Here are free resources about the California Los Angeles 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.
Los Angeles Mission Address
Here’s a recent address for the California Los Angeles Mission. We try to keep this info up to date, but it’s a good idea to check the address with several sources, including your mission packet or the mission office.
California Los Angeles Mission
1591 E. Temple Way
Los Angeles, CA 90024-5801
United States
Phone Number: 1-310-474-2593
Mission President: President Robert M. Haynie
Los Angeles Mission Map
Here’s a link to the mission map for the California Los Angeles Mission (LDS). To access the official LDS.org map for the Los Angeles Mission:
Los Angeles Missionary Blogs
Here’s a list of LDS missionary blogs for the California Los Angeles Mission. This list includes the missionary’s name, URL and when their blog was updated.
Los Angeles Mission Groups
Here are California Los Angeles Mission Groups- for LDS missionary moms, returned missionaries, mission presidents and other alumni of the Los Angeles Mission.
- California Los Angeles Mission Facebook Group (979 members)
- California Los Angeles Mission Facebook Group (595 members)
- California Los Angeles Mission (CLAM) (LDS) Group (109 members)
- Los Angeles Mission under Pres Farnsworth Group (38 members)
- Los Angeles Mission Moms and Friends (LDS) Group (20 members)
- Los Angeles Mission under Pres Shirts and Gogarty Group (1 member)
Los Angeles Mission T-Shirts
Here are T-shirts for the California Los Angeles Mission!
Shirt designs include California Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles missionary aprons, Christmas stockings, ties, pillow cases, teddy bears and Christmas ornaments.
*Click here to browse Los Angeles Mission gifts
Los Angeles Mission Presidents
Here’s a list of current and past Mission Presidents of the Los Angeles LDS Mission.
- 2016-2019, Robert M. Haynie
- 2013-2016, David N. Weidman
- 2010-2013, Stephen R. Baker
- 2007-2010, Spencer G. Blackburn
- 2004-2007, Richard Raymond
- 2002-2004, Michael J. Partridge
- 1999-2002, Dean Christensen
- 1996-1999, Milo R. LeBaron Jr.
- 1993-1996, Karl S. Farnsworth
- 1990-1993, W. Barney Gogarty
- 1987-1990, Elmo B. Shirts
- 1984-1987, Clarence Campbell
- 1982-1985, Harold Hoopes
- 1979-1982, F. Briton McConkie
- 1975-1978, Joel R. Garrett
- 1972-1975, DeWitt J. Paul
- 1968-1971, John K. Edmunds
- 1966-1969, Don H. Rasmussen
- 1965-1966, Phil D. Jensen
- 1962-1965, Howard B. Anderson
- 1951-1955, Bryan L. Bunker
- 1946-1950, Oscar W. McConkie
California LDS Statistics (2016)
- Church Membership: 773,762
- Missions: 20
- Temples: 7
- Congregations: 1,357
- Family History Centers: 222
Helpful Articles about California
Los Angeles Missionary Survey
Here are survey responses from California Los Angeles 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?
- January 2013-January 2015 (Justin)
- 2013-2015 (Patrick)
- 2013-2015 (Tayler)
- 2013-2015 (Rosa)
- 2012-2014 (Llikea)
- 2012-2013 (James)
- 2011-2013 (Chris)
- 2011-2013 (Zach)
- 2011-2012 (Ryan)
- 2009-2011 (Tyrel)
- 2007-2009 (Mike)
- 2006-2008 (Patrick)
- 2002-2004 (Evan)
- 2002-2003 (Amanda)
- 1994-1996 (Kent)
- 1990-1992 (Richard)
- 1992-1994 (Tyler)
- 1983-1985 (Lloyd)
- 1983-1984 (Kristine)
What areas did you serve in?
