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In an address by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland to the Saints in Mongolia, he commended the Mongolian sisters for their faithfulness, saying, “Women of the Church have always borne the flag of faith.”[1] This paper will explore the faith and voice of the pioneer Latter-day Saint women from Mongolia, highlighting these magnificent Mongolian sisters who have raised their flags of faith in their homeland, drawing others to the gospel and to Jesus Christ. They include Davaajargal (Sylvia) Gendemjamts (the first Mongolian sister to be baptized and serve as Relief Society president), Oyun Altangerel (an advocate for religious freedom and the mother of the first stake president), Dashgerel Doyod (a member of the first Mongolian family sealed in the temple), Batchimeg Magsar (the first Mongolian missionary), Soyolmaa Urtnasan (the first female service center manager), Munkhtsetseg (Monica) Dugarsuren (a translator of the Mongolian Book of Mormon), Buted Altangerel (an opera singer and the wife of the first patriarch in Mongolia), and Tuvshinjargal Gombo (a public affairs representative and international liaison).

The Church in Mongolia

Mongolia is a nation in Asia, landlocked by Russia to the north and China to the south. In this “land of the eternal blue sky” where “children learn to ride a horse before they learn to walk,”[2] the nomadic history of Mongolia continues to thrive with a low population density of three million in the country’s 605,000 square miles (1,566,000 square kilometers). Mongolia has been ruled by the Mongol Empire, the Manchu Qing dynasty, and the Soviet Union. However, the country gained its independence in the 1989–90 democratic revolution. This new government guaranteed religious freedom, helping pave the way for the establishment of The Church in Mongolia.[3] Elder Monte J. Brough of the Seventy was a key part in opening the country to the Church. He first visited Mongolia on a hunting trip with his sons and fell in love with both the country and its people. When the First Presidency assigned him and Elder Merlin Lybbert to explore the possibility of opening the country, they visited it and found a significant need for improved higher education. They sent a proposal, which was approved in June 1992 by the First Presidency, for the first missionaries to be sent to Mongolia in a capacity both secular and religious.[4]

The first missionaries to Mongolia were six couple missionaries assigned to assist with the Mongolian education system. They taught at local universities in their fields of study including curriculum development, policy planning, medicine, and others. In their spare time they were permitted to preach the gospel.[5] The missionaries established the first branch in Mongolia on October 11, 1992, in Ulaanbaatar, and the Church was officially recognized in 1994.[6] As of January 2023 the Church reported more than twelve thousand members, two stakes, twenty-four congregations, and one mission. This growth is largely influenced by several faithful women who joined the Church in its early days in Mongolia.

Latter-day Saint Women in Mongolia[7]

First Mongolian Relief Society President

Elder and Sister Harper with Davaajargal Gendenjamts (Sylvia) at her baptism in Ulaanbaatar on May 8, 1993. Courtesy of Odgerel Orchijav.

Davaajargal (Sylvia) Gendemjamts visited the first little Mongolian branch on December 13, 1992, just a few short months after it had been established. She had been a student of one of the missionary couples and had become interested in learning more.[8] On May 8, 1993, she became both the third convert to the Church and the first woman to be baptized in Mongolia, and thereafter she regularly helped the missionaries translate and teach.[9] Sister Marjorie Smith, a senior missionary serving as the Relief Society president at the time shared of Davaajargal, “She had already been a great missionary for us in bringing her friends to church, some of whom had begun receiving the discussions.”[10]

Davaajargal later served as the first Mongolian Relief Society president and was sustained on January 9, 1994. She was very nervous to receive such an important responsibility. But with support from the missionaries, she was willing to lead the sisters in the small but growing branch. Sister Smith once again spoke of this miraculous time, “I am really glad to see the members progress so they can take the responsibilities of the branch. . . . It was great to see the locals take over.”[11] Davaajargal called Sisters Donna Beesley and Sansartuya (Cosmos) Myagmarjav as her counselors and Enkhjargal Tsend as their secretary.[12] Davaajargal’s efforts to bring people to the Church and her service as Relief Society president helped to establish and strengthen this first branch in Mongolia, setting the foundation for its growth in the coming years.

