So I was reading some further information as from personal observation it appears that the church is calling numerous missionaries to Brazil and then not sending them there, but reassigning them to stateside missions, etc. I know of at least 3 missionaries personally that this has happened to, and several others that have been called to Brazil and finally recieved visa's after a waiting period.

So a couple of questions:
1. What is the deal with Brazil all of a sudden? Are the thinking of moving church headquarters there or something. Seriously?!?!

2.As I was reading I came across this site:
http://www.lds.org/locations/missionary-training-centers/brazil/your-stay?lang=eng

If you read it all you will find this little gem: During your stay at the MTC, your passport will be kept by the Travel Department for visa issues and will not be able to be retrieved until the day you go to the mission field. If during your MTC stay you need a doctor’s appointment or immunizations or you need to use your personal debit or credit card, a photo ID other than your passport will be needed.

Is that even legal?

but wait, there's more...

However, you must provide your own spending money for miscellaneous expenses, such as personal hygiene items, notebooks, paper, stamps, snacks outside the MTC on preparation day, and so on.

The MTC does not have an automatic teller machine (ATM), and missionaries are not allowed to go to banks or ATMs during their time at the MTC.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2014 02:26PM by tig.

Are they afraid they withdraw all their savings and bolt?

Sure, they can hold onto your passport for the visa arrangements. This is not uncommon in the business world -- you hand your passport off to the travel department, which sends it to what is essentially a fixer agency that can get your visa application processed quickly. Travisa, I think, is who my company uses.

So, they can ask for your passport and keep it. It only becomes illegal if you ask for it back and they don't hand it over.

Having business experience in Brazil, I can say that the visa situation is a mess there. Opening a bank account is even worse and probably legally impossible for a missionary. Sort of out of logistical necessity, the church will be in a controlling position. For someone worried about that, they should probably just turn down the mission call. As for the ATM thing, it might have more to do with security. There is a shopping mall practically across the street from the MTC and missionaries could easily become targets, since people would know there is a concentration of North Americans there. I was scared sh!tless every time I had to use an ATM. Practically everyone I knew there had been robbed at least once (including me).

Hopefully, Brazil is not getting flooded with missionaries, but it probably is. Brazilians view it as a high and holy duty to feed the missionaries and having more of them is going to be a financial strain on certain families. In sacrament meeting I would hear people saying they gave their last food to the mishies and were just trusting in god to provide. It was touching to see the generosity, but tragic, even as a TBM, knowing the church and American families could have provided for missionary needs without relying on destitute families who couldn't even feed their own children.

I wish TSCC would just leave people alone.

It's related to the principle of reciprocity in diplomatic relations between countries. The brazilian government is making it as hard for US citizens to obtain a brazilian visa as it is for brazilian citizens to get an US visa.

Brazil has been insisting that the US department of State stop requiring a visa of brazilians for a long time, and expects that will put a little pressure in that direction.

Of all the missionaries I know who have served in Brazil going back to the 80s, every one of them have had visa delays and ended up serving a few months of their mission in the US. This has been going on for decades.

Wasn't there a thread about the mishies going to Brazil having their paperwork being mailed out of Idaho and Arizona?