Hail to the prophet

Simple principles of faith, forgiveness, knowledge and testimony were highlighted Sunday during concluding sessions of the 175th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Speakers and songs emphasized the faith's founding prophet, Joseph Smith, and spoke of his singular role in bringing about what Latter-day Saints believe to be the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

As he closed the final session Sunday afternoon at the Conference Center, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced "a celebration in tribute" to the faith's founder, scheduled on Dec. 23, 2005 — the 200th anniversary of Smith's birth. The event will conclude a yearlong churchwide celebration focused on the man many revere simply as "the Prophet Joseph."

If possible, President Hinckley said he would travel to Smith's birthplace in Sharon, Vt., for the celebration. Other church officers will be in the LDS Conference Center for a program broadcast by satellite, he said. "There will be appropriate music and words of tribute spoken . . . to the great prophet of this dispensation," President Hinckley said.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which performed at both Sunday sessions, sang several hymns of the restoration focused on Joseph Smith, and President Hinckley said their performance was "but a dress rehearsal for the occasion in December."

In introducing the celebration, President Hinckley briefly recounted how on the night of Sept. 21, 1823, at age 17, Smith said he was visited by an angel who told him of an ancient record, now known as the Book of Mormon.

Prior to that visit, Smith said he received a vision where he saw both God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ — an event known by members of the church as the beginning of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth. Knowledge of that restoration is fundamental to the beliefs of more than 12 million Latter-day Saints worldwide.

"He was a young man then, a poor farm boy with very little education," President Hinckley said of Smith's heavenly visit at age 17. "He lived in a rural community, scarcely recognized outside its borders. And yet the angel said to him that "he was a messenger sent from the presence of God . . . that God had a work for (Joseph) to do; and that (his) name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people."

Smith led by example, said President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency of the church. "The testimony of the Prophet Joseph continues to change lives," he said.