Advocate for Religious Freedom

Before Oyun Altangerel was introduced to the Church, she did much to oppose communism and support the fight for religious freedom. While working at the State Central Library, Oyun organized a hunger strike in favor of freedoms. When communism ended in 1990, she became the first woman to join the Democratic Society and returned to work at the library in 1992 after the revolution.[13] Elder Dallin H. Oaks, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke of these difficult circumstances and of Oyun’s courage in a speech he gave on religious freedom at BYU–Idaho in 2009:

In that precarious environment, a forty-two-year-old married woman, Oyun Altangerel, a department head in the State Library, courageously took some actions that would prove historic. Acting against official pressure, she organized a Democratic Association Branch Council. This twelve-member group, the first of its kind, spoke out for democracy and proposed that state employees have the freedoms of worship, belief, and expression, including the right to belong to a political party of their choice. When Oyun and others were fired from their state employment, Oyun began a hunger strike in the State Library. Within three hours she was joined by twenty others, mostly women, and their hunger strike, which continued for five days, became a public demonstration that took their grievances to the people of Mongolia. This demonstration, backed by major democratic movement leaders, encouraged other government employees to organize similar democratic councils. These dangerous actions expanded into a national antigovernment movement that voiced powerful support for the basic human freedoms of speech, press, and religion. Eventually the government accepted the demands, and in the adoption of a democratic constitution two years later Mongolia took a major step toward a free society.[14]

Oyun Altangerel, shown here in 2018, was an advocate for religious freedom. Courtesy of Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou.

Following the revolution and Oyun’s return to working at the library, she one day felt impressed to go to the library with her grandson on a Sunday, even though she didn’t work on Sundays. When she got there, she could hear people singing in the auditorium and her grandson wanted to go listen, so they went in to see. She said, “There were so many Americans and [a] few Mongolians. A beautiful sister with a beautiful dress invited me in. It was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, renting the auditorium on Sundays.” She took the missionary lessons and added, “It was my first time to hear the gospel. Once I heard it, I loved it. I wanted to be a member of the Church. I was baptized on December 25, 1993.”[15]

Oyun’s mother and sister were baptized soon thereafter, and she wanted her son, Odgerel Orchijav, to attend church as well. Like many youth in Mongolia, Odgerel had adopted a culture of drinking and Oyun wanted him to stop drinking. She convinced him to visit church with her, and he eventually stopped drinking and was baptized two years after his mother.[16] Oyun was later endowed in the Laie Hawaii Temple and remarked,

I never saw a place so beautiful. We went together as a family, and I felt a calm feeling there. I did work for our ancestors, . . . and after a session at night, I had a beautiful dream. I saw the spirit of my ancestors smiling at me. The next day also, I did more saving work and felt great. During the discussion lessons with the missionaries, they told me we can live together again. My dad and little brother passed away before, so I wanted to do their work. [At that point] my mom [had] also passed away, but I was able to do her endowment in the Hong Kong Temple. So we are connected to each other now. I love the temple.[17]

Oyun was a major influence for the growth of the Church in Mongolia and was a great strength to the local members. She served as a Relief Society president and further expanded her service. She organized many activities for the sisters, including sewing and cooking lessons. When winters were especially cold, the sisters would make blankets and other sewing projects for those in need. Oyun said of her experience, “The mothers and women in the family have so much impact on their family. I love Relief Society activities because they help us to learn from each other, and how to be self-reliant and how to serve.”[18]

Members in Ulaanbaatar had the opportunity to view the first ever broadcasted general conference in Mongolia in 2004. Oyun shared of her experience listening to the general conference broadcasts over the years, “I love listening to the apostles, especially their message for us during their general conference talks. . . . They are great examples.” She recalled watching general conference in Mongolia for many years. “We had the [general conference] broadcast using a projector and listened to it in our own language. It was nice [that] it [was] all translated,” said Oyun. She explained, “Sometimes we read the Book of Mormon and can’t see modern-day examples in it. . . . But general conference is wise advice from our leaders for our day.”[19]

Mongolia’s First Family

Dashgerel Doyod was introduced to Christianity after a friend shared a movie with her that she had seen at her evangelical church in 1992. The movie taught about prayer and about Jesus Christ, and Dashgerel and her husband, Enkhtuvshin Togtokh, were touched by its message and continued to practice praying. During this time, the economy of Mongolia was greatly suffering because the government was transitioning from communist to democratic. Dashgerel recalled one day feeling distraught because of the challenges she and her family were facing. She cried out to God in prayer and asked for a blessing on the economy and on her family. The next morning, the family received a package from someone in Germany containing sweets, soups, chocolate, and more. Dashgerel’s sister had received a similar package, but neither family knew who the packages were from. They learned later that a Christian church had asked for addresses for the poor in Mongolia so that the members could send food packages. Dashgerel felt this was a direct answer to her prayer.[20]

Enkhtuvshin Togtokh with his wife, Dashgerel Doyod, and children become the first Mongolian family to be sealed when they were sealed in the Hong Kong China Temple in October 1996. Courtesy of Enkhtuvshin Togtokh and Dashgerel Doyod.