- Los Angeles, Compton, Palos Verdes, Hollywood, Huntington Park. (Patrick)
- Santa Monica Stake and North Torrance Stake. (Tayler)
- Mar Vista, Redondo Beach, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Westwood and Bel Air. (Rosa)
- Brentwood, Norwalk, Downey, Westwood, Malibu, Torrance. (Llikea)
- Inglewood. (James)
- West LA, Hawthorne, Hollywood, Huntington Park, South Central, Compton, Gardena, Carson. (Chris)
- Inglewood, by USC campus. (Zach)
- Santa Monica, Bel Air, Pan Pacific. (Ryan)
- Inglewood, Lomita, Downtown LA, Downey. (Tyrel)
- South Gate, Jefferson Park, South Central, Down Town, and Hawthorn. (Mike)
- All of them. Of 16 transfers in the field, I moved 11 times. (Evan)
- Redondo Beach/Torrance, Downey/Norwalk/Gardena, and Lawndale/Hawthorne. (Amanda)
- LA, HP, Inglewood, Wilmington, Downey, Bell, Torrance, Compton. (Richard)
- Lawndale, East Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Downey, Bellflower, Hollywood. (Tyler)
- Mainly: Compton, Carson, Long Beach, Harbor City & Hawthorne. (Lloyd)
- LA, Downey, Maywood, Mayflower, Huntington Park, Hollywood. (Kristine)
What were some favorite foods?
- Taro, pupusas. (Justin)
- Flautas, baleadas, tacos. (Patrick)
- Posole, dobleritos and papusas. (Ryan)
- I loved all of the ethnic foods that were available to us! Korean BBQ, Thai food, and authentic Mexican were my favorites. I also loved how healthy and fresh the food is there. (Tayler)
- Chinese chicken salad, presto chicken and apple pie and vanilla ice cream. (Rosa)
- I served Spanish-speaking. The only food item I didn’t like was mojara frita. (Evan)
- Korean BBQ, American Chinese, Cameroonian, generic American ward BBQ. (Amanda)
- Outdoor food vendor food (Kent)
- Pupusas. (Richard)
- Most of the Polynesian food. Stay away from the Russian food in Hollywood. (Tyler)
- Chris burgers at Chris’s, peach soda, awesome chicken from this hole in the wall restaurant on Pico Blvd and something. I wish I could remember the name and the cross street. But the best were the dishes Hermana Lee would make up. We had so much fun! (Kristine)
- Street Tacos, Pupusa’s, Korean BBQ, Island food… All the food in LA is good!
- Enchiladas verdes! Pupusas Beans and rice Street tacos Pozole. (Chris)
- Anything Spanish or Samoan. (Patrick)
- Pupusas. (Zach)
- Tlayudas, pupusas, verda lagos, tortas ahorgadas. (Mike)
- Farsi and Egyptian food. (Llikea)
- Horse, nopales and Peru seveché. (James)
- What was a funny experience?
- Hiding in other missionaries’ apartments while waiting for them to arrive home. (Justin)
- A man prayed for us on his front porch so we wouldn’t go to hell. (Ryan)
- When my companion kicked a ball back to some school kids so hard it bounced off a fence and then onto a shed roof. They shook the shed and got the ball back thankfully. (Patrick)
- While tracting a dog chased us. I drew the attention of the dog allowing my slower companion to escape through an open gate. I had to jump the fence and ended up cutting my hand. We still laughed at getting chased. (Evan)
- Getting chased by dogs, having my tire get a blow out which scared them away. (Richard)
- To many to list. Bike wrecks, Elders heads going through a bedroom wall. Sharing our message with a Catholic guy, he would try and tell us how our church was so wrong and we would prove him wrong with his own Bible. He hit so frustrated he went in the other room and called his Priest. (Tyler)
- One day, we were outside in our car while we were waiting for an investigator. This guy came over and talked to us and started flirting with my companion and me. At one point, he told me that he was in love with my eye lashes. (Kristine)
- Getting vaulted over my bike handlebars while riding on the sidewalks near Koreatown. It was awful then, but it must have been hilarious to watch. Watching the Jehovah’s Witnesses avoid knocking on our door every Wednesday afternoon in Huntington Park. (Chris)
- Beach preparation day. (Patrick)
- Getting hugged by a half naked homeless woman in MacArthur park. (Mike)
- Getting hit on while pumping gas and awkwardly trying to change the situation by offering a pass along card. (Llikea)
What was a crazy experience?
