News about Mormons, Mormonism,
and the LDS Church

By Kent Larsen

Internet: LDS Foundation, Mission Mail

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- The new websites this past week make up an odd bunch, everything from the Church's LDS Foundation website, to a new directory, to a missionary mail delivery service and to an apologetics website. But most of them are visually appealing and very useful, and two of them are particularly interesting.

Probably the most important of the bunch is LDS Foundation, which describes the Church's charitable agency for all donations except tithing and fast offerings, including the recent Perpetual Education Fund. But this website isn't well known online, despite its importance, and doesn't seem to have been announced formally yet.

Also notable is Mission Mail, which delivers letters to LDS missionaries in 82 missions, mostly in South America. The service works by accepting mail for missionaries electronically, passing them on to agents in each area. The messages are then printed and mailed or delivered to the missionaries. While not the only such service, Mission Mail is the only such service that is non-profit, and seems to serve a larger number of missions than others.

Newly Listed Mormon Websites:

LDS Foundation
http://www.ldsfoundation.com/

Website for LDS Church-operated LDS Foundation, the central coordinating agency for all donations to the Church outside of tithing and fast offerings. Website design is similar to lds.org, but contains information about the foundation, the giving opportunities it sponsors, and information about tax advantages of gifts.

Billed as a directory to the best LDS websites, LDSReference.com currently includes 144 sites in 15 categories. Clean, nicely-designed site makes browsing easy. However, the site lacks a search function.

Missionary Mail electronic delivery service. Non-profit service delivers messages to missionaries in 82 of the LDS Church's missions. Well-designed site is service of The Joseph Israel Bookstaber Foundation, a memorial to an LDS missionary who died while serving in Thailand.

LDS Apologetics website covering studies by Church member Mike Ash. Includes LDS Trivia, Mormon Myths, and a list of LDS links.

Polish-language e-mail discussion list about the LDS Church.

Site about Mormon Parenting using about.com-like Suite101.com. Includes links to Internet sites on both Mormonism and on Parenting, articles about Parenting in a Mormon context and discussion boards. While not as heavily promoted as about.com, suite101.com is nicer, not as heavily coded and its subjects are better organized.

Website offers Vickie Hacking's books of camping suggestions and songs for Young Women leaders. Orders are placed by e-mail.

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