Enkhtuvshin had an opportunity to study abroad for three months in 1993 and chose to go to Germany. He was baptized while living abroad on June 27, 1993.[21] He wrote a letter to Dashgerel inviting her to join the Church but didn’t know how this would be possible because he didn’t know there were missionaries in the country. He returned to Mongolia and rejoiced to find that there were missionaries in his home country after seeing them at a department store.[22] Dashgerel chose to be baptized along with three of the family’s five children (two were not yet old enough), Tamir Enkhtuvshin, Selenge Enkhtuvshin, and Anand Enkhtuvshin, on November 13, 1993.[23]

Dashgerel and her family were sealed on October 25, 1996, in the Hong Kong China Temple; they were the first Mongolian family to participate in this ordinance. Dashgerel said of her experience, “In 1996, on October 25th, we went to the Hong Kong temple. . . . We were the first Mongolian family sealed together as an eternal family in the Hong Kong temple, my husband and I and our five children. Also, we had our sixth child born later in 1999, a girl, who was the first Mongolian child born in the covenant.”[24] Mission records also mentioned the event as “a significant milestone in both the histories of the mission, and of the Church [in Mongolia].”[25]

First Mongolian Sister Missionary

Batchimeg Magsar had long believed in God and liked to read books about religion, despite the communist regime. After the departure of communism in 1992, many Christian churches began to expand. Batchimeg said of her introduction and conversion to the Church,

In 1992 there were lots of Christian churches in Mongolia opening their doors. I got a copy of the New Testament of the Bible. As I read it, I had a burning sensation and I knew that what was written in this book was true. My whole being was burning and I knew that Jesus Christ was real. . . . When my uncle passed away, he was only 41 years old. So I began wondering what happens to us after this life. My friend was going to an American church, so I bugged her about going to her church. . . . As I entered the church, I had a peaceful feeling. I felt I belonged there, and I also loved the hymns. I met with the missionaries for three months and then got baptized.[26]

Batchimeg Magsar, shown in 2018, was the first missionary from Mongolia. Courtesy of Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou.

Batchimeg said that although it was difficult to communicate with and understand the missionaries, she “could tell the elders meant what they said when they bore testimonies.”[27] With faith and with many questions answered by the gospel of Jesus Christ about the purpose of life. Batchimeg was baptized on March 21, 1994. Four months later, Batchimeg traveled to Russia to study where she sought to find the missionaries so she could continue attending church. One day while walking around the city, she saw sister missionaries for the first time. She did not know if it would be possible for her to serve, but she knew it was what she wanted. One of the sister missionaries, who was from Armenia, shared with her, “If you are willing, the Lord will call you!” and encouraged her to talk to the mission president in Russia. The mission president then helped her know how to fill out a missionary application when she returned to Mongolia.[28]

Batchimeg was one of the first native Mongolians to receive a mission call along with Soyolmaa Urtnasan on April 11, 1995. Soyolmaa received her call a week after Batchimeg. Batchimeg was called to the Utah Salt Lake City Mission, and Soyolmaa was called to the Utah Provo Mission.[29] She started her mission in the summer of 1995 and completed her mission in January 1997.[30] Upon her return, she was called to serve as the district Relief Society president. She said, “The members need a lot of support here because the Church is so new here,” adding that she would regularly travel to all the branches within the district to conduct trainings for each of the Relief Society presidencies and sisters. Batchimeg remembered the experience fondly, explaining that it was lots of fun as she learned together with her counselors.[31]

In 2000 Batchimeg was studying at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, when she was asked to assist with translation of the temple ceremony script into Mongolian. Batchimeg worked with Khavtgai Shar, then second counselor in the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia District, to translate the temple ordinances and the temple film in March 2000.[32] Batchimeg said, “We were blessed from head to toe, both physically and spiritually to help with the translation.” Her translation work continued in 2007 when she was asked to be a part of the scripture review team for translating a new version of the Mongolian triple combination.[33]

Batchimeg also worked at the Mongolian Service Center for a time. While she was working there in May 2011, Batchimeg had the opportunity to be in a meeting with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when he visited Mongolia to meet with government officials, missionaries, and local members of the Church. Batchimeg said of her experience, “To me, the most memorable part of Elder Holland’s speech . . . was that we would be the ones to lead this country, . . . and the Lord depended on us. He also blessed us that we would have righteous rulers in the country, so we would have a bright future.”[34]

Batchimeg’s contribution to the growth of the Church in Mongolia is especially due to the love she has for her people. She shared, “Mongolian people are good people. . . . They are very friendly, and they have good thoughts about others. If they will hear the gospel and join the Church, their lives will be better.”[35] Her light continues to shine and her influence for good invigorates members of the Church worldwide.

