December 2007 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

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manages the one-room distribution center in the Church
offices in Ulaanbaatar, helping members obtain gospel
materials available in Mongolian and materials in English
for those who can use them. He says that as a missionary,
he helped people learn about the gospel, and he is still
doing the same.
Ankhbayar came into the Church in 1998 with the rest
of his family—parents and younger brother. While his family
was attending a Church meeting, he had two dreams
that influenced him. In both he was fleeing from certain
destruction when a bright, shining personage saved him.
Ankhbayar’s parents told him later that this personage was
undoubtedly the Savior and invited him to pray about the
meaning of his dream. The answer he received led him to
listen to the gospel.
Before they joined the Church, “my family was not close,”
he says. Now “we talk to each other. I can feel my mother
and father’s love.” In the mission field, Ankhbayar felt like
Church members were family. He works now to share the
gospel with friends so they too can enjoy this feeling.
One person with whom he has shared the gospel is his
girlfriend, who was baptized and confirmed. If they should
marry, they would face the dilemma many young Mongolian
couples struggle with: where to live. Housing is scarce, and
the cost is too high for many young marrieds. They may end
up living with parents in a small apartment or perhaps in the
traditional ger, the circular, one-room tentlike home of the
Mongol nomads.
Majigsuren
Since missionaries in Mongolia are not allowed to proselytize,
their contacts come through inquiries or referrals.
When Mongolians find the gospel, the first people they
refer to the missionaries are usually loved ones, so
branches often include members of extended families.
Z. Majigsuren lives in a small apartment in Darkhan,
Mongolia, with her husband, two teenage daughters,
and several members of her extended family: Her daughter
and son-in-law and their young daughter also live
there. So too does a son with his wife and their baby.
Majigsuren’s son-in-law, A. Soronzonbold, is president of
the Darkhan district. Her son, Kh. Sergelen, is first counselor
in the presidency of the Darkhan Second Branch.
And Majigsuren is first counselor in the branch Relief
Society presidency.
Missionaries first came to Darkhan in 1996, and she was
baptized and confirmed in 1997, one of the pioneer members
in the city.
“I am very grateful that all of my children are members
of the Church,” she says. Majigsuren remembers the fruit
of the tree of life that Lehi saw in vision (see 1 Nephi 8). “I
wanted to partake of that fruit and return to my Heavenly
Father.” She wanted her children to partake also. She is
grateful that two of them have now been sealed to their
spouses in the Hong Kong China Temple: her daughter,
K. Selenge, who is married to Soronzonbold, and Sergelen
with his wife, T. Altantuya.
Members, she says, “need to come to church, they need
to pray, and they need to keep the faith. The most important
is faith,” because without that, they will not do the others.
Her son, Sergelen, became interested in the Church
because he could see how his mother and sister had
changed as a result of becoming members. He had listened
as a senior missionary couple taught the story of
Lehi to his mother, and he had realized that she too was
trying to lead her children in doing right.
Like many Mongolian members, Sergelen says, “I love
to read the Book of Mormon because each time I read I
discover new things.” The story of Captain Moroni is a
favorite. He is also moved by Jacob 6:11–12, calling on
all to “repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate.”