Sons Misson call Long Beach California

[Danite]

My son was just called to the California Long Beach Mission Spanish speaking can anybody form there or served there tell me what it's like the communuity culture, wards is it mostly urban, rich or poor?

[Hemidakota]

Tough neighborhood but at least he will have many opportunities to baptize new members. Congrats....

[Danite]

Are you talking crips and bloods tough? is the community mixed as far the have and have not's ? I take it's mostly urban? And thank you I'm very pround of him

[mnn727]

Landed (and took off from) at the Long Beach airport once, didn't seem too bad just passing through, definatly not ghetto, from what I saw middle class area -- possible lower middle class in parts.

[Wingnut]

The white areas aren't too bad, but since he's Spanish speaking, he could be in some pretty ghetto neighborhoods. This will totally freak you out, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he gets a gun pulled on him while he's out.

[Hemidakota]

My son served in bad area of Milan Italy and other areas and pretty much did well. Long Beach, long with other Cali cities have issues with gang membership but will not go out of their way to pick on missionaries.

[Danite]

Yeah friend of mine son is serving in Rome and he has been robbed a twice i think, I'm hoping that in area's that have alot of missionaries that those folks know that they don't have much money and leave them alone, anyway thanks for the feed back.

[pam]

Yeh Long Beach can be a tough area. With him being Spanish speaking as others have mentioned he will probably be in some pretty ghetto areas. But looking at the positive side...he will probably come home with a greater appreciation for the things he has and a greater appreciation for those that truly are in need.

[Danite]

Thanks Pam I knew I could count on you

[Hemidakota]

Exactly Pam...it was an eye opener to my son when he had to do a daily soap box style preaching in the main square.

Danite, my son was once on a town bus, when a gang member approached both of them and were going to rob them when he pushed his companion out of the way and one of them smacked in the nose and broke it. After that situation of not backing down, they truly respected him and his companion. It was a truly a remarkable learning curve for him but he was successful in teaching some of the teens in the neighborhood.

[pam]

The Long Beach mission is a great mission. I've known many that have gone there and have loved it. Congrats on his mission call.

[Danite]

Good for him sometimes that's what it takes.:)

[bytebear]

Long Beach as a city has a lot of different areas. It's pretty urban, and there is a bad side of town, but they have cleaned up the downtown area a lot. Also, Spanish in all of southern California is a very common language, so don't expect him to just be in poor areas. Also, one thing I discovered on my mission is that criminals don't target religious folks, because 1) it is immoral, even for a thief to steal from clergy, and 2) they know that missionaries have nothing of value to steal. If you want to talk to former missionaries from Long Beach, check out this website:

California Long Beach Mission | Welcome

[HelenMarKimball]

I'm assuming that Carson is in the Long Beach mission?

Carson has lots of Polynesians & Latinos that should be more willing to listen to your son than the whites in the area will.

Long Beach is home to Belmont Shore, one of the leading gay/Lesbian communities in southern California. Gangbangers will probably just ignore missionaries. But they are still a bit out-of-sorts about Prop 8 in Belmont Shore.

In-N-Out Burger pwns all.

Suerte y al toro.

[Moksha]

.

In-N-Out Burger pwns all.

Too bad In-N-Out Burger does not pack a Church pamphlet with every triple and animal-style burger sold.

[glow_inthe_dark_girl]

hey..? why spanish = poor?

no lo creo así. jaja

congrats on his call.

[HelenMarKimball]

A pesar de que es justo o no, el dominio del ingles es la clave al exito en este pais, Brilla En La Oscuridad.

[pam]

Creo que el espanol es un idioma hermoso.

[glow_inthe_dark_girl]

A pesar de que es justo o no, el dominio del ingles es la clave al exito en este pais, Brilla En La Oscuridad.

puede ser, el inglés y la inteligencia hacen excelente combinación, y saber aplicarla mucho mas. pero aun más exitoso el que es bilingüe o trilingüe o más.. por esto en la Iglesia se insta a cultivar los talentos y el conocimiento tanto por estudio y fe.

pero tampoco estoy de acuerdo que se generalice

[pam]

Estoy de acuerdo en que ser bilingue es muy util en el mundo de hoy.

[ADoyle90815]

I'm assuming that Carson is in the Long Beach mission?

Carson has lots of Polynesians & Latinos that should be more willing to listen to your son than the whites in the area will.

Long Beach is home to Belmont Shore, one of the leading gay/Lesbian communities in southern California. Gangbangers will probably just ignore missionaries. But they are still a bit out-of-sorts about Prop 8 in Belmont Shore.

In-N-Out Burger pwns all.

Suerte y al toro.

I think Carson would be a different mission since it's another city, but since I'm not LDS, I have no idea for sure where the mission boundaries are. One other thing about Long Beach is that there are many Cambodian immigrants who have joined the LDS church. The gay neighborhoods are also along 4th St and Broadway just before you get to the downtown area.