First Female Service Center Manager

Soyolmaa Urtnasan, shown in 2018, was the first female service center manager for the Church. Courtesy of Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou.

Soyolmaa Urtnasan was first introduced to the Church shortly after her friend Batchimeg Magsar joined the Church. Soyolmaa mentioned, “[Batchimeg] wouldn’t drink tea, told me about the Church, and invited me to come see. I said yes, and as soon as I said it, I felt something and was excited to go. We met at the Peace and Friendship Palace. When I met with the missionaries, I thought the six missionary elders all looked the same. I was a golden investigator. My friend had been baptized about a week earlier, and after taking the lessons a few weeks, I was also baptized . . . on June 11, 1994.”[36]

Soyolmaa was quickly called to be the Young Women president in her new branch. As a new branch president, Elder Gary Cox had just arrived and was hoping to fill as many leadership positions with local members as he could. He said, “Developing new leaders is never easy, but the members have responded with enthusiasm. YW [Young Women] and Primary leaders have done exceptionally well.”[37] Soyolmaa had six to seven young women in her branch’s Young Women organization.[38]

Shortly after Soyolmaa’s baptism, Batchimeg shared with her that they could serve missions, so they decided to put in their mission papers together about one year after Soyolmaa’s baptism. Soyolmaa was called around April 1995, just a week or two after Batchimeg received her call, to serve in the Utah Provo Mission from June 1995 until January 1997.[39] Soyolmaa recalled,

I was excited for my mission call because I would get to go to the United States, and I could be a missionary. I didn’t know much about the Church then or what a mission was like. But I had translated for the missionaries before and already knew some of the missionary discussion lessons. I was trained while translating. My friend and I both spoke Russian, so we could read the Book of Mormon in Russian and didn’t know much about being a missionary. When we arrived, a missionary couple met us and took us to the Salt Lake Temple for our own endowment. I loved my mission, and my conversion was deepened.[40]

When Soyolmaa returned from her mission in 1997, she was called to be the district Young Women president. She said of this time, “I was overwhelmed and had much pressure as a returned missionary. I was called upon to do everything, to teach, to give talks, and so forth.”[41] When Soyolmaa got a job in 1998, she stopped going to church but kept contact with the mission president in Mongolia, Gary Cox. Eventually, President Cox called and said that the service center, an administrative office of the Church located in Mongolia, needed a secretary and asked her to come in and interview. Soyolmaa recalled, “The salary with the Church was part-time and one-third of the supervisor job I had with the other company. I was thinking about it, but it was not very appealing. But I had a younger brother who was becoming a ‘street boy.’ My other job was demanding, so I thought that part-time might give me more personal time and allow me to spend time with my brother to help him. So I accepted the job with the Church service center.”[42]

Munkhtsetset (Monica) Dugarsuren, shown in 2017, translated the Book of Mormon into Mongolian. Courtesy of Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou.

Soyolmaa started as a part-time secretary in 1999, followed by the Materials Management supervisor in 2001, and Mongolian Service Center Manager from 2009 to 2018. She was the first woman to become a service center manager of the Church.[43] Her responsibilities in this position included the oversight of service center operations including materials management, self-reliance services, membership statistical records, finance, the publishing service department, and translation. Of her experience, Soyolmaa shared, “The work at the temporal affairs office or the Mongolian Service Center is challenging. There are many issues we face with missionary visas, etc. . . . But we are just instruments in his hands, and we see miracles every day because Heavenly Father is in charge.”[44] Her message continues to ring true for Mongolia.

Translator of the Mongolian Book of Mormon

Munkhtsetseg (Monica) Dugarsuren was born and raised in Ulaanbaatar in June 1970. Munkhtsetseg spent her summers at her grandmother’s home in the countryside, where her father would often meet with a monk who had a set of old scriptures that they would regularly visit about. Munkhstetseg was anxious to learn and worked hard for her family, traveling to Russia in 1989 to work and study for her bachelor’s degree. When Munkhtsetseg returned to Mongolia in 1993, she attended the baptism of her cousin and began taking English classes and gospel discussions form the missionaries. She said, “[I] was taking the discussions cautiously. One day as I was standing outside of the missionaries’ home, Elder [Richard] Cook [one of the senior missionaries] came out, put his hand around me and said, ‘Elders, it is time for her to be baptized.’ So I decided to get baptized on September 10, 1994.” Munkhtsetseg also shared that she was “fascinated with languages [and] began teaching the missionaries [Mongolian]” before she had been baptized. Later, her sister, brother, and parents were baptized. Her parents were sealed nine years later in the Laie Hawaii Temple and then to each of their children in different temples: Lā‘ie, Hawai‘i; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.[45]