- Having our mission phone robbed from us at knife point. (Justin)
- A lady came out of her house yelling at a man in the house, “put that gun down. Don’t point that thing at me, put it down.” I grabbed my companion and told her to run. She didn’t speak much English yet, so I told her I would explain later. (Ryan)
- Several times biking across the train-tracks and the bars starting to go down while we’re on it. (Patrick)
- While in the Wilmington area I was shot. It hit my right shoulder leaving a bruise, but nothing else. (Evan)
- A companion tried contacting a man and his friends came out of a hotbox car with smoke billowing out and surrounded us. The first man tried to ask out my companion but stopped and let us go. While he was trying to ask her out, another man at my side spit on my shoes. We were lucky to get out of there and I had to help my Korean companion understand that she hadn’t done anything wrong by contacting him but that he and his buddies were high and had bad intentions. We went to a member’s house and the companion talked to the member while I cleaned my shoe and hose. (Amanda)
- Driving in LA is out of control! The only time I felt even close to being in danger was when I was in a car. (Tayler)
- My companion and I chased down a purse snatcher in South Central LA. (Kent)
- My companion and I were tracting in gang territory and they stopped us and made us take off our ties, because they were the wrong color for that area. (I had a red tie and my companion had a blue tie) (Richard)
- I was in the Northridge earthquake. We had a shooting in our apartment parking lot. Serving in Hollywood. (Tyler)
- One night, we were with the elders somewhere in downtown LA. We were getting into our respective cars and we looked over and this drunk guy was harassing the elders. He was pretty much in one of the elders’ face and had trapped him between the open door and the car. The dude put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a shiny silver object. We were all so scared as we first thought it was a gun. But it was too small to be a gun, so realized it was a knife. By the time we got closer to help save the missionary, we realized it was a pen. He wanted the elders to come teach him the discussions. (Kristine)
- While serving in downtown Los Angeles, an LAPD officer shot and killed a man. Following the shooting, riots broke out that lasted several days. People were breaking storefront windows, setting dumpsters on fire, pushing dumpsters down hills and making them hit parked cars, etc. There were police helicopters and news helicopters in the air at all hours. For three days, we were not able to work in over half of our area. (Tyrel)
- We met one of the OG’s (original gangsters) of the Bloods gang in Compton. He’d been an investigator before I guess and he knew who we were. He told us if we had any problems in the area to come talk to him. (Chris)
- Gun shots while serving in Watts. Multiple times being stopped by cops and them telling us to leave. (Patrick)
- Getting shot at in down town. (Mike)
- Walking around East LA with a newer Chevy Cruze and skirts looking innocent. (Llikea)
- Going to birthday parties and riding an electric bull. (James)
- There was a time my companion and I were talking to some Jehovah Witnesses by the beach. One of them wouldn’t let us talk or leave…at the same time, there was a Christian guy passing by with his dog and joined the conversation. Since we were talking about Christ, the Jehovah Witnesses and the Christian were trying to argue “against us” but we couldn’t even say a word so they ended up arguing against each other and left us. That was so funny to me. (Rosa)
What was a spiritual experience?
- Returning to my first area after almost a whole year to baptize an investigator who finally decided to be baptized during the time I had been gone. (Justin)
- Gerardo’s baptism. (Ryan)
- When my companion and I had a shared impression to invite a woman to read The Book of Mormon to learn how to read better. The Spirit was incredibly strong after we invited her. (Patrick)
- While greeting members and visitors as they entered church one Sunday, a young man of 23 walked up to us at the front door and asked to be baptized. He’d investigated in Mexico, but had to come north before anything could happen. He’d been searching for The Church since his arrival three months prior. Earlier that week he happened to mention this to his landlord, a member. We set up an appointment and spent the remainder of our time getting to know him. Sadly he had to leave early for work. We arrived five minutes early the day of our appointment, but the address was a vacant lot. We prayed for inspiration and help in finding this eager soul. With plenty of detective work and divine intervention we were able to locate the landlord, from a different stake, and through him locate the apartment. It had no phone as it wasn’t even an official apartment. It was a spare room in a karate dojo. We got the information late Friday night, but stopped by anyway. We were blessed. He’d been stressing about missing us all week. He was still learning his new address and had given the wrong coordinates. We began talking with the intent to set up an appointment for the next day, but he quickly brought up that he’d heard about the baptism of a family this Sunday and asked if he could be in it as well. My companion and I made some calls, checked some information and were told that if we felt his understanding of Gospel principles was sufficient he could be interviewed the next day. If that interview went well, he would be allowed to be baptized. We went through a whirlwind of Gospel Q&A in the following hour and a half before being pleasantly impressed with his knowledge, understanding and spiritual fortitude. From there everything fell into place. The only way all of that could have happened was with God’s hand guiding it all. (Evan)
- Telling an investigator that unless they chose to follow the commandments that we could not return anymore. Used words God gave us and there was a manifestation of the Spirit in which the investigator could not deny that what we were saying was true regarding commandment keeping. (Amanda)
