During his meeting with Elder Ballard, the Rev. Sharpton said they talked a lot about common concerns, including his National Action Network's call for decency in song lyrics and the LDS Church's dedication to genealogy.

Genealogy "is important to African-Americans particularly who've had a history of suffering prosecution and persecution and need to be reunited with our roots," he said, noting one of his slave ancestors had been owned by ancestors of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond.

He said his already "extensive conversations" with church leaders will continue, including at another dinner with Elder Ballard Monday night. The Rev. Sharpton said he was honored a church apostle was willing to accommodate his schedule.

"This is the best example of trying to learn and find common ground, which is what it is all about," he said. "There will be those in the media and in politics that will do what they do to try to get ratings. That is not what this is about. This is not our interest."

Elder Robert C. Oaks, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, accompanied the Rev. Sharpton Monday and called it "a great honor to be able to host the Rev. Sharpton here on Temple Square and in other church facilities."

Elder Oaks, who also did not take questions from the media, said the focus of the Rev. Sharpton's visit was "about basic Christian values and about basic Christian activities we are both interested in, and we look forward to these discussions in the future."

The Rev. Sharpton said during his radio program that he decided to come to Utah to "have a dialogue" with LDS leaders after apologizing on May 10 by telephone to Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve.

They told him then the matter was closed, the Rev. Sharpton said. "The church said forget about it. I didn't," he told listeners after explaining, "if all of us claim to be men and women of faith, we should talk to each other in person not at each other through the media."

The Rev. Sharpton, who arrived in Utah Sunday, was to leave Monday. He toured the church's Welfare Square and broadcast his radio program from the church-owned Bonneville International studio at the Triad Center.

"He said he came here to learn about the church," LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said, describing the Rev. Sharpton's visit as typical for a VIP. "That's his main purpose in coming here."

A spokeswoman for the Rev. Sharpton, Rachel Noerdlinger, referred media inquires about the visit to the LDS Church. "We've put all of the control in the hands of the church," Noerdlinger said. "We have relied on them to do what they see fit."

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