Here are free resources about the California Arcadia Mission:
- Mission address and phone number
- Mission map
- Missionary blogs
- Facebook groups
- LDS Mission t-shirts and gifts
- List of past mission presidents
- Cultural articles written by returned missionaries
- Survey with RMs
*Other Mission Pages: California LDS Missions.
California Arcadia Mission Address
Here’s a recent address for the California Arcadia Mission. We try to keep this info up to date, but it’s a good idea to check the mission address with several sources, including your mission packet or the mission office.
614 West Foothill Blvd.
Arcadia CA 91006-2030
USA
Phone Number: 1-626-446-8519
Mission President: President David S. Wells
California Arcadia Mission Map
Here’s a link to the mission map for the California Arcadia Mission (LDS). To access the official LDS.org map for the Arcadia Mission:
California Arcadia Missionary Blogs
Here’s a list of LDS missionary blogs for the California Arcadia Mission. This list includes the missionary’s name, URL and when their blog was updated.
California Arcadia Mission Groups
Here are California Arcadia Mission Groups- for LDS missionary moms, returned missionaries, mission presidents and other alumni of the Arcadia Mission.
- California Arcadia Mission Facebook Group (1,245 members)
- California Arcadia Mission Facebook Group (203 members)
- Arcadia Mission – President Swenson 1995-1998 Group (138 members)
- California Arcadia Mission Moms and Friends (LDS) Group (4 members)
- LDS California Arcadia Mission, Chinese Speaking Group (2 members)
California Arcadia Mission T-Shirts
Here are T-shirts for the California Arcadia Mission!
Shirt designs include California Arcadia Mission logo/emblem shirts and Called to Serve shirts. The shirts make great gifts for pre-missionaries, returned missionaries and missionaries currently serving. LDS Mission shirts come in all sizes: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, up to 4XL. The mission designs are printed on white shirts and are shipped to you.
*Simply click on a shirt design to view the details and submit an order. The designs on mission t-shirts may also be printed on other LDS mission gifts, including: California Arcadia missionary aprons, Christmas stockings, ties, pillow cases, teddy bears and Christmas ornaments.
*Click here to browse Arcadia Mission gifts
California Arcadia Mission Presidents
Here’s a list of current and past Mission Presidents of the Arcadia LDS Mission.
- 2017-2020, David S. Wells
- 2014-2017, Moises Villanueva
- 2011-2014, Jorge Eduardo Torres Becerra
- 2008-2011, Oscar A. Pike
- 2005-2008, Stephen W. Owen
- 2003-2005, Steven W. Bergstedt
- 2000-2003, Martin David Kempton
- 1998-2000, Leslie Steward
- 1995-1998, Douglas H. Swenson
- 1992-1995, Bradley Duane Foster
- 1990-1992, Edward L. Soper
- 1987-1990, Gary J. Coleman
- 1984-1987, Robert C. Meier
- 1981-1984, Roue L. Hogan
- 1978-1981, Martin Zachreson
- 1975-1978, L. Brent Goates
- 1972-1975, Gerald E. Melchin
- 1969-1972, William L. Nicholls
California LDS Statistics (2016)
- Church Membership: 773,762
- Missions: 20
- Temples: 7
- Congregations: 1,357
- Family History Centers: 222
Helpful Articles about California
California Arcadia Missionary Survey
Here are survey responses from California Arcadia RMs, to give you a snapshot into what it’s like to live in the mission.
*Click here to take a survey to help pre-missionaries going to your mission.
When did you serve?
- 2013-2015 (Lacey)
- 2012-2014 (Garrett)
- 2012-2014 (Eric)
- 2012-2014 (Jedediah)
- 2011-2012 (Corie)
- 2009-2011 (Abinadi)
- 2009-2011 (Kevin)
- 2008-2010 (Nick)
- 2007-2009 (Jonathan)
What cities/areas did you serve in?