- The Visitor’s Center behind the temple is a key to having spiritual experiences. We were teaching a man who did not have a knowledge of Jesus Christ. He had heard of Him before, but only as a prophet and a great teacher. He never had learned about Christ being the Son of God. We invited him to read Mosiah 3 and 4 and then to come with us on a trip to the Visitor’s Center. Our first stop was a room all about Jesus. The Visitor’s Center Sisters played a recording were a voice talks to you as Jesus. The Spirit was so strong in the room! After the video was over we asked our investigator who Christ was to him. He replied, “He is my Savior and the Son of God.” We had not even taught him that information yet! The Spirit touched his heart while he was reading The Book of Mormon, and at the Visitor’s Center those feelings were confirmed. He ended up getting baptized about a year later. (Tayler)
- Converts a plenty in LA (Kent)
- Some investigators were worried that their daughter was abducted. We asked them to fast and pray and she returned the next morning. (Richard)
- My first week in Hollywood we had a guy walk into church with shorts and a pack of cigarettes hanging out of his shirt pocket, holding a Book of Mormon he had found in the gutter. Long story short, his parents were killed when he was 8, he was in and out of foster homes and orphanages. He spent Christmas at 8 years old on the street. He didn’t believe in God and if there was a God he hated him. He was now a male prostitute. Within the next 6 weeks his life changed and with special permission from church leaders in Salt Lake he was baptized. (Tyler)
- Wolfley and I taught this man in the church. The spirit was so strong, we could actually see a golden, glowing aura surrounding our investigator. (Kristine)
- I had some absolutely incredible experiences from taking investigators and less active members to the Los Angeles Temple. The Visitor’s Center at the temple is amazing, and is a great teaching resource. I had some of the most spiritual experiences of my mission on those grounds. (Tyrel)
- A member was trying to leave the church and asked how how we could believe what we did. I’ve never born testimony that hard. I knew that my testimony could spark hers again and I knew the Spirit was there. It was so quiet in that apartment that you could hear a pin drop. (Chris)
- Any and all baptisms. (Patrick)
- Being able to use the priesthood to bless those around us, members and non-members. (Mike)
- Having the gift of tongues using and understanding sign language in the most dire need. (Llikea)
- Driving, shooting next door to my apartment, and bad medication that made me paranoid. (James)
- Talked to a lady on the street, and asked if she had seen the Book of Mormon before… she said: “No English, I speak French”. I was so happy that I speak French and started talking to her in French and she got really mad at me and started to yell and be mean…in French. When she left, my companion was so happy and she asked me if we set up a return appointment, because she thought it was going great but apparently we didn’t.
What are some interesting facts about the Los Angeles Mission?
- Returning to my first area after almost a whole year to baptize an investigator who finally decided to be baptized during the time I had been gone. (Justin)
- My last two transfers we started doing the two-week program for the greenies. And I left right when they started to learn to budget. (Ryan)
- The Los Angeles Mission is one of the smallest missions. Eight languages are represented in programs. (Patrick)
- The C.L.A.M. was the second smallest in the world at the time. (Evan)
- The place where the “tag” was invented to differentiate us from Jehovah Witnesses in the area. Invented in the 1970’s. Second smallest mission in the world after Temple Square. (Amanda)
- It was the second mission in the world to have a Farsi-speaking program. (Tayler)
- Tons of members to take care of you. Get fed every night. Lots of different languages are spoken. Get to serve in foreign branches. (Kent)
- At the time I was serving, it covered the ONLY Spanish-speaking stake in the USA. (Richard)
- I was English-speaking but I was in discussions with other missionaries with a deaf family, Spanish speaking, Chinese, Samoan, Tongan, Russian and Cantonese. Our mission had the discussions taught in 10 different languages. (Tyler)
- At the time, we had 18 different languages spoken in our mission. (Kristine)
- The California Los Angeles Mission (CLAM) is one of the most diverse missions in the church; you can be in an impoverished area, where six people sleep on the floor in a run-down 200 square-foot studio apartment, and then drive 5 miles down the road, and be in Beverly Hills, where some of the most expensive homes in the country can be found. In a single day, you can teach people from every corner of the globe. In one day, you may meet a Jewish man from England, a man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who is fluent in English, French, and Spanish, a Filipino family that is fluent in English and Tagalog, a couple from Brazil, a man from Mexico who is a first-generation Muslim, a Chinese family who are first-generation Christians, a Black former gangster turned pastor who has now dedicated his life to stopping gang violence, and a Mexican family where the parents both work two jobs so that they can provide a better life for their children. (Tyrel)
- You could drive across it in 20 or 30 minutes in good traffic… or 3 or 4 hours in bad. -You can go from rich neighborhoods to really poor neighborhoods and back to rich ones in just a few streets. (Chris)
- One of the smallest in the world with one of the biggest populations and highest concentrations of missionaries. (Mike)
- I was originally called to English at the visitor’s center. Four transfers after, I was called out “full field”. I then was changed to be an ASL sister, the first and only sisters to ever serve in that branch (as far as I know). After a transfer and a half of that, my companion was emergency transferred to the Chinese program. We only stayed there for a short period before she went home early due to mental health issues. I eventually had served exactly half of my mission outside of the visitor’s center and half inside. It was very unusual for sisters to be out that long. (Llikea)
- Cleaning the temple and learning about the construction. Always learned member perspectives were interesting. (James)
- I experienced how the Spirit touched individuals that came to the visitor’s center. At the beginning, people would say to leave them alone because they were members or just wanted to wander around but God knew why they were there and as I approached them again, the Spirit put in me heart what they needed to hear and they were strengthened or accepted to follow the Savior and be baptized. (Rosa)
What was the weather like?
