is there any way to get the text boundaries to return to outlining the entire page instead of the little "L"s in the corners.
They will be available in LibreOffice 3.6.0 via: Shortcut key Ctrl+F10 · Menu View > Nonprinting Characters · Standard Toolbar: ¶ ).
See also: Bug 46073 - Page Layout Guides (margins, headers, footers) No Longer Visible
Current status of fdo#46073 is CLOSED FIXED.