- West Covina, Azusa, La Puente, Hacienda Heights, Chino, Chino Hills, Ontario, Diamond Bar, Glendale, Atwater Park. (Lacey)
- East LA, Covina, Baldwin Park, San Dimas, Highland Park. (Garrett)
- Chino, East Los Angeles, Highland Park/Glassel Park, La Puente. (Eric)
- Pomona, Chino, East Los Angeles. (Jedediah)
- Covina, La Canada, Tujunga, Chino, Pomona. (Corie)
- Azusa, El Monte, Fletcher(Glendale, Echo Park area), Pomona. (Abinadi)
- Hacienda/Rowland Heights, East LA (BEL 1) Glendale, Pasadena, San Gabriel, Duate, Hacienda/Rowland Heights again, Pasadena again and last but not least, Chino. (Nick)
- Boyle Heights, Chino, Covina, LA Verne, and Claremont. (Jonathan)
What were some favorite foods?
- Anything Latin!! But especially street tacos and pupusas. (Lacey)
- Tacos, carne Asada, chiles rellenos, beans/rice, enchiladas. (Garrett)
- Anything cooked with the chipotle chile. Also sopes, pupusas, tacos de al pastor and carne asada. (Eric)
- Tinga, Pupusas, Chile’s Rellenos. (Jedediah)
- It was all pretty good, except for the menudo 🙁 (Corie)
- Street tacos, enchiladas, anything Mexican. (Abinadi)
- Pupusa. (Kevin)
- Menudo, flautas, pozole, aji de gallina, and street tacos for sure. (Nick)
- Tacos from street carts. (Jonathan)
What was a funny experience?
- I broke my elbow… my third day in the mission field… because I fell off my bike. (Lacey)
- My companion and I got our back tires stolen from our bikes because we didn’t have them locked to the frame. The funny part is that a cholo drove up to us when we found our bikes and said how messed up it is that someone would steal our tires. He said he would look for them for us. After he left, a member down the street called us and said she saw the whole thing happen and that the cholo that talked to us was the one that stole our tires. (Eric)
- Teaching a missionary how to sweep a kitchen floor for the first time always draws a smile. (Jedediah)
- So many! I spoke Spanish so when I or someone else would make a mistake. One time as my companion and I were driving, my companion said to me- Hey Hermana! I think those people in that car are Catholic- their car says “Catholica” I said No… I think that says Cadillac. One of the funniest moments on my mission. (Corie)
- Elders called 911 because they got a weird voice mail they didn’t understand and thought the member was calling for help. (Abinadi)
- My companion and I baptized a girl who’s family was extremely evangelical. Her whole family came to the baptism and after she came up out of the water her whole family began to clap and shout hallelujah(even though we asked them not to in the beginning) so in order to make them comfortable and not awkward I decided to join them and began clapping while saying ” YEAH YEAH YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” not as loud as them though!!! (Nick)
- A pigeon pooped on my head/face once when I was unlocking my bike. (Jonathan)
What was a crazy experience?
- I ended up getting a stalker. That was scary. (Corie)
- We had our car shot at in the middle of the night and had to be moved to another apartment right away. (Lacey)
- We heard gun shots and saw police helicopters occasionally. (Eric)
- My companion and I were surrounded by a gang one time and interrogated to make sure we were legit missionaries. They realized we were the real deal when we tried to give them a Book of Mormon. (Jedediah)
- Got attacked twice by pit bulls in the same week. (Abinadi)
- While serving in East LA I stopped my bike to take a phone call. My face/head/ears were super sweaty due to the wonderful 107 degree weather we had on that day. So instead of putting the phone next to my ear I used the speaker. The way I was holding the phone gave the impression that I was video taping the houses and the street. This gang member came out and asked who the EFF I was so I pointed to my name tag and told him I was a missionary, he wasn’t buying it though. So he told me that if he ever saw me again he would unload a gun magazine on me. I went back the next day and when I saw him coming toward me and I thought he was gonna do something to me. Instead he apologized and said he talked to his neighbor who was also a gang member and he told him we were good “Jesus people” So he shook my hand and told me to keep up the good work. (Nick)
What was a spiritual experience?