- Sunny almost throughout the year with some rain that occurs seldom. (Justin)
- Great. I think it rained hard only two or three times. It sprinkled almost every morning in the spring. (Ryan)
- Sunny. All the time. (Patrick)
- Hot. At times wet and hot. (Evan)
- Balmy, cool, warm, paradise- you could feel every degree change. (Amanda)
- Don’t let sunny California fool you- in the winter it gets pretty cold. Especially if you are serving near the ocean! (Tayler)
- it’s L.A. Super nice all the time. Only wore a jacket to meetings. (Kent)
- Perfect. It was LA. (Richard)
- Great most of the time. (Tyler)
- Beautiful ALL the time! (Kristine)
- The weather is great, for the most part. Los Angeles does have a rainy season, where it is cold, and windy, and rainy, so be prepared for that. (Tyrel)
- Pretty nice most of the year. June through October, be ready for the heat! We had a heat wave one September and it was over 100 degrees every day for a few weeks in Hollywood. There’s a colder, wet month or two in December/January. I wore short sleeves almost every day. (Chris)
- Nice and hot. (Patrick)
- Perfect. (Zach)
- Perfect all year round. (Mike)
- Hot. (Llikea)
- Sunny unless I was at the beach. (James)
- It was chilly but really hot in the summer. (Rosa)
Any things you really like about the area/people?
- Temple was inside mission boundaries. Diversity among everybody. (Justin)
- Everything. I liked that there were so many people, with so many different backgrounds. (Ryan)
- The people were amazing. I served in Spanish, and I found most all of the Latinos to be loving and accepting people. Many of the areas I served in were ghettos, so there was always something crazy happening. (Patrick)
- Though in name and appearance I am an Anglo, I’m a half Mexican by blood. My mission was humbling and gratifying as I reconnected with those roots. (Evan)
- Good balance/mix of the whole world. Mostly safer than not for Sisters. (Amanda)
- People in LA are very open minded and ready to listen. (Kent)
- They were humble, faithful, and hard working. (Richard)
- Such a diverse population. Served in some of the wealthiest areas in southern California and in some of the poorest gang infested areas. There were great people in every area. Loved the Polynesian communities. They would give you the shirt off their back and their last dollar. (Tyler)
- They were generous, kind, and extremely spiritual! I loved them so much! (Kristine)
- I met some absolutely incredible people while on my mission. While, of course, many people differed in terms of their beliefs, the vast majority of the people were very respectful to us and what we were doing. I only had two doors slammed in my face in my whole mission. Even those people who had radically different views in terms of religion were genuinely interested in talking to us, and they would take time out of their day to have a conversation. Even in the poorest areas, people were always offering us food and drinks. (Tyrel)
- I was a Spanish speaker. Latin people are the most welcoming people you will meet. There are some who will literally give you the shirt off their back if you ask for it. They love missionaries and love God… granted, they might think you’re from immigration/the police when you first talk to them. (Chris)
- The nice way they drove;). Some of the strongest members of the church anywhere. (Mike)
- Friendliness and open mindedness regardless of religious origin. (Llikea)
- Being helped with referrals and talking about who to member contact them. (James)
- Members or non members were really nice to us and there’s a vast cultural diversity. (Rosa)
Any packing/clothing advice?
