Students and members here were reminded of their divine birthright as children of a loving Heavenly Father during a visit by President Gordon B. Hinckley April 20-21.

"Let us never forget we are children of God at all times, in all circumstances and environments, and we can never let down our standards," President Hinckley said.Braving a heavy spring snowstorm, President Hinckley traveled to this northern Utah university city to attend a conference of the Smithfield/Logan University Utah Regions.

He addressed some 1,550 priesthood leaders at a leadership meeting Saturday in the historic Logan Tabernacle. On Sunday at the Utah State University Spectrum, he spoke to more than 22,000 during general sessions at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

At the two sessions of conference were thousands of students, single and married, who attend Utah State University, as well as members of stakes from the surrounding communities of Benson, Smithfield, North Logan, Richmond and Hyde Park. Choirs of 560 and 640, respectively, performed.

President Hinckley was accompanied by President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, and Elder Robert K. Dellenbach of the Seventy, second counselor in the Utah North area presidency. Their wives, Sisters Marjorie Hinckley, Donna Packer and Mary Jayne Dellenbach, also participated.

Pres. George Emert of Utah State University attended the afternoon session and was asked by President Hinckley to offer brief remarks. Though not a member of the Church, he expressed his love and appreciation to President Hinckley.

In the morning session, President Hinckley spoke movingly of his wife, Marjorie, and of the fact that they will celebrate their 59th wedding anniversary on April 29. Speaking with his gentle humor, he said of her, "She is the only one in the world who can tell me what to do - and I do it, and have been doing for a very long time.

"I am so grateful for this dear little woman, who has been my companion, my sweetheart, my love, the mother of my children."

President Hinckley emphasized: "Every good thing that you do strengthens the Church and kingdom of God, each one of you. Every evil or wrong or tawdry thing that we do diminishes its strength. It is so important that we be strong in the faith, that we walk with our heads high, with love for the Lord and respect for one another as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

He expressed his love for the Latter-day Saints: "What a wonderful people you are. I am humbled and overwhelmed at the confidence and expressions of love that come from the members of the Church."

He specifically addressed himself to the thousands of university students attending the conference. He encouraged them to be grateful for those who had gone before, especially in the building of the Logan Temple, which stands only a few blocks from the Spectrum.

"In this valley of harsh winters, how people struggled and suffered. What an effort they made, what a sacrifice they made, to build the temple here. Why? Because of the conviction which they carried in their hearts that that which is to be had in the temple is greater than life itself."

Members of the Church, he continued, have an incumbent responsibility to "seek learning by study, and also by faith."

"I do not care what your vocational pursuits may be, get all the training you can get to enhance your skills."

President Hinckley continued the theme of divine birthright in the afternoon session. He emphasized: "You are His child all the time, not just when you are good. You are His child when you are bad. You have within you . . . a portion of divinity that is real and tremendous and marvelous and wonderful. My great plea is that we all try a little harder to live up to the stature of divinity that is within us, my brethren and sisters. We can do better than we are doing. We can be better than we are. If we would hold before us that image constantly of divine inheritance, of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man as realities, we would be a little more tolerant, a little more kindly, a little more outreaching to lift and help and sustain those among us, we would be less prone to stoop to those things which clearly are unbecoming us."

He testified that "Nothing, nothing is of greater significance in all the history of the world than that atoning sacrifice of the Son of God. Be not faithless, my brethren and sisters, but believe. Believe in His love for each of us. Believe in His example as a guide to our individual lives."

The prophet bore testimony of the Restoration, and said that the vision received by Joseph Smith as a boy was "real, I want to give you my witness and testimony of that, I know it."

"Some years ago about this time of the year I was in Rochester, N.Y., for a stake conference and I said to the regional representative and the mission president and the stake president with whom I was there, "Let's get up really early tomorrow, Sunday morning, and go to the Sacred Grove." So we got up at 5 a.m. and drove over to the Sacred Grove. No one else was there, none of the tourists, none of the crowds. It had been raining in the night and little drops of water hung on the new spring leaves. We stood together and prayed together. I didn't hear any voice, no, nor did they, except the voice of the Spirit that said: `It is true. It happened here. It was so. It was real.'

"I believe that. It is burned down into my heart and I believe it with all of my heart. It is no fairy tale, it is not fiction, it is a reality. There is no middle ground. Joseph Smith talked with the Father and the Son or he didn't. If he didn't, then we are embraced in a great fraud, a terrible fraud. If he did then this is the most important thing upon the face of the whole earth. Be not faithless, but believing, my beloved brethren and sisters."