Elder Andersen Visits Mongolia, Where Pioneering Members Continue to Help the Church Grow

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By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News

Just two years after the first Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Nadmid Namgur learned about the Church of Jesus Christ.

At the invitation of his friends, he began attending Church meetings and met the missionaries.

“The missionaries at that time really stood out — they looked different, acted different and felt different,” he said. “There was something special about those missionaries that I couldn’t quite describe.”

Today, Namgur is president of the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission — the first native Mongolian to serve in that capacity. One of his friends who invited him to Church is Adiyabold Namkhai, now a stake president in Ulaanbaatar.

They are two of more than 12,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint in Mongolia, a country of 3.3 million people. They are also an example of how the Church grows around the earth, said Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Andersen visited Mongolia in September, addressing the members and the missionaries and marveling at the strong spiritual confirmation he had of the Lord’s love for His sons and daughters in the nation.

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While addressing Mongolian members, Elder Andersen spoke of their birth in a non-Christian nation and how they came to learn of and accept Jesus Christ because “they knew Him.” The most important choices in life are not between fame and obscurity or between riches and poverty, he said.

“They are between good and evil, and they are between faith and disbelief,” said Elder Andersen. “We are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. We know deep inside of ourselves that Jesus Christ is the central being of all human history.”

That knowledge allowed them to become the “pioneers of the restored gospel here in Mongolia,” he said.

The Church, Elder Andersen continued, grows by generations.

Before visiting Mongolia, Elder Andersen — accompanied by his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen — also visited Seoul, South Korea. There they met Youngjoon Kwon, who spent much of his childhood and adolescence in the Church after his parents were baptized in 1975. After serving a mission, he married his wife, Yeonshin Lee, in the Seoul Korea Temple in 1995.

Now they are raising their four children in the Church.

Kwon, who was released as an Area Seventy in October general conference, was confirmed as a justice on South Korea’s Supreme Court in July.

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Elder Andersen promised the Mongolian Latter-day Saints that they will also have great influence in their families and their country as they continue to try to be faithful.

“It is the way the Church grows,” said Elder Andersen. “It is the way the Lord works.”

Elder John A. McCune, a General Authority Seventy and First Counselor in the Asia North Area Presidency, said it was a tremendous blessing for the people in Korea and Mongolia to have a visit from an Apostle. In Korea, Elder and Sister Andersen addressed a group of over 700 young single adults — the Andersens driving two hours each way.

Elder Andersen’s visit to Mongolia marked the first time in several years that a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had visited the nation. Some members traveled from far Eastern Mongolia, which is more than a 20-hour bus ride.

President Namgur said it was an honor and privilege to hear from Elder Andersen. “There was a great anticipation of faithful members and friends of the Church for this visit, and what we experienced exceeded our expectations,” he said. “The love we felt and the messages we heard and felt were simply amazing and inspiring. Elder and Sister Andersen brought so much light and love to us all, and we will likely remember our experiences for the rest of our lives.”

Elder Andersen’s teachings and testimony of the Savior were uplifting and energizing, he added. “Hearing of his simple yet powerful witness of the Savior inspired us.”

Elder J. Kimo Esplin, a General Authority Seventy and Second Counselor in the Asia North Area Presidency, said followers of Jesus Christ represent a small fraction of the predominantly non-Christian population in Mongolia. “But our members are powerful,” he said. “Earlier this year, in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Church in Mongolia, each member was asked to reflect on their testimonies and answer the following question: ‘What will you start doing today for the Lord’s temple to be built in Mongolia?’ We sensed their prayers and yearning for a temple as Elder Andersen met with them. The closest temple available to the Mongolian members has been in Hong Kong — roughly a five-hour flight away.”

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Mongolia is now harvesting the fruit of 30 years “of faith, devotion and sacrifice of pioneering members,” President Namgur said.

The Church now has second-generation missionaries and leadership. “Moreover, we feel greater capacity in faithful members and greater strength in families as they are striving to be true and faithful to their covenant relationship with the Lord.”

Looking to the future, Elder Andersen promised Mongolian Latter-day Saints that the Church in the nation would grow to include tens of thousands of members and a temple.

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President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for the nation just a few weeks later, during October general conference.

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, who accompanied Elder Andersen on his ministry to Asia, said members in Mongolia live as far from operating temples as just about any Latter-day Saints in the world. “They are faithful and committed, with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being the largest Christian denomination in the country. The blessings of having a temple and being able to attend more frequently will only serve to strengthen the people and the Church even more.”

Elder McCune said miracles occurred in Mongolia this year to pave the way for the temple announcement. “Elder Andersen’s visit was perfectly timed by the Lord,” he said.

During the height of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Latter-day Saints in Mongolia could not leave the nation for more than two years. “Since the opening of the country this past year, nearly 150 sealings and endowments have now been performed, in the Hong Kong, Manila [Philippines] or Tokyo [Japan] temples,” he said. “It will be a great blessing for the Mongolian Saints to have access to a temple on a regular basis without having to secure visas and travel documents that are sometimes difficult to obtain. For many, a visit to the temple was expected to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Now, the thought of regular temple attendance has changed their vision and perspective.”

Elder McCune said it is sometimes easy for the Mongolia Saints to feel forgotten. “The visit of an Apostle and the announcement of a temple has helped them to feel loved and important. There is a palpable energy in the country among the members now.”

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President Namgur said Mongolian Latter-day Saints “feel the Lord’s love for His people. The long wait is over, and now our focus is on preparing our hearts and minds to enter worthily the house of the Lord in Mongolia.”

“Mongolian Saints rejoice with the Lord, and we feel the outpouring of His blessings,” added President Namgur. “It’s been 30 years filled with faith, sacrifice and miracles. President Nelson’s announcement of building a temple in Mongolia has truly inspired us, and we look forward to a brighter future of the Church in Mongolia as the Lord hastens His work in this part of the world.”