He said he sees no reason for church leaders to apologize for the former ban, as some have suggested. "I've been telling people this is the time for activity, not activism." The world is full of people "unable to let go of the hatred of the past," he said, referencing religious conflicts in the Middle East.

For those who hang on to past hurts over the ban, he suggested they simply "be an example of the believers," as Paul taught in the New Testament.

"The church is governed by revelation. The ban was rescinded in 1978 and not any earlier," though he said there is evidence at least two church presidents before President Kimball had considered ending the ban.

"What falls on us now is to perpetuate whatever is good and improve it, if possible. We need to teach the lessons of the past without reopening old wounds."

During a session Thursday morning, former Salt Lake City Police forensics expert George Throckmorton and former colleague, Steve Mayfield, addressed several myths that persist some 20 years after convicted forger Mark Hofmann murdered two people with pipe bombs to cover his crimes.

Several of Hofmann's forgeries involved phony documents that questioned the origins of the LDS Church, and speculation ran rampant at the time that church leaders were trying to purchase them to keep them from public scrutiny.

"Whenever someone says that, I remind them that matches and paper shredders have been around for a long time," Mayfield said, drawing a laugh from the crowd. "If they were so intent on keeping them from the public, why would they buy and keep them?"

Some also believed that top LDS officials were pushing investigators to offer Hofmann a plea bargain to spare church authorities from having to testify at trial. Mayfield said that was not the case, and Throckmorton said he never had any contact with President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was then a counselor in the church's First Presidency.

Two other long-standing LDS conferences are also scheduled this month: the Sunstone Symposium Aug. 9-12 (see accompanying story) and Education Week at Brigham Young University, Aug. 21-25.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com