In 1902 , the Middle States Mission was created with Ben E. Rich as president . However , in 1903 , Ephraim H. Nye , president of the Southern States mission , died . He was replaced by Ben E. Rich and the boundaries of the missions were realigned . In 1904 , the Southwestern States Mission was renamed the Central States Mission . After the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906 , the mission headquarters was relocated to Los Angeles from San Francisco . In the next few years the headquarters of the Central States Mission were moved to Independence , Missouri , and the headquarters of the Northwestern States Mission were moved to Portland , Oregon . By 1907 , the Colorado Mission was renamed the Western States Mission . Also in these years , the headquarters of the Southern States Mission moved from Chattanooga to Atlanta , Georgia
San Francisco earthquake and fire
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Mission (LDS Church)