Today missions have beautiful scenery, fountains, and flower gardens. They attract many tourists and sightseers. But that would have never happened if in 1895 people like Charles Lummis didn't start an organization to fix and repair missions. To make sure that the new models were accurate they used pictures that artists painted of the missions in earlier years. Although they tried their best they were not able to recreate it accurately because back then they didn't have any measuring sticks. Now that they are done the tourists can tell that the walls are a bit smaller.

Most missions today have tours you can take to learn about the mission and it's history. Many of the tours include how it was made, what it was made of, what kind of Indians lived in the area, things they used back then, their living quarters, and about the church.Today, if we didn't have missions a big part of the history we know would be gone. If the missions never happened California might still be part of Mexico.

Today some missions still have active churches run by priests and fathers. They are used by people in the towns near by, like Solvang by Santa Ines. Some missions still have things in the interior that are original and didn't get ruined. Those missions are lucky to still have preserved parts for sightseers to look at and take notes of.