"Joseph was a simple farm boy," said President Hinckley. "His family had nothing, really. Palmyra (N.Y., where Smith said he saw God and Jesus Christ in vision at age 14) was a largely unknown rural village. But (an angel named) Moroni said to him . . . that his name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds and tongues.

"How could Joseph, in his circumstances, have believed that such a thing should come to pass? And yet that is what has happened. Thousands all across the earth sing his praise and tribute," President Hinckley said.

"They read the Book of Mormon. They exercise the priesthood, they go on missions, they pay their tithes and offerings, all under a system of religion founded on divine revelation given to Joseph Smith, the prophet."

Recalling ceremonies in Vermont a century ago, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of Smith's birth, President Hinckley recounted how the 38-foot granite shaft that was dedicated to the memory of the founding prophet by then-President Joseph F. Smith was put into place (Please see accompanying story.)

President Hinckley, 95, had been expected to speak to church members live from Vermont, but he changed his plans at midday Friday and taped his remarks. The reason for the change was related to a winter storm, which brought snow to the site of the Smith monument where the broadcast was staged, said Bruce Olsen, church managing director of public affairs.

Speaking in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, said that "by any account, (Smith) was a remarkable individual" who never had a formal education beyond the middle grades and who was often "hounded like a fugitive" and was imprisoned on false charges.

Yet through him, "the gospel, which had been lost during centuries of apostasy, was restored, the priesthood and its keys were received, the doctrines of salvation were revealed, the gospel and temple ordinances, along with the sealing power, were returned, and in 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ was re-established on the earth."

Members of the church "do not worship the Prophet Joseph," President Monson said, yet he left a legacy "that enables some 12 million followers today on every continent to proclaim him as a prophet of God."

The biblical Joseph of Egypt prophesied of Smith, President Monson said, more than 2,300 years before the founder's birth, saying God told him "A choice seer will (God) raise up . . . (and) his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father."

When Christ returns again to Earth at some future day "the Prophet Joseph will come forth with the righteous as a resurrected being and will continue to minister under the Savior's direction," President Monson said. "As our beloved hymn affirms, 'Millions shall know Brother Joseph again.' "