- So many! Seeing peoples lives change and them experiencing the love of the gospel. (Corie)
- You want only one?? The whole mission was a spiritual experience! (Lacey)
- In my first area, I was really struggling with picking up Spanish. We were teaching a recent convert family that was really struggling. As I tried to bear my testimony to the mother in Spanish, I simply shared how I struggled with Spanish but that the Lord can bless us with faith that we can improve. It was the first time I really felt like I was able to express myself in a way that was understood by the people we were teaching. I also felt like I deeply understood how they were feeling as well. (Eric)
- Finding a golden investigator my first day of the mission, knocking doors after being handed a map of our area and picking a street after praying where the Lord wanted us to go. (Jedediah)
- I’ve never felt close to God before in my life. I literally felt his company on multiple occasions. (Abinadi)
- I had way too many. (Nick)
What are some interesting facts about the Arcadia Mission?
- It’s one of the smallest in the church and has some of the highest tithing paying wards in the church. (Jonathan)
- The only Armenian speaking mission in the United States. You can drive from one end of the mission to another (in good traffic) in about 45 minutes. (Corie)
- We were one of the smallest missions. There are 7 different languages that are spoken. (Lacey)
- Its got lots of notable spots in it, like the Dodger Stadium and the Rose Bowl. It’s a very, very small mission, and they don’t use cars, they use buses instead. (Garrett)
- Its among the smallest missions in the world. Only takes about 45 minutes to drive across it from its farthest points. It has over 6 million people that live in it. (Eric)
- There are actually more Spanish speaking missionaries serving than English speaking missionaries. There are a LOT of famous places in our mission. (Jedediah)
- There are many different nationalities. Cities where business names are in Spanish, Mandarin, etc. (Abinadi)
- At the time, it was the smallest mission geographically in the church. (Kevin)
- The cultural diversity. It was awesome to see how many different nationalities we had in our areas. (Nick)
What was the weather like?
- Warm. Then crazy hot. Then it would rain nonstop for like 3 days and then be crazy hot again. Plus it was super humid. (Lacey)
- Gets up to the 100’s in summer, and down to the 40’s in the winter. Not very much rain, except maybe in winter/spring. (Garrett)
- Mostly nice an warm! Winters can have a few days where you will want to bundle up. (Eric)
- Very little precipitation. Weather was hot in the summer, mid-40’s (°F) in the winter. (Jedediah)
- Mostly warm. It got a little chilly in the winter. (Corie)
- Warm. Lots of rain during winter. Not heavy rain, but constant rain, not too cold during winter, small, warm winter coat should do. (Abinadi)
- Sunny and hot! The two years I was there we probably had seven days of rain in total. (Nick)
- Hot in the summer but beautiful the rest of the year. It did get fairly cold in winter as well. (Jonathan)
Any things you really like about the area/people?
- They’re love for literally everything. They just had so much love to give and you always felt welcome no matter what even if they weren’t interested. (Lacey)
- Latinos are the best people ever. They are super loving, and it’s really fun to learn their culture. They love missionaries with all their hearts! (Garrett)
- Latinos are the most hospitable and humble people I’ve ever met. (Jedediah)
- I loved the climate-the warm weather was great! I just loved the people. they were so warm and welcoming. They each had a unique story. (Corie)
- Everything. I literally loved everything about the mission and the people who lived there were absolutely awesome. Very welcoming, stubborn but welcoming. (Abinadi)
- Everything. I enjoyed talking to people and generally they were very kind. At times even though they were not interested in our message they still made us sit outside their homes and fed us which was way cool! (Nick)
- I loved how many strong members there were as well as the great weather. (Jonathan)
Any packing/clothing advice?
