Mongolia: Church Chronology

March 1991 • Utah, USAGenden Nyamdoo, Mongolia’s ambassador in Washington, D.C., gave a lecture at Brigham Young University and met with the First Presidency, opening a conversation with the Mongolian government about a Church presence in Mongolia.

September 1992 • Ulaanbaatar, MongoliaSenior missionaries who also had professional credentials as educators arrived in Mongolia and began teaching university and high school classes. They were not permitted to proselytize in public but were allowed to teach personal acquaintances privately.

February 6, 1993 • UlaanbaatarBat-Ulzii Tsendkhuu and Purevsuren Lamjav, students of the senior missionaries, were baptized.

April 15, 1993 • Zaisan Hill, UlaanbaatarNew members, investigators, Asia Area President Kwok Yuen Tai, Hui Hua Tai, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Colleen Hinckley Maxwell climbed Zaisan Hill in Ulaanbaatar for the dedication of Mongolia for the preaching of the gospel.

September 1993 • UlaanbaatarLocal members formed a committee to translate materials such as sacrament and baptism prayers, the name of the Church, the Joseph Smith story, missionary discussions, and teaching manuals.

January 9, 1994 • UlaanbaatarThe Relief Society in Ulaanbaatar was organized, with Davaajargal (Sylvia) as Relief Society president.

January 16, 1994 • UlaanbaatarThe Ulaanbaatar Branch was organized, with Enkhtuvshin Togtokhin and Bat-Ulzii Tsendkhuu as counselors in the branch presidency. The following day, the Church was officially recognized by the government.

members of the Young Women organization

June 12, 1994 • Ulaanbaatar

The Young Women organization of the Ulaanbaatar Branch was established, with Soyolmaa Urtnasan as president.

August 1994 • Lāʻie, HawaiʻiSeven Mongolian branch members arrived at BYU–Hawaii to study. The school administered a work-study program that could accommodate 20 Mongolian students at a time.

July 1995 • Salt Lake City and Provo, UtahBatchimeg Magsar and Soyolmaa Urtnasan were the first full-time missionaries from Mongolia.

September 1995 • UlaanbaatarThe first local members accepted calls to serve as branch presidents, Bat-Ulzii Tsendkhuu in the Tuul Branch, and Enkhtuvshin Togtokhin in the Selbe Branch.

September 15, 1996 • UlaanbaatarThe Ulaanbaatar District was organized, with Enktuvshin Togtokhin as district president.

May 31, 1998 • Khovd, MongoliaThe Khovd Branch was established.

July 1998 • UlaanbaatarThe Mongolian Service Center was established in Ulaanbaatar.

June 6, 1999 • UlaanbaatarThe first meetinghouse in Mongolia, built on the foundation of the former Children’s Cinema in a prominent square in Ulaanbaatar, was dedicated. More than 650 people attended.

October 2000 • Salt Lake CityEight Mongolians went to Salt Lake City to record the temple ceremony in Mongolian.

2001 • Salt Lake CityThe Book of Mormon was published in Mongolian.

September 20, 2005 • Lāʻie, HawaiʻiHis Excellency Enkhbayar Nambar, president of Mongolia, visited with the 54 Mongolian students at BYU–Hawaii.

2006 • UlaanbaatarDeseret International Charities completed many humanitarian and civic projects in Ulaanbaatar, including digging four deep wells, which provided more than 8,000 people with a source of fresh water.

October 2006 • Darkhan, MongoliaRelief Society sisters in the Darkhan Mongolia District gathered for the first Darkhan Satellite Women’s Conference.

January 21, 2007 • DarkhanThe Darkhan First Branch meetinghouse was dedicated.

2009 • UlaanbaatarThe Ulaanbaatar Mongolia West Stake was organized.

2009 • UlaanbaatarBatbayar Tserendorj was set apart as the first patriarch for Mongolia.

2009 • UlaanbaatarSoyolmaa Urtnasan became the manager of the Church service center in Ulaanbaatar, the first female service center manager in the world.

April 2010 • MongoliaLatter-day Saint branch and ward choirs from Khovd to Choibalsan participated in the All-Mongolian Choir Festival. At the main festival venue in Ulaanbaatar, there were 700 guests in attendance.

April 15, 2013 • Zaisan Hill, UlaanbaatarAbout 300 Latter-day Saints gathered to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Church in Mongolia.

2016 • UlaanbaatarThe Ulaanbaatar Mongolia East Stake was organized.

2019 • Mongolia and the United StatesIn a partnership between Church humanitarian organizations and the Mongolian government, Mongolian officials toured Church agricultural and food preservation sites in Utah and Idaho. BYU engineering students and Deseret International Charities tested a retrofit kit to improve heat retention and air quality inside traditional ger dwellings.

2019 • MongoliaMongolia was transferred from the Church’s Asia Area to the Asia North Area.

December 2020 • MongoliaIn the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Church members in Mongolia helped assemble and distribute food packages for mothers with children.