I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on September 27, 2003, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I appreciate the chance I had to find the gospel during my hard and challenging days. However, at that time, Jesus Christ was one of the things I stood strongly against. I used to think that Jesus’ Church was a foreign religion and only people with mental disorders would join. I told my daughter that I never would allow her to join any type of Christian religion. No one had the courage to invite me to Church. As we move through life, we do not know when or what things will come.
One night I walked with my mother to the nearest hill to perform an old traditional chant of prayer to worship our blue sky and the spirit of mother nature. We added rocks to a cairn (a pile of stones set as a memorial) and circled it clockwise three times. I noticed my mother's silent, distressed face. I felt that my heart would break. I looked at the sky and asked sincerely with tears, 'God if you are there, please come into our life and help us!” Thinking back, I realize I was seeking God through sincere prayer. I hoped that God had heard my desires. Little did I know that a simple conversation, with a taxi driver, would turn my life’s journey onto a whole new path towards God.
In conversation with this taxi driver he told me how proud he was of his brother who had joined one of the Christian churches and had made some incredible changes to his life. He had stopped smoking and drinking. He said his brother even went to America to study and obtained a university degree. It was the Mormon Church. I was astonished. Very soon after this I called the telephone operator to get the address and phone number of that Mormon Church. I made my mind up to go there and see if I could change my life.
When I walked into the church a young man greeted me. I will never forget that pleasant smile and how politely he spoke. He asked if I was interested in learning more about the Church. I nodded. He told me that if I joined, my whole life would change. His words soaked right into my heart like somebody pouring pure water on dry soil. I asked to speak to his “boss” to find out what this religion was about. He told me to come back at five in the evening to see a baptism. I agreed to come back without any hesitation, but had absolutely zero knowledge of what a baptism was.
When I went back the same young man stood waiting for me at the front door. I sat in the chapel with several other people. The meeting opened with prayer. This was the first time in my life I had seen people praying in such a silent, compassionate way, bending their heads down with their leader. I don’t know how the talks given about baptism softened my heart, but I felt that they were talking about things I had been looking for all these years. At that time in my life the world looked evil, filled with abominations and filth. I knew that I had no brightness in my life and felt its sorrow and pain. I knew the bitter reality of power, money, corruption and dishonesty.
At the conclusion of that baptism the young man came to me with two young women. He introduced them to me as his “bosses”. One sister was Mongolian and the other one an American. This is how I met my beautiful missionary sisters who helped me have brightness in my life! Despite the look of surprise on my face I felt happy and loved.
I followed their lessons diligently. One day after teaching about the Word of Wisdom, they challenged me to stop drinking my traditional milk tea that I had drunk since my childhood. For me to stop my favourite tea was like a day with no sun. My family loves this tea and I was a master at making it. I knew how this change would shock my family and friends. At the end of lesson, the Sisters suggested I seek help and courage from my Heavenly Father. With Heavenly Father I was able to overcome this hurdle.
Not long after I became a Church member, I was called to serve as Relief Society president. I was just new member, but I learned from this service.
I got a chance to come to Vancouver, Canada in 2005. I didn’t know anyone, still I believe that God heard my prayers and brought me to this beautiful country. Before I left Mongolia my bishop gave me a blessing. He blessed me with strength and to meet the right people in the right places to help me.
After three days in Canada, I got lost and couldn’t find my hotel. The Spirit prompted me to cross the road and ask for help from one particular lady. I followed my promptings. I gently touched her shoulder and said, “Hey” in my broken accent. When she turned around I was shocked by her necklace. She was wearing the Mongolian national emblem. I pointed at it. She figured out that I was Mongolian. The only two words I caught from her conversation were “Mongolia” and “phone number”. The Holy Ghost prompted me to give her my email address. She showed me how to get back to the hotel. I couldn’t stop thinking about her necklace. About two million people live in Vancouver. She must have been the only one wearing a Mongolian emblem.
I will always be grateful for the people who helped me get to this point. All these miracles were answers to my fasting and prayers. I know God helped me find the right people in the right places. I know that God brought me here to be his testifier as it says in Mosiah, “And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.” (Mosiah 24:14)