- Goodwill skirts are really the greatest things on this planet because most likely you’ll be biking and that way you won’t care if they rip or get stained, plus you can find good long ones there too. Also clothes (cough, cough garments too) that are breathable. It gets really hot and you don’t want to be wearing a ton of layers. As far as shoes go, I’m sure whatever you get will work just fine. I know everyone gets the fancy typical missionary shoes, but I didn’t and I thought mine worked great! Just remember if you go with something strappy, you will have ridiculous tan lines. (Lacey)
- 2-3 long sleeve white shirts, and 7+ short sleeve. In the summer you won’t want to re-wear shirts until you wash them, and you’ll want a couple long sleeves for when you wear your suit. 3-5 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes (alternate each day). Have a decent jacket and/or sweater for the winter. (Garrett)
- Take a good rain jacket. Don’t bring it all home when you come back. (Corie)
- Light clothes. Mostly white, short sleeve shirts and a few long sleeves for Sunday and baptisms. 5 washable slacks. Always iron your clothes, you’ll look much more professional. (Abinadi)
- Sun and rain. (Kevin)
- One sweater. Do not bring more than one. Unless you put on some pounds and you need a bigger one. Also, Do not walk around with a coat when it’s 95 degrees out. Some missionaries did it and it just looked weird. So do not be a fool! (Nick)
What blessings did you receive from serving a mission?
- Uhhh all the blessings! (Lacey)
- I received more blessings than I can say! Most important thing is if you are exactly obedient, and do everything you can to serve, the Lord will change your heart and build you into the person He wants you to be. (Garrett)
- My mission means more to me than can ever be described in writing. After going, it seems ridiculous that I even considered not going. (Jedediah)
- Too many to even count. I learned another language which has helped me with my education, my new job in teaching a mostly Hispanic population to help communicate with parents and I married a Latino. We will teach our kids to be bilingual. (Corie)
- A wonderful family. I’m still receiving blessings today. (Abinadi)
- Learning Spanish which has been very useful in my professional life. The town in NJ where I work as a police officer is predominantly Spanish speaking, so I’m able to communicate with the citizens. (Nick)
- It helped me to be a better home teacher when I got home, which in turn led to me meeting my wife. (Jonathan)
What are some skills you gained?
- How to be independent. How to work well with others. (Lacey)
- I gained a much stronger testimony, the desire and ability to give everything to the Lord, became more patient, humble, and faithful. (Garrett)
- Planning and organization. Resilience. (Eric)
- Speaking Spanish. Effective time management skills. Overcoming my fear of speaking with others, especially regarding topics I view as important. (Jedediah)
- Language, study skills, gospel knowledge, how to check a tire, cooking skills. (Corie)
- I developed a better work ethic. Very good study habits, ability to teach and talk to anyone. (Abinadi)
- Patience is definitely one of them!!! Again learning Spanish was a huge plus! (Nick)
- I became better at being outgoing and confident. (Jonathan)
What do you wish you knew/did at the beginning of your mission?
- Read Preach My Gospel every day!!!! (Lacey)
- Read “a successful missionary” in Preach My Gospel, Chapter 1. If you are being exactly obedient, and are following the Spirit, even if people are not accepting your message, you are being successful. The purpose of your mission is not for YOU to have baptisms, it’s for the Lord to bring His people in. Even if it doesn’t appear anything is happening, if you are doing all you can, you are doing His will, and His plan is being accomplished. Talk with EVERYONE. (Garrett)
- It’s okay to make mistakes- you’re not perfect. Just speak the language and people will understand. (Corie)
- Spoke to more people. At times I got nervous and let some people walk by without saying at least hello. (Nick)
Any advice/testimony for pre-missionaries going to Arcadia?