- Do not bring any clothes that are too warm. (Justin)
- You don’t really need extra sheets. Don’t forget your pillow. (Ryan)
- Pack light. (Patrick)
- Don’t over pack. Follow the guidance of the Spirit, if you don’t feel it’s necessary, leave it. Anything you feel you might need can be easily shipped or purchased in field. It’s still America there. (Evan)
- Comfy shoes over purely practical. Boots unnecessary. Some cooler weather clothes are good in addition to short-sleeved items. (Amanda)
- no coat, lots of short sleeve shirts (Kent)
- Comfortable shoes. (Tyler)
- Don’t forget your underwear! (Kristine)
- Dress for warm weather, but do bring good quality rain gear. It will save your life, especially if you are in a bike area during the rainy season. (Tyrel)
- SHORT SLEEVE SHIRTS. You can thank me later. Bring enough garments to last a week and a half. You’ll get to go to the temple every 3 months and Preparation day is later those weeks, so you’ll need enough garments to last 10 or 11 days. (Chris)
- Short sleeve shirts. (Zach)
- Bring a sweater and a jacket because believe it or not it gets chilly in the winter time. (Mike)
- Pack light, clothes do get passed down. Bring good shoes. (Llikea)
- Lots of white shirts and deodorant. (James)
- Bring clothes for cold and warm weather. For sisters tights and cardigans are good for the first months of the year. (Rosa)
What blessings did you receive from serving a mission?
- Maturity. Firmer testimony. Optimism. Lasting friendships. (Justin)
- Stronger faith. And the love of my life. (Ryan)
- A testimony and the ability to listen better and react to the Spirit. (Patrick)
- I can’t begin to count. (Evan)
- Learned how the Church worked administratively. Very much appreciate humble people. Love balanced wards now- only leadership in a ward and no one gets baptized. Only people needing help in a ward and it is easy to baptize but hard to stay active. Balance of leadership and open/humble people needed in wards. (Amanda)
- Oh so many to even start! My testimony was strengthened, my mom’s health improved, my health improved, my dad went back to church, my brother decided to serve a mission, I met the most amazing people who have become my best friends, and sooooo many more. (Tayler)
- Everything good in my life stems from those years. (Kent)
- Lifelong friendships. (Richard)
- Changed my whole life. Wasn’t the best 2 years of my life, but it was definitely the best 2 years for my life. (Tyler)
- The greatest blessing I received from serving a mission was learning a language. I am still using it 35 years later. It has helped me in my career. I love Spanish and I love the Latino population. (Kristine)
- Too many to count. (Tyrel)
- I know how simple God’s plan and the Gospel are. I learned a language and all about a culture that I’ve come to love. I am better able to recognize guidance from God when it comes. (Chris)
- To many to count. (Mike)
- Finding my voice and discovering myself. (Llikea)
- I served. (James)
- I got to come back to the United States and study the right career. (Rosa)
What are some skills you gained?
- Time management. Diligence. Sociality. (Justin)
- Way too many to list. Patience is a big one. (Ryan)
- Many life skills, including interacting with others. (Patrick)
- I grew up. It taught me how to be an adult…mostly. (Evan)
- Keeping track of move-ins on ward directory. Ability to look for talents in missionaries to help work progress. Matching up of investigators and members. Understanding of needs of Spirit. Commitment to keeping commitments. (Amanda)
- I’m a lot more confident in myself and in the Lord. I learned how to plan an effective day with meaningful activities. I’m also a lot more patient and diligent than before. (Tayler)
- Talk to people. Teach. Gospel scholarship. Faith in God’s church. Leadership. (Kent)
- Spanish, which has served me (and continues to serve me) well. (Richard)
- How to get along with people that are completely different than me. There’s good in almost everyone. Learned not to judge people. None of us are perfect. (Tyler)
- As stated, a foreign language, as well as learning how to love people from all walks of life regardless of style or station. (Kristine)
- I learned Spanish. It was difficult for me to do. I struggled a lot with learning it, but it turns out that I am now going to be using it every day in my career. If you are called to learn a foreign language, maintain your ability to use that language after you get home. You do not know what the rest of your life will bring and you may end up using it again. (Tyrel)
- I learned Spanish. I got a lot better at keeping a conversation going. (Chris)
- Leadership, maturity. (Zach)
- A sense of urgency, organizational skills, leadership skills, finance skills, and people skills. (Mike)
- People skills, small talk skills (even though I hate small talk). Compassion and assertiveness. (Llikea)
- Some Spanish language skills. (James)
- Leadership, conflict resolution and time management. (Rosa)
What do you wish you knew/did at the beginning of your mission?