About a year after her baptism in 1995, Munkhstetseg was asked to help Elder Richard Cook and his wife, Mary, establish the first mission in Mongolia. She helped in the mission office with cooking, cleaning, and setting up apartments; applying for visas; and translating and interpreting for President Cook wherever he went to teach in Mongolia.[46] In 1996 a visitor from the Church’s Translation Department, Gary Mackleprang, visited the mission to explore the idea of translating the Book of Mormon into Mongolian. He asked Munkhtsetseg for a writing sample in Mongolia, which she completed but forgot about until several months later as she was working on her mission papers. One day, however, President Cook approached her and informed her that her writing sample had been the best and the Church Translation Department had requested her help with the Book of Mormon translation. Munkhtsetseg shared, “I was working on my mission papers, but I would also love to do the Book of Mormon translation. I couldn’t decide because I loved both, and President Cook was leaving that summer. I told him that I would be happy to do either—whatever the Church decided. I would send in my mission papers, and I would also say okay to helping with the Book of Mormon translation.”[47]

Munkhtsetseg finished her papers and submitted them, waiting several months before she received a call to serve in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission, reporting to the Provo Missionary Training Center in 1996. While serving as a missionary, her mission president asked her to meet with Gary Mackelprang from the Church Translation Department. He invited her to be the primary translator of the Mongolian Book of Mormon. At first Munkhtsetseg thought, “No way—there is no way for me to be the main translator. . . . I am just a new member with no gospel knowledge, and I just read my scriptures in Russian.” However, she followed direction from the Lord and decided to accept the call. She was set apart by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Brother Mackelprang, and his supervisor, Brother Burrup. She started in February 1997 and continued her translation until the end of her mission in March 1998.[48] She described her experience as follows: “I began to translate, . . . and it felt like I was being blown by a strong wind or a firestorm. Some days I couldn’t use a pen to write fast enough. . . . Using a pencil to write was much faster [she could erase and rewrite]. . . . I would write on the right side of the page, but I couldn’t keep up with everything flowing into my mind, as more thoughts on how to translate would come faster than I could write.”[49]

She was able to continue her translation work when she returned from her mission to Mongolia. She and her team completed the translation in December 1999, and it was published on October 18, 2001, becoming the one hundredth translation of the Book of Mormon.[50]

Munkhtsetseg later joined the Mongolian translation committee in Salt Lake City to review the translations of the temple ordinances. She then worked with the voice-over team that recorded the ordinances for the temple ceremony. She also acted as a tour guide for the visiting Mongolian members of the committee, bringing them to the Provo Utah Temple and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to attend church. After church, the group had a chance to meet with President Hinckley following a church meeting. Munkhtsetseg said of the experience, “President Hinckley was at the meeting and we caught him after the meeting. . . . He was very nice. We brought him a gift from Mongolia and took pictures with him.”[51]

Munkhtsetseg’s work in translating the Book of Mormon and the temple ordinances and ceremonies into Mongolian increased accessibility to the gospel of Jesus Christ for Mongolians. She said of the growth of her testimony throughout this work, “I came to know Jesus Christ. . . . The Lord sent his angels to help me, and I could feel his presence guiding my mind and hand in this work.”[52]

Opera Singer and Wife of First Patriarch in Mongolia

Buted Altangerel with her husband at their baptism in 1998. She was a famous opera singer, and her husband was a district president and the first stake patriarch in Mongolia. Courtesy of Buted Altangerel.

Buted Altangerel first attended sacrament meeting in May 1998 when one of her music students, Unurjargal Purev, invited her to church for a Mother’s Day activity. Her parents had recently passed away, and she was glad to be invited to the meeting. The next week, her husband, Batbayar Tseredorj, joined her at church, and they began meeting with the missionaries. The two were baptized together in September 1998 in Ulaanbaatar. Batbayar later served as the first stake patriarch in Mongolia in 2009.[53] Buted was called to be the choir director and coordinator shortly after her baptism, traveling around Mongolia helping each ward and branch to organize a choir. Buted had an impressive musical background as an opera singer for her career; she had also received the Honored Actress of Mongolia award. She recalled,

The opera theater was created in Mongolia and they wanted to prepare singers. I took and passed the test and went to Bulgaria in 1963. . . . I came back in 1969 and worked as an opera singer. It was six years in Bulgaria, then back to Mongolia. I sang the main role in about thirty plays. I sang in the Mongolia Opera Theater and sang in Bulgarian and Russian [in] the traditional opera or love triangle. I have a picture taken in 1981. At the 60th anniversary of Mongolia’s independence, I sang the main role. . . . Mongolians from the “Opera and Dance State Academic Theater” sang for all of . . . Mongolia’s special celebrations. I sang for ten traditional operas and the international classic opera.[54]

