I have to donate some money to the church....which 'fund' ?

[_mledbetter]

Okay, I have to donate some money to the church. A Christmas envelope arrives in the mail from dear mother in law. My oldest daughter opens it, a check falls out for several hundred dollars. It couldn't just end there, a letter falls out too. **I can hear some of you snickering in the background - so just knock it off! :) ** The Christmas letter indicates that in lieu of gifts, we are to take this money and write the name of a charity on a tithing slip, and then give it to the bishop.

My wife was perturbed, and I had some mixed thoughts as well. I have a hard time capturing the whole feeling, but my best stab at is this - My MIL's LDS love is too big to waste on simple Christmas presents, and has taken this once a year opportunity to display an object lesson about giving. What I feel kind of awkward about is the fact that we are just serving as the middle man in the transaction. It is not our money that is being given, nor was it our choice in the first place to give. Also, the giving has to be channeled through the one true church. With kids being kids, the fact that they didn't get a present from Grandma may very well eclipse the point she is trying to make, and the point is a little blurred.

Are there Charities such as the Red Cross that the church works with? Should we just put down "Mall fund' ? I do give time and money on my own to help out my fellow man, its not like I'm a stranger there. A friend of mine and I have actually been talking for some time now about taking some of our older kids to help out at a soup kitchen as a way to pitch in with the community.

I'm sorry, but my MIL is a turd. If she did that, I'd probably spend the money and write her back thanking her for my new XBox 360 or new video game, depending on how much she gave me. At the very worst, she'll neve try to make you the man-in-the-middle again. I say, turn the object lesson around on her.

That's just retarded of your MIL.

[_Dr. Shades]

Part of the reason I even brought this up is that our young kids don't "quite" get presents from Grandma any more on their birthdays. They receive a savings bond. Okay, they can learn about compound interest at a young age, then cash it ten years later. . . Yes, I know that the savings bond is a gift, its just tough to see the confusion in a childs eyes when you explain that it is a gift for ten years down the road.

Next time, tell her to buy the savings bonds 10 years in advance, and give them to the kids after the bonds mature.

[_Who Knows]

I think what we'll do is wait for next year:

We'll send Grandma a letter; " Enclosed is a check for xxx.xx amount of money. Please cash this check and then buy Bobby a such and such, Mary would like a such and such, and mandy would like a such and such, and Cindy would like a such and such. Wrap these gifts and then give them to your Grandkids in your name. Our kids would like a Christmas present from their Grandma this year".

What do you think?

Haha. That's good.

Better yet, send her a letter saying, "Enclosed is a check for xxx.xx amount of money. Please cash this check, then donate it to Rainbow World Fund."

lol.