LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In California to address the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke May 13 of the worldwide operations of the Church and some challenges brought on by its rapid growth.

Among the 2,300 people attending the forum sponsored by the long-standing private, non-profit council were politicians, educators, diplomats from 19 consulates, leaders of other faiths, entertainment celebrities, law enforcement officials and business people. More than half of those in attendance were not members of the Church.

Past guest speakers have included national and international government leaders, noted authors, esteemed educators and respected religious leaders, among other high-profile personalities from the public and private sectors. This was the second time that President Hinckley has addressed the forum. The first time was March 6, 1997, when the forum's largest-ever audience filled the ballroom of a downtown hotel. At the May 13 event, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel's ballroom/convention facility was filled to overflowing.

President Hinckley received two standing ovations from the distinguished audience, once when he was introduced and again when he concluded his address.

President Hinckley was invited to speak about the Church, particularly "its overseas operations."

"We are now operating in more than 160 nations," he said. "Our worldwide membership is approaching 11 million."

The Church president told his listeners that, as the Church moves across the world, it faces "two very serious problems."

The first, he said, is the training of local leaders to keep pace with membership growth; the second is providing places of worship in rapidly growing areas. Currently, the Church constructs nearly 400 meetinghouses a year.

Speaking of the first challenge, President Hinckley said, "We not only have converts who are poor and less educated, but also people of means and skills and influence. We take people of all kinds as we find them, and then we train them, and make them effective and wonderful leaders."

Of providing places of worship, the Church leader explained, "It is a phenomenal task. It is a tremendous responsibility. But we must step up to it and accomplish it and will do. [These houses of worship] are a credit to every community where they are found. And they become a wonderful example to the people. The whole community is blessed by reason of an LDS house of worship in their midst."

President Hinckley spoke of his visit to Santiago, Chile, last month when he spoke to 57,500 members assembled in a football stadium. "I could scarcely believe what I saw," he said.

He described the people there as well dressed, clean and attractive, as people who do not smoke or drink. He spoke of the love, honor and respect that exist among the LDS families in Chile and worldwide. "This is the result of Church teaching and Church family programs," President Hinