And Latter-day Saints don't have to look far to find additional evidence.

Last week, Doubleday released the first secular printing of the Book of Mormon, and church-owned Deseret Book — the largest producer of LDS books and music — acquired LDS filmmaker Excel Entertainment. The combined company's first new release will be "The Work and the Glory," set to hit theaters this week.

But beyond the formal church-owned operations is a rapidly expanding network of retailers catering to Latter-day Saints, mostly via the Internet. Demand for LDS products in recent years has brought interest from a more diverse group of retailers who now market a wide range of products that include conservative clothing and specialized travel.

Matt Kennedy, founder of Orem-based LDSLiving.com, leads the pack. His online magazine goes out six days a week to 220,000 Latter-day Saints, and the bimonthly glossy print version reaches tens of thousands more, as does his Internet filtering service. Most of the products he advertises in those venues are also produced by LDSLiving.

The 6-year-old company ships 5,000 to 6,000 product orders per month, he said.

Products include tiny scripture totes for young Latter-day Saints and teenage girls ("they fit the military-sized scriptures") and a new line of white "Onesies" baby attire featuring a necktie stitched on the front for LDS infants.

Another recent addition to Kennedy's product line is a regulation-size orange basketball with the words "Church Ball" emblazoned on the skin in large, black letters. Many Latter-day Saints participate in basketball leagues organized by local congregations and played in LDS church gymnasiums.

To them, the label elicits memories of overblown egos and down-to-the-wire contests where players release their pent-up frustration on each other in ways that are unacceptable in any other LDS venue. "It's only been out three weeks, and we've already sold almost 10,000 of them," says Kennedy, grinning.

Salt Lake advertising executive Peg Fugal sees the proliferation of LDS products — and many of their accompanying marketing efforts — as a reflection of the LDS Church's own "brilliant" efforts to market itself.

The faith's visitors centers, signage, logos, buildings, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir — "those are all sales tools."

"You never drive by a Mormon church that isn't beautifully manicured or a temple that's not a showpiece. You can call it religion or truth, but it's also marketing. It creates interest and curiosity. And the greatest marketer in the history of the LDS Church is Gordon B. Hinckley."