- You will seriously love it! You will gain a whole new family! Also you’re going to the best mission ever! (Lacey)
- Start living the missionary standards (like restrictions on music, television, and other media, study schedule, etc., get rid of your cell phone) a couple weeks before entering the Mission Training Center. So much potential to grow in the Mission Training Center is wasted by missionaries who have to wasted valuable time and effort acclimating themselves to a lifestyle very different from the one they left behind. (Jedediah)
- It’s not about you and your testimony-it’s about everyone else you are about to serve. (Corie)
- Be ready to work hard. It won’t be easy. It’s definitely not a two year vacation. Give your all, there’s many people waiting for you. (Abinadi)
- That is literally the best mission the church has. It is very small but it is also full of work to be done. Get up everyday with the willingness to go out and serve. You will face a lot of rejection, as much as people say the mission will be your best 2 years it will also be your toughest 2 years so get ready for the sad days too. (Nick)
- It will be the best experience of your life if you work hard and are obedient. (Jonathan)
What was a funny language mistake?
- Instead of saying she was embarrassed she said she was pregnant. (Lacey)
- One time I told an investigator “podemos llegar a ser Jesucristo” which means “We can become Jesus Christ.” I meant to say “podemos llegar a ser como Jesucristo” which means “we can become LIKE Jesus Christ.” My companion thought it was pretty funny at the time. (Eric)
- Too many. But it’s okay. That’s how you learn. (Corie)
- This was not funny. The investigator was telling us about how her father had died, my companion wanted to hurry out because he was upset at me for whatever and he knew that hurrying out would make me upset. So, in Spanish he responded to the investigator “oh that’s great”. Learn the language your speaking, always seek to improve. I’m native, and I have mission friends who speak Spanish as good as I do. (Abinadi)
- I spoke Spanish. I once taught a man we have a living “prophetess”. My companion didn’t inform me until after the lesson. (Kevin)
- I really don’t think it’s appropriate to say here LOL so let’s just say that family never had us over for dinner again after the extremely awkward moment. PS: I was training a brand new Elder when it happened XD. (Nick)
Kelsey (California Arcadia Mission)
–Paraphrased from Kelsey’s mission interview–
Our mission is pretty small. It covers east LA and it went far east to Chino. I don’t know the mileage, but there was Spanish, English, Armenian, and Chinese. We had completely separate zones for each language and our districts were separate. We had two Spanish stakes in our mission. We were pretty separate from English and the other languages. I had been out three transfers when we got in a huge influx of missionaries due to the age change. We got a lot of sisters especially. I had to train right after my own training. They were prepared and ready to serve. There were some areas that were definitely more white. Some were more Chinese. Some had huge populations of Chinese. East LA had a lot more Latinos. You usually got a little of everything in most areas.
Zachary (California Arcadia Mission)
–Paraphrased from Zachary’s mission interview–
Arcadia Mission Geography
The Arcadia mission is one of the smallest missions in the world, but at the same time it is one of the highest population missions. There are a lot of people there, but there are also a lot of missionaries. When I served, there were around 180 missions there. Now there are over 200. To drive from one end of the mission to another took about 45 minutes with traffic. We had parts of East L.A., Pasadena, and places like Chino. There are a lot of immigrant populations, and also a lot of ghettos.
Diversity in the Arcadia Area
Entire cities are populated by only Chinese, only El Salvadorians, and other countries. We even had some immigrants from Germany and Portugal. Another interesting thing about Arcadia is that a long time a go, they had an Aviary burn down, and a bunch of Parrots escaped. They’ve settled in the area and now there are a lot of parrots everywhere.
Because of the huge diversity there are a lot of different religious backgrounds. For example, the biggest Buddhist temple in the world outside of the Eastern Hemisphere is there. It was not uncommon to meet a Buddhist or others who didn’t have a Christian background. It was interesting to meet those kinds of people and talk to them about Christ. There were missionaries who spoke English, Spanish, Armenian, Tagalog, Tongan, Samoan (there were a few Samoan Wards), Korean, ASL, and Chinese. Our mission covered a lot of languages!