I'll be serving 2-years for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission.
This mission is the largest mission in the continental US. It's not just South Dakota but also includes all of North Dakota and parts of Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.
Map of Mission Area
The Mission office is located in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Mission President is President Curtis Anderson and his wife, Sister Marsha Anderson.
New missionaries arrive in Rapid City from the MTC, Missionary training Center in Provo, Utah. There they receive their assignments from the Mission President and disperse to their area within the mission.
Some of the areas are 12+ hours or more away and the missionaries often use a bus system to and from their destinations.
LDS Church membership is only about 1% in the Dakotas. There is only one LDS Temple in the whole mission and it is located in Bismarck North Dakota.
The weather averages about 85F degrees in the summer and the winters average in the single digits. Severe winter cold can be as low as -50F degrees at time. The mission has a policy of not going outside if it's -30F or lower.
