Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Sister Bridge, a Mormon missionary, spent four months in Saratoga.

Mission Possible

Young Mormons serve as missionaries for 18 months at their own expense

By Loretta McCarty

Saratoga may not be what most people think of as an exotic land of unusual cultures and customs in need of missionaries, but it has been exactly that for two young women from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sister Dulanjav Tsedendorjiin, 26, from Mongolia, and Sister Kimberly Bridge, 21, from Canada, recently completed their time as missionaries in Saratoga, where they taught and performed community service.

"The hopes are that the exchange of missionaries will strengthen the individual ties between different nations, cultures and peoples for world peace," said Teri Jones, public relations specialist for the Saratoga Ward.

As part of the Mormons' worldwide army of 50,000 volunteer missionaries, the two young women are in the United States to serve for 18 months at their own expense. They stayed in Saratoga for nearly four months before being reassigned, one to Fremont and the other to Monterey.

Sister Dulanjav Tsedendorjiin--Sister D, for short--is accustomed to being a long way from home. She traveled all the way from Mongolia to the United States. She is the youngest of three children and was raised as a Buddhist by her grandparents. She majored in English in Orkhorn College in Mongolia, where she was first introduced to the Mormon religion by her friends in college.

"I never heard of Jesus Christ," she said, "but I was intrigued by how nice the people were and how family oriented." She converted and was baptized two years ago.

"I was happy with my life, but I am even happier since I joined the church; it opened my eyes," she said.

Sister D's fellow missionary, Sister Bridge, is the third in her family of four sisters to undertake a mission. She is a descendent of Brigham Young, one of the early leaders of the Mormon church, and a cousin to Steve Young, star quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers (she said she has never met him).

She graduated from Ricks Junior College in Idaho, majoring in language arts. While an English major at Weber State University in Utah, she left school four classes short, to do her mission.

She said she felt lost in her life, wondering, like many others, who she was, why she was here, and she needed to know she was loved. She prayed for answers and found them in the church, and she said she wanted to share her joy.

During their missionary work, the two young women were constant companions, living and traveling together seven days per week, 24 hours a day in a sparsely decorated apartment in Campbell. And even though they appear blissfully happy, they said they don't always agree on and sometimes argue. "We are human and have disagreements, just like everyone else," Sister Bridge said.

They work out their differences by talking them out and by remembering their common purpose. "This is not our time right now; we are not here for ourselves, we are here to serve Christ," Sister D said.

The Mormon religion is one of the most demanding religions in America, according to their religious leader, Gordon B. Hinkley. "It is more than a religion, it's a lifestyle," he said. Members are expected to read the scriptures daily (including one night a week with the family), attend daily religious courses and sit through Sunday services that can be up to three hours long.

They live by strict health codes that forbid the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, harmful drugs or stimulants such as caffeine. Red meat is eaten sparingly, and exercise and plenty of sleep are encouraged.

Missionaries are expected to abstain even more while serving their missions. Worldly pursuits are put on the back burner during their 18 months of proselytizing. The two young companions said they refrain from watching television and movies, and are not allowed to date, vote, dance or watch or read the news. "We are allowed to call home on Mother's Day and Christmas, otherwise we write," Sister Bridge said. They said they are on the honor system and no one checks up on them, but they do not feel deprived in any way.

Seven days a week, they begin their daily routine at 6:30 a.m. and end it by 10:30 p.m. They study scriptures together and individually until 8:30 every morning. By 9:30 a.m., they leave their apartment to meet with their appointments, or to do their daily "tracting" (going door to door), spreading the word to those interested in listening. They never enter people's homes and say they leave immediately if something doesn't feel right.

If people are not interested in their message, they move on. "It can be discouraging sometimes, because people have such misconceptions about who we are," Sister Bridge said. "We are not weird people; we have our faults and our good points."

Many people think that taking their message door-to-door is all Mormon missionaries do. But the Sisters say it is actually only a small part. They spend an average of around 15 hours a week knocking on doors. "Some days, we go to 40 houses and only talk to one person; it can be very frustrating because we know why we are here and what we want to accomplish," Sister Bridge said.

In fact, the women spend most of their time serving their congregation. They talk, teach, read and explain the scriptures to the 200 or so members of the 800-strong congregation in Saratoga who, for one reason or another, no longer attend services. "We share the gospel with those who think people don't care about them," Sister Bridge said.

Both of the women said they have enjoyed their missionary work in Saratoga and found its citizens to be friendly and accepting. When their missions come to a close, they will return to their normal lives and routines. Sister Bridge plans to finish college and to one day marry and raise children.

Sister D said she will either teach school or work in the tourism business.

The 165-year-old religion was founded by Joseph Smith, a 14-year-old uneducated farm boy, who published the Book of Mormon in 1830, claiming the manuscript is based on ancient golden plates revealed to him by the angel Moroni. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has since become the seventh-largest church in the world and the fastest-growing religion in the world. In California, there are 750,000 Mormons, about 40,000 of whom live in the San Jose area. One-half of its 9 million members reside outside of the United States.