Looking for an old Bishop

Hi, I used to be a member of the Valencia Singles Ward in the Santa Clarita Stake in California. I was ordained an elder back in 1991 by the bishop but never knew about priesthood line of authority. I have tried to request my LOA a few times from the church through the website, but to no avail. One problem is I only remember the bishop's last name, not his first. Does anyone have any suggestions to finding an old bishop of a ward? Is there any kind of records I could access to find an old bishop of a ward? I am not in the U.S. now, so calling someone is a costly option... I've tried remembering old friends, but I only remember first names... Any help is much appreciated. Stay safe my brothers and sisters!

I think your best bet is to ask your current clerk for contact information for someone in your old stake - perhaps the stake clerk.

You could also use maps.churchofjesuschrist.org to find a phone number see if you can use some kind of internet/VIOP app to call.

Either way, one complication is that there currently is no singles ward called "Valencia" in California. The Santa Clarita Stake does have a YSA ward, but it's called "Santa Clarita YSA Ward". I can't tell if you're mis-remembering it, or if there's been a change in the last 30 years.

At any rate, once you've established contact with someone in leadership of that stake, they can look up the history in CDOL - even if the unit has been discontinued.

Another alternative is to ask your current clerk to contact support for the information. They should be able to look it up.

The Santa Clarita YSA Ward is the correct ward. There is a gap in the leadership history that will make things a little more difficult. Solving this one will could ultimately require some help from the Church History department.

Sounds good! I'll talk to my ward clerk... I am sorry about the name of the ward, it was only from memory. I'll update my findings as I'm sure I'm not the only one this has ever happened to. Enjoy conference!