- I wish I had studied Preach My Gospel harder before the mission. (Justin)
- I wish I literally talked to everyone. (Ryan)
- I wish I read Preach My Gospel and went out with the full-time missionaries. (Patrick)
- You can do this. Missionary work is basically home/visiting teaching on steroids. (Amanda)
- I wish I knew how fast it goes by! The first six months seemed like forever and the last 12 went by super fast. Enjoy every moment. Even the hard ones! (Tayler)
- How hard it really was going to be (Kent)
- I was a recent convert, so there wasn’t much I could have prepared for. (Richard)
- Make the most of everyday. Two years goes by way to fast. (Tyler)
- That I would be able to learn Spanish. (Kristine)
- I wish that I would have re-read the Book of Mormon in the time between when I got my call and when I went to the MTC. (Tyrel)
- People do stupid things and you have no control over it. It’s frustrating, but you can work things out with people. Have some good interpersonal communication skills. Conversations are already hard enough, adding a second language can make missionaries shut down. (Chris)
- Don’t break any rules, not even the littlest ones. (Zach)
- That you proselyte on Sunday’s. (Mike)
- Not to take everything so seriously. I would also try to get to know my companions better. (Llikea)
- Not taking any medication hinders all spiritual learning. (James)
- The weather would be cold. (Rosa)
Any advice/testimony for pre-missionaries going to Los Angeles?
- Los Angeles will be a rough mission but as you remain diligent and humble in doing the service of the Lord, select individuals whom the Lord has chosen will be placed in your path. One missionary tool that has been proven effective in my mission is talking to twenty people daily. (Justin)
- Be exactly obedient. (Ryan)
- I know Christ is my Savior, and I know He loves each of us. The Book of Mormon is true, and you MUST use it if you are to help anyone convert, including yourself. And smile! Be happy. (Patrick)
- Do whatever it is you need to separate from the world and get in tune with the Spirit. (Evan)
- Be calm. Things will work out if you are obedient and love the people. Testify every day, even if it is only to yourself in your journal. Also, the Lord called you to be you, not to be anyone else. (Amanda)
- Definitely read Preach My Gospel and watch The District videos. (Tayler)
- Do your home teaching. Learn how to talk to/teach people. (Kent)
- Obey the mission rules. (Richard)
- If you lose yourself in the work and have a true love for the people, you will grow more than you can imagine. Just as King Mosiah taught, when you’re in the service of your fellow men you’re only in the service of your God. Serve, serve, serve. (Tyler)
- Just be open to loving the people you serve. (Kristine)
- You are telling the world about the most incredible message of all time. Know what that message is. Know why we are different from every other church on Earth. If you are able to, attend mission preparation classes. Study the Book of Mormon, and study Preach My Gospel. (Tyrel)
- Work out. You’ll probably be on a bike at least once (I biked for a year) and being super out of shape (like I was) hurts a lot when you suddenly bike 10 or 15 miles a day across your newly opened area. Stick it out. Heavenly Father puts you places for a reason, even if you don’t see it right away. You’ll want to quit. DO NOT QUIT. (Chris)
- Make sure your going for yourself, not for your parents or girlfriend, or because it’s just what your supposed to do. (Zach)
- LA is a dirty, sinful place. The Lord only sends his best the LA! (Mike)
- Just be yourself. Don’t be forceful. It’s okay to have conversation without trying to get a pass along card or their info in the process. Just talk to people and approach them like how you’d like to be approached. (Llikea)
- Learn to love and support and give encouragement to all members. (James)
- Be consecrated and you’ll see miracles happen. (Rosa)
What was a funny language mistake?
