Posted by:
Brother Of Jerry
(
)
Date: March 14, 2011 01:43PM
The following came over my email transom some months ago. It is basically an email trying to recruit senior couples to manage LDS farms in South America. names and IRL identifiers have been removed.
This is an extension of the thread Farm Management Corp
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,135919Note that the email mentions farms in Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The Brazil farm was 60000+ acres, which is about 100 square miles. Even for a corporate farm, this is a substantial undertaking.
And now you know why I call it LDS Inc.
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“Dear WWW, We have talked previously about the Church's Agricultural Investment Farms in South America. These large, productive, corporate farms are NOT Welfare farms, but rather part of the Church's large diversified investment portfolio. The farms are large, efficient, "for-profit" commercial operations that are subject to the same taxes and legal restrictions as any other in-country business. As such it is neither legal nor practical to require Church membership of it numerous employees. A large majority of these employees worked on the farms before they were acquired by the Church. Many had never even heard the word "Mormon" before the farms became "Church farms."
“While it is not necessary to be a member to work on the farms, it is still incumbent upon all employees to appropriately represent their Church owner. Basic standards of honesty, integrity, morality, hard work, provident living, family values, and education are essential to help employees progress and to protect the reputation of the Owner.
“Not too long ago a new "Agricultural Church Service Mission" was created to serve these farm employees. Under the direction of the Presiding Bishop, missionary couples with agricultural background (able to walk the walk and talk the talk) may be called to perform special volunteer service missions working with the employees of our Church-owned International Investment Farms. Specifically, there is need of mature [in the gospel], Portuguese and Spanish-speaking couples , with agricultural background to live on and work with Church Investment Farm employees in South America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile).
“This mission offers a unique opportunity to work directly with employees in a non-threatening environment and to lift and bless the lives of Church farm and ranch employee's and their families for generations to come. Missionary couples would also support the small little Branches of the Church that have sprung up as a result of the Church's investment presence. Normally mission calls will be for 23 months and missionaries would live in guest-quarters on the assigned farm. There is special need for at least one couple for the 60,000+ acre [farm name] (corn, soybean & feijão) near Brasilia in Minas Gerais.
Actual agronomic or animal science expertise is not needed, but rather missionaries that can relate to rural folks and rural ways. They need to enjoy the "campo" and humble folks.
[We] tried to get long-term visas for Brazil for over three months and separate applications. Seems there is some problem with the Los Angeles office of the Brazilian Consulate. Finally in early October it was decided to send us to the ranch in Argentina and to have us work out of that location. We have been here two weeks and are just getting our "sea legs". We do have a Brazilian Tourist Visa that will permit short-term visits to Brazil over the next 5 years.
Also in 3 of weeks we will have a missionary couple from [Morridor] who will come here to Argentina where we will then get them long-term visas to Brazil from here. We hope to have them in place by year-end. The BBBs served a previous mission on the [farm name] and were prompted to volunteer again. They are a super couple and love the little branch in VVVV. [IRL info redacted] The idea is to have "seamless" missionaries with each of the small rural Branches of the Church until they are strong enough to be self-sufficient (10-15 yrs.).
Another opportunity: At the same time we are looking for exceptional, native, returned missionaries, with rural roots that would be interested in the opportunity to study agricultural under our tutelage while serving internships on the Church farms (possibly even in the US) with an eye to developing future Farm Managers for our South American properties. If there are suggestions for names and contact information for such young men, I would appreciate contact as well. We have been given approval for one such "Management Trainee" each year if we can locate truly exceptional candidates. We are working with CCC to prepare him to enter BYU-I under this program. We could start another such Brazilian next Fall if we find the right one.
I appreciate you help in getting the word out. We would like to keep these positions staffed over a number of years and slowly and consistently strengthening the quality of our workforce, while at the same time blessing the lives of our employees.
XXX
Interested couples should inquire with either:
YYY, Mission Director
Farmland Reserve, Inc.
139 East South Temple, Suite 600
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
[phone, email redacted]