Historias: Mongolian Missionary in Idaho
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| Online archives from South Idaho Press
January 01, 2002
Mongolian woman in Idaho serving LDS Church mission
By LISA DAYLEY South Idaho Press
A Mongolian woman who joined the Mormon Church has been serving as a missionary in Idaho for about a year. Mendsaikhan says Minidoka County has been her most successful place for conversions. "I have three baptisms next week," she said.
In Mongolia, only a first name is used and Mongolians only take their father's name for official documents like visas. On her visa, she's Davaadorj Mendsaikhan. Around 1997, Mendsaikhan was introduced to the Mormon Church through a fellow nurse who later invited Mendsaikhan to an LDS Sacrament meeting. Following the service, Mendsaikhan wanted to hear more about the Mormon Church, which has been sending missionaries to Mongolia since 1991 (correction 1992). "I felt the Spirit. When I got home, I was so excited, and my heart was so full. I was so happy, I decided to take the discussions," said Mendsaikhan who speaks fluent English. Just a few weeks later, Mendsaikhan was baptized.
Mendsaikhan developed her testimony of the Mormon religion without the Book of Mormon. Because the Mormon Church is so new in Mongolia, it wasn't until after Mendsaikhan was baptized that someone was found to translate the Book of Mormon into Mongolian. As Mendsaikhan's family had been Buddhist for generations, they were concerned about her joining a Christian church. Yet, after seeing how happy she was, her family supported her decision. A younger brother was so impressed with his older sister's conversion and missionary work that he recently wrote her telling her he had been baptized. "I was so excited I screamed. I never thought he'd take the discussions," Mendsaikhan said.
When she received her mission call to Idaho, she didn't know where the state was. After looking it up on a map, Mendsaikhan found that, even in far off Mongolia, Idaho is famous for its spuds. "Someone said 'it's the land of lots of potatoes,'" she recalled.
Mendsaikhan learned most of her English during the two months she spent at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. She would rise at 5:30 a.m. to study and often found the process intimidating. "I was crying and wondering what I was doing there because it was so hard," she said. She later got the hang of it but found giving her first missionary discussion a challenge. "I couldn't say it perfectly; I was frustrated," Mendsaikhan recalled. Serving as a missionary has been a wonderful experience for her, she said. She hopes to extend her service several weeks after her mission ends in July. "I really like the great opportunity I have to serve God," she said. Mendsaikhan hasn't made any plans for her return to Mongolia. "I don't worry about what I'll be doing. My only thought is to serve my mission very well. God will give me direction in my life," she said.
Published December 31, 2001 |
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