- I meant to greet “manuia le usu” which is one way to say good morning in Samoan. Being nervous, I accidentally said “usi” instead which I was informed was a curse word in Tongan. Thankfully no Tongans were attending the Samoan ward that day. (Justin)
- Mistaking the word for piece (pedazo) with clown (payaso). (Patrick)
- There was a joke played on me that when I was asked if I was finished eating I should respond with “Gracias, mas frijoles.” My language skills were advanced enough to see this as, “thank you, more beans please.” I played along and when the moment came I responded with “Thank you, sister, no. But my companion would like more beans.” All in perfect Spanish. He froze and the sister smiled as she recognized what was happening. She heaped his plate full of beans and said that if he didn’t finish she would be highly offended and make sure he never got a dinner appointment again for the remainder of his mission. I laughed and he got a look of terror. With the size of the mission, chances are good she could have kept her word. (Evan)
- I was a ZL introducing the new missionaries and asking them to share their testimony with the zone. One, my comp—said “Tengo mucho animal estar aqui”….he MEANT to say “Tengo mucho animo estar aqui”. Instead of saying he was excited to be there, he said he had a lot of animals to be there. (Richard)
- Sonar is the verb “to sound” as in “sound good?” Soñar is the verb “to dream”. For a year and a few months I asked people if something sounded good by saying “Sueña bien?” Turns out I was asking them if they dream well because I should have been saying “Suena bien?” (Chris)
- My companion trying to explain that he couldn’t eat the tilapia with its head on and then the good sister chopping the head off right there in front of him! (Mike)
- “Estoy buena” (I’m sexy) instead of “estoy bien” (I’m well). (Rosa)
Huy (California Los Angeles Mission)
–Paraphrased from Huy’s mission interview–
Mission Life
Los Angeles is a very small mission, but it is one of the biggest in terms of population. It is very diverse. You can find all types of people. There are eight different languages in the mission right now. It is very fast paced, so people don’t have a lot of time to talk to you. We had faith and we talked to people and expected them to stop and talk with us. It is a hard place to be because the people move so fast and they are very well cultured without our religion. You have to have a lot of faith. We have about 200 missionaries who come from all around the world: Asia, Europe, South America, Africa, Australia. We also have the temple and visitors center. It’s an awesome place to be. The spirit is really strong and you can teach investigators on the grounds and the visitors center sisters are really helpful.
The Weather
The weather is really nice. It gets down to 60’s and 70’s and up to 90’s maybe. We had a lot of cool hiking trails along the coast. On the east side of the mission we have Hollywood where you can go see the Hollywood sign. We had a lot of museum where you can visit. You can buy anything there. LA is the business place and central.
The People
The people are really nice and respectful in general. Sometimes you get yelled at, but that’s ok. We have a temple in our mission and not many missions have that. The church buildings are very old so they are all a lot different.
Kathryn (California Los Angeles Mission)
–Paraphrased from Kathryn’s mission interview–
The Diversity
The LA mission is one of the smallest geographically, but one of the largest in terms of population. It is a tiny mission. Without traffic, you could get from one side to the other in about 45 minutes. We have the UCLA campus and so there are so many international students. Any and every ethnicity is in the mission. We had Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, French, Samoan, Tongan, we had so many. They even called people to speak Farsi and ASL as well. There was so much diversity, even among the missionaries. There were 25 to 30 sisters in the visitors center. Half of those sisters were international. You spend half of your day in the visitors center and the other half in the surrounding areas. I served in some really rich places because that’s what is close by.
Different Missions
Every missionary spoke different languages, so you have a lot of very different experiences. In the first half of my mission, I ate a lot of salads and organic health foods. For the second half, I was in Compton and I spent a lot of time with Hispanic people and Samoan people mostly.
Ashley (California Los Angeles Mission)
–Paraphrased from Ashley’s mission interview–
Diversity
There are so many languages in LA. I served in Hollywood which is super diverse. I lived in Koreatown and served in Little Armenia and Little El Salvador. One time we shared missionaries that spoke different languages from other missions like Ventura that came and taught us some Armenian. I only remember a couple things in Armenian. The majority of people that we contacted in the streets were Catholics. I heard “I am Catholic” so many times. Generally people knew who LDS missionaries were. There are churches everywhere in Los Angeles. There are huge Catholic cathedrals. They were receptive to us for the most part and we had a mutual love for Christ and the Bible.
Life in the Fast Lane
I love California and would love to live there some day. It’s so beautiful and so diverse and I know Heavenly Father wanted me to experience that. Lots of people are just walking down the streets when we contact them. The people that would stop and listen to us didn’t want to hear much more if it didn’t apply directly to their lives. If you couldn’t tell them why it applied to their lives in 10 seconds, then they didn’t want to hear any more. Hispanics were so nice, and so they didn’t really yell at us or weren’t very rude.
Talking to New People
In the missions, we tried to reach the goal of having conversations with 20 new people each day. That can be hard, because a lot of your day is spent teaching people that you already know, or working with members. If you could get 20 meaningful conversations that was really good but it was really hard.