In 2008 Buted organized a Christmas choir following the BYU–Hawaii Concert Choir tour in Mongolia. She designed musical performances that included theatrical elements focused on the birth of Christ. The devotional was held on December 25, 2008, and introduced many Mongolians to Christmas.[55] The choir also performed for dignitaries and ambassadors at the embassies of the United States and United Kingdom. After that, the choir was invited to perform nearly every year by television stations for their broadcasts on Christmas.

After Buted joined the Church, she loved listening to performances by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and hoped that one day she would have an opportunity to sing with them. She mentioned her desire to the Mongolian mission president, Jay D. Clark, and he organized for Buted to fly to Utah in 2013 to sing with the choir. She shared the following:

I sat with the sopranos, the tone was still and small, but I had a powerful feeling with them. I sang five pieces with them: four regular hymns and one from Mozart. They videotaped me and gave me a copy of the wonderful video recording. It was a great moment in my church and singing. Although it was not an actual concert, it was a rehearsal with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s general practice with three visitors from Poland, the United States, and me from Mongolia. I saw the concert on Sunday and was in the audience, when they mentioned I had practiced with them previously.[56]

Tuvshingargal Gombo and her husband in 2018. She served as the public affairs representative for the Church in Mongolia and worked with Deseret International Charities and humanitarian services of the Church in Mongolia. Courtesy of Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou.

Buted returned to Mongolia and continued to serve in her calling assisting choirs across the country. She shared that although the choir members had not been trained to sing, they had “much heart and love for singing.”[57] In 2013 when the Church in Mongolia celebrated its twentieth anniversary since the dedication of Mongolia to preaching the gospel by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Buted organized a choir to sing during the celebration. She remembered, “The choir sang, . . . and I also sang at the beautiful anniversary event.”[58] Other performances in the program included a contortionist, a morin khuur (a cello-type instrument) player, traditional dancers, throat singers, operatic solos, and a missionary choir. Most of the anniversary events included in the week-long celebration were broadcast to the sixteen church meetinghouses throughout Mongolia.[59]

The use of music to share the gospel has helped Buted to generate positive feelings toward the Church and amongst the Mongolian members. One member, Nomungerel Enkhtuvshin, shared, “Christianity is a minority in Mongolia, so we face a lot of resistance. However, expressing ourselves through music reduces the resistance.”[60]

Public Affairs Representative and International Liaison

Tuvshinjargal Gombo became the materials management supervisor for the Mongolian Service Center in 2012, working under the direction of Soyolmaa Urtnasan, who was the service center manager at the time. Soyolmaa told her, “The biggest challenge and most stressful issue for the Church in Mongolia was the effort to secure visas for the missionar[ies].” Tuvshinjargal became one of the primary coordinators in identifying sponsor schools in Mongolia for the missionaries to come as volunteers to teach English and secure visas.[61] She explained that it was especially difficult to obtain government approval for the visas,

The government would say that the young missionaries were too young and [that they] didn’t believe they could teach English well. They would also accuse the Church of being dishonest and using different organizations to bring in missionaries. . . . My response was that they are native English speakers, and the Church didn’t sponsor their visas. Instead the schools were the sponsors of their visas and they entered legally to teach. Although they spent their free [time teaching] others about their church, this was not illegal since the country’s constitution gave freedom of religion, and allowed us to . . . teach others about our church. . . . Although the government officials were against us, because our argument was true and matched the religious freedom provided in our constitution, they couldn’t say anything because we were right.[62]

Still, being right did not speed up the approval process, and Tuvshinjargal worked directly with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor, and Central Immigration to get the visas approved. During this time, Tuvshinjargal was also called as the public affairs representative for the Church in Mongolia. She recalled, “We kept meeting with them repeatedly and the Lord’s tender mercy helped us and the government could see that our church was helping and blessing the Mongolian people.” Additionally, to help foster a better understanding of the purpose of the Church in Mongolia was not to take over the country, as a common misconception denoted, Tuvshinjargal helped to organize a five-day tour of BYU for a representative from the Ministry of Education. The representative had a wonderful trip and became a good friend and support of the Church’s visa efforts.[63]

In 2012 Tuvshinjargal sought to build a relationship with an official from the Central Immigration Office who had been offended by Church members a few years before and had deported sixty to seventy foreign missionaries in 2009 because of the incident. Tuvshinjargal approached him and “asked him how we could cooperate and work together on projects important to him, and upon hearing this, he was happy and willing to work with us.” The official shared that there were many areas in need of wells for clean water, so Tuvshinjargal organized an effort to provide this service. Her efforts built a strong connection of friendship with the officer and he helped connect the Church to local immigration office branches. Tuvshinjargal shared of her experience during this time, “We worked through the Spirit and let the Spirit soften their hearts. I see God’s encouragement and his Holy Spirit helping us through with each government official.”[64]

As public affairs director for the Church in Mongolia, Tuvshinjargal assisted in organizing many projects with the mission of serving others, she said, “The members were proud to be Church members, and serving made us happy because we were able to help others.” One event that Tuvshinjargal helped to organize was providing food for over 750 people at an annual marathon in 2017. About seventy to seventy-five Church members joined the Helping Hands effort to provide the meals.[65] In 2018, Church members participated in the National Day of Tree Planting, which had been established by presidential decree in 2010. Tuvshinjargal reported of the event, “On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mongolia, about one hundred members of the Church donned yellow ‘Mormon Helping Hands’ vests [and] were excited to plant trees while having a great privilege to minister [to] the[ir] neighbors who were planting with us [and] representing many organizations.”[66]

As public affairs director, Tuvshinjargal acts as an official representative of the Church in Mongolia, and her service has worked to bring many people together, strengthening the presence of the Church in Mongolia and feelings towards the members. For example, Tuvshinjargal spoke at an interfaith gathering held in Mongolia during Pope Francis’s first-ever papal visit to the country in 2023.[67]

Summary

The service of faithful pioneer Latter-day Saint women in Mongolia has influenced the growth of the Church and the nation. Davaajargal (Sylvia) Gendemjamts was one of the first local women to join the Church and became the first Mongolian Relief Society president. Oyun Altangerel was an activist for democracy and freedom in Mongolia, helping to pave the way for religious freedom and the introduction of the Church in the country. She also served as Relief Society president and was a significant influence in strengthening the women of the Church and serving those in need. Dashgerel Doyod and her family were the first Mongolian family to be sealed. Batchimeg Magsar was one of the first Mongolian women to serve a mission. She also participated in the translation process of the Book of Mormon. Soyolmaa Urtnasan was also one of the first Mongolian women to serve a mission, serving at about the same time as her friend Batchimeg. She later became the director of the Mongolian Service Center, the first woman in the Church to serve in this capacity.

Munkhtsetseg (Monica) Dugarsuren was the principal translator of the Book of Mormon, translating the book during her mission to Temple Square and later after she returned to Mongolia. She also assisted in the translation of the temple ordinances and ceremonies. Buted Altangerel was a famous opera singer who, after joining the Church, helped to direct and organize branch and stake choirs across the country. Her use of music united Church members and acted as a light to Mongolians. Tuvshinjargal Gombo worked in different capacities in the Mongolian Service Center, serving as its director since 2018. She worked to secure friendly relationships with the different ministries of the government so that missionaries would be granted visas and allowed to teach in the country.

Each of these women has a unique story and each has used their individual talents and abilities to be servants of the Lord in Mongolia. Despite the various challenges they each experienced, their stories of faith shine as bright examples to members worldwide seeking to find direction in their own capacities of service. They have fulfilled the observation of Julie B. Beck, who said, “Righteous women have changed the course of history and will continue to do so.”[68] The history of the Church in Mongolia has changed its course because of the work of these sisters, and women in Mongolia will continue to be an influence that establishes the course of the Lord moving forward.

Notes

[1] “Elder Holland Instructs Mongolian Saints, Missionaries,” Church News, June 6, 2011.

[2] Odgerel Ochirjav, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou, March 2017.

[3] R. Lanier Britsch, From the East: The History of the Latter-day Saints in Asia (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998), 306–8.

[4] Monte J. Brough, Life Is a Collection of Stories (Kaysville, UT: self-pub., circa 2007), 103–6.

[5] Brough, Life Is a Collection, 103–6.

[6] Marjorie W. Smith, journal, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, MS 16723, 1–4; Stanley B. Smith and Marjorie W. Smith, “History of the Ulaanbaatar Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from September 1992 to March 1994,” copy in authors’ possession, 1–2.

[7] Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou, Voice of the Saints in Mongolia (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2022).

[8] Smith and Smith, “History of the Ulaanbaatar Branch,” 2–3; note that in Mongolian naming conventions, they generally use their given name followed by their father’s name as their family name. They traditionally refer to each other by their given names, and sometimes they use nicknames. We follow these conventions in this article.

[9] Britsch, From the East, 308–11.

[10] Smith and Smith, “History of the Ulaanbaatar Branch,” 6.

[11] Marjorie W. Smith, journal, 34.

[12] Smith and Smith, “History of the Ulaanbaatar Branch,” 11.

[13] Odgerel Ochirjav and Ariunchimeg Tserenjav, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou, October 24, 2016, Taiwan.

[14] Dallin H. Oaks, “Religious Freedom” (BYU–Idaho devotional, Rexburg, ID, October 13, 2009).

[15] Oyun Altangerel, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou, trans. Ariunchimeg Tserenjav, June 20, 2018, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

[16] Ochirjav and Tserenjav, interview; Oaks, “Religious Freedom.”

[17] Altangerel, interview.

[18] Altangerel, interview. Translated by Ariunchimeg Tserenjav.

[19] Altangerel, interview.

[20] Daschgerel Doyod, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou, June 21, 2018, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

[21] Mongolia mission area, local member directory, as of February 19, 1994. Enkhtuvshin Togtokh (or Togtohyn) has been listed in some records as the first Mongolian baptized, but this is not accurate. However, he is believed to be the first Mongolian baptized in Germany.

[22] Mary Nielsen Cook, “A Mighty Change in Mongolia,” Ensign, 1996, 75–76.

[23] Doyod, interview.

[24] Doyod, interview.

[25] Gary E. Cox, “Mission Historical Summary 1996—Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission,” CHL, LR 2013223-3.

[26] Batchimeg Magsar, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou, June 19, 2018, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

[27] Cook, “Mighty Change,” 75–76.

[28] Magsar, interview; Cook, “Mighty Change,” 75–76.

[29] Chou and Chou, Voice of the Saints, 302.

[30] “Mongolia,” in Church Almanac: 2013 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013), 525–26; Magsar, interview; Soyolmaa Urtnasan, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou, June 19, 2018, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

[31] Magsar, interview.

[32] “Darkhan Mongolia District Annual Historical Report,” Darkhan Mongolia District, Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission, 2000, CHL, LR 3688040-3.

[33] Magsar, interview.

[34] Magsar, interview.

[35] Cook, “Mighty Change,” 75–76.

[36] Urtnasan, interview.

[37] Gary E. Cox, “History of the Ulaanbaatar Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from April 1994 to May 1995,” copy in authors’ possession, 1.

[38] Urtnasan, interview.

[39] “Mongolia,” in Church Almanac: 2013, 525–26; Magsar, interview; Urtnasan, interview.

[40] Urtnasan, interview.

[41] Urtnasan, interview.

[42] Urtnasan, interview.

[43] Chou and Chou, Voice of the Saints, 138, 309.

[44] Urtnasan, interview.

[45] Munkhtsetseg (Monica) Dugarsuren, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou, February 20, 2018, Salt Lake City.

[46] Dugarsuren, interview.

[47] Dugarsuren, interview.

[48] Dugarsuren, interview, February 27, 2018.

[49] Dugarsuren, interview, February 27, 2018.

[50] “Mongolia,” in Church Almanac: 2013, 525–26; Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou, “To Every Nation, Tongue, and People,” in The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, ed. Dennis L. Largey, Andrew H. Hedges, John Hilton III, and Kerry Hull (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2015), 227–63.

[51] Dugarsuren, interview, August 2, 2018.

[52] Dugarsuren, interview, February 27, 2018.

[53] Buted Altangerel, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Petra Chou, trans. Ariunchimeg Tserenjav, June 20, 2018, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

[54] Altangerel, interview.

[55] Serena Dugar Ioane, “Mongolian Saints Help Introduce Christmas to Their Country” (unpublished manuscript) copy in authors’ possession, 1.

[56] Altangerel, interview.

[57] Altangerel, interview.

[58] Altangerel, interview.

[59] “Members Celebrate 20 Years of Church in Mongolia,” Church News, May 19, 2013, 8–9.

[60] Ioane, “Mongolian Saints,” 1.

[61] Tuvshinjargal Gombo, interview by Po Nien (Felipe) Chou, May 29, 2020, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and Cedar Hills, Utah, notes in authors’ possession.

[62] Gombo, interview.

[63] Gombo, interview.

[64] Gombo, interview.

[65] Gombo, interview, June 19, 2018, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

[66] Gombo, interview, June 19, 2018, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

[67] Christine Rappleye, “Latter-day Saint testifies of Jesus Christ at Interfaith Event in Mongolia Hosted by Pope Francis,” Church News, September 4, 2023.

[68] Julie B. Beck, “A ‘Mother Heart,’” Liahona, May 2004, 75.