Purevsuren Lamjav and Bat-Ulzii Tsendkhuu were the first converts baptized in Mongolia.
199315 April. Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve, accompanied by Elder Tai Kwok Yuen of the Quorum of the Seventy and their spouses, visited and dedicated the land of Mongolia for the preaching of the gospel.
19938 May. Davaajargal Gendenjamts (Sylvia) was the third person and first female Mongolian to be baptized.
199319 May. Purevsuren Lamjav was the first Mongolian to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and assist in the administering and passing of the sacrament on 23 May.
199314 August. The first young missionaries arrived in Mongolia, including Elders Bart J. Birch, Duane L. Blanchard, Brent A. Hansen, Jared K. Meier, Curtis D. Mortensen, and Bradley J. Pierson.
199313 November. The first complete family was baptized in Mongolia. Enkhtuvshin Togtokh, previously baptized on 27 June 1993 in Germany, baptized his wife, Dashgerel Doyod, and children: Tamir, Anand, and Selenge.
199416 January. Four men became the first Mongolians ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood, including Purevsuren Lamjav, Bat-Ulzii Tsendkhuu, Enkhtuvshin Togtokh, and Batsuur Khaltan. Bat-Ulzii and Enkhtuvshin were set apart as counselors in the branch presidency.
199424 October. The Church was officially registered and recognized as a religious organization in Mongolia.
199514 March. Erdenet became the second city to be opened for missionary work.
199511 April. The first native Mongolians received mission calls, including Batchimeg Magsar, who was called to the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission, and Soyolmaa Urtnasan, who was called to the Utah Provo Mission.
19957 May. Elder John K. Carmack of the Quorum of the Seventy divided the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Branch. This branch was renamed the Selbe Branch with John Bennet as branch president and the new Tuul Branch with Gary E. Cox as branch president.
19951 July. The first mission in Mongolia was established with Richard E. Cook as the first president of the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission, accompanied by his wife, Mary N. Cook.
199524 September. Bat-Ulzii Tsendkhuu and Enkhtuvshin Togtokh became the first native Mongolians to be sustained and set apart as branch presidents for the Tuul and Selbe Branches respectively.
1995November 1995. Mission president Richard E. Cook and Mary N. Cook established seminary and institute programs in Mongolia with the help of Steven Iba.
199622 March. The first four young sister missionaries arrived in Mongolia, including Sheryl E. Mott, Natalie Romrell, Katherine Sego, and Marcie L. Wellman.
1996March. Darkhan was opened for missionary work.
199615 September. The first district, the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia District, was organized with Enkhtuvshin Togtokh as the first district president.
19961 October. The old theater building or the Children’s Cinema, built in 1876, was purchased and used as the first Church-owned meetinghouse in Mongolia.
199625 October. Enkhtuvshin Togtokh, his wife Dashgerel, and their five children attended the Hong Kong China Temple and were the first Mongolian family to be sealed in the temple.
1996The Church-sponsored humanitarian projects including helping the Scout Association of Mongolia, training professional accountants, building cold-weather housing, teaching English, and supplying relief for victims of grass fires.
1996Sister Elaine L. Jack, General President of the Relief Society, visited Mongolia.
199716 March. About 390 people attended the first district conference held at the Church-owed meetinghouse purchased in October 1996.
199712 June. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve visited with the chairman of the Mongolian Parliament, Dr. Gonchigdorj, who thanked the Church for the humanitarian assistance provided to Mongolia.
1997August 1997. The Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission had its thousandth baptism since the missionaries first arrived in 1992.
199815 March. Three new branches were organized in Ulaanbaatar, including Enkhtaivan, Songino, and Chingeltai Branches.
199831 May. The first branch was organized in Khovd.
1998July. President John H. Groberg, from the Asia Area Presidency, organized the Mongolian Service Center with Lewis and Johanna Miller as center directors.
1998September. Bishop Richard C. Edgley, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, visited Mongolia with Alan Lister, director of Temporal Affairs in the Manila Philippines administrative office, to consider temporal affair issues and review possible sites for building construction.
1998The cities of Sukhbaatar and Sainshand were opened for missionary work.
19996 June. The Children’s Cinema, or first Church-owned meetinghouse, was dedicated by President Richard E. Cook, counselor in the Asia Area Presidency.
1999Church membership in Mongolia included 1,850 members in nine branches.
2000Following a severe winter and the worst drought in sixty years, the Mongolian government requested international assistance, and the Church sent three shipping containers of clothing and quilts along with eight thousand food boxes.
2000March. Sister Virginia U. Jensen, First Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency, visited Mongolia and held firesides in Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan, and Erdenet.
200013 August. The Ulaanbaatar District was divided into the Ulaanbaatar District and the new Ulaanbaatar North District with Ganbold Dayaasambuu as the president of the new district.
2000October. Batbayar, Khavtgai, Enkhbaatar, Dashdavaa, Ganbaatar, Galbadrach, Nyamsuren, and Enkhtuvshin were part of a team of eight Mongolians who traveled to Utah to record the temple film in Mongolian.
2000October. The Liahona was printed in Mongolian for the first time.
20019 June. The first Church-built meetinghouse in Mongolia, the Darkhan meetinghouse, was dedicated by President Richard E. Cook, First Counselor in the Asia Area Presidency.
2001October. The translation of the Mongolian Book of Mormon was completed and the first copies were printed and arrived in the country with missionaries returning to Mongolia.
2002The first native male Mongolian missionaries were called to serve in Mongolia.
2003Two new meetinghouses, the Nalaikh and Selenge chapels, were completed and dedicated.
2003Church members distributed 2,500 pounds of clothing, household goods, shoes, and hygiene kits after severe rain and widespread flooding in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
200418 April. The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Mission was reorganized into the Ulaanbaatar District with Ganbold Dayaasambuu as district president and the Darkhan District with Soronzonbold Alyeksandr as district president.
200414 June. The new five-story Bayanzurkh building was dedicated by President John B. Dickson, Asia Area President. This multipurpose building included district and branch offices and classrooms, mission home and offices, and other areas for distribution, translation, family history, employment, and Seminaries and Institutes offices.
200417–19 June. About four hundred youth participated in the first youth conference in Mongolia at the Bayanzurkh building in Ulaanbaatar.
200424 September. The first Church broadcast was seen in Mongolia in the Bayanzurkh building. It was a broadcast of the general Relief Society meeting and by general conference the following weekend.
200415 October. Preach My Gospel was introduced to all 338 missions of the Church.
200519 August. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, visited Mongolia.
2006November. Mission president Wallace Bryner met with US ambassador to Mongolia Mark Minton to share about the Church’s humanitarian efforts and missionary service in Mongolia.
200720–21 January. President Donald L. Hallstrom, from the Asia Area Presidency, dedicated the new Church buildings in Chingeltei and Darkhan, respectively.
200720–27 August. Elder Earl C. Tingey of the Presidency of the Seventy visited humanitarian projects and taught and trained members and missionaries.
200713–15 October. Bishop Keith B. McMullin of the Presiding Bishopric visited and held a fireside in Ulaanbaatar.
200716 December. The new Mongolian triple combination (the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) was distributed at firesides held throughout the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission.
2008August. The first nationwide youth conference in Mongolia was held with 450 youth in Yanzaga.
2009January. First sign language missionaries arrived, and sign language groups began in Erdenet, Choibalsan, and Darkhan.
200915–18 February. Elder Russell M. Nelson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, visited Mongolia.
20097 June. President Donald H. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy organized the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia West Stake with Odgerel Ochirjav as the first stake president in Mongolia.
200913 September. Batbayar Tserendorj was called as the first stake patriarch in Mongolia.
2009Changes in the government’s legal system and quotas on visas limited the number of foreigners allowed in the country, restricting the number of missionaries that could enter the country.
2009Hymns were selected for the updated Mongolian hymnbook, along with music for the Children’s Songbook.
2010January and February. Following a summer drought and snowstorms that destroyed millions of livestock, the Church provided clothing, food, candles, medicine, hygiene items, and fuel in conjunction with the Mongolian State Emergency Commission.
201017 April. A choir festival was held in the Drama Palace in Ulaanbaatar to celebrate Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s dedication of Mongolia in 1993.
2010The Church Handbook of Instructions was published in Mongolian.
201126–29 May. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve visited Mongolia as part of the annual review of the Asia Area.
2012June. A total of ninety-six youth and twenty-six adult leaders gathered in Erdenet and participated in the first handcart trek in Mongolia.
201315 April. There was a week of events to celebrate twenty years of the Church in Mongolia. Over three hundred members summitted Zaisan Hill in Ulaanbaatar to commemorate the dedication.
201629 May. The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia East Stake was created with Adiyabold Namkhai as stake president.
2018Various events throughout the year celebrated twenty-five years of the Church in Mongolia.
201819 May. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve visited Mongolia.
20191 August. Following boundary and administrative changes, the supervision of the Church in Mongolia was transferred from the Asia Area to the Asia North Area Presidency.
2020Global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in closures and evacuation of missionaries in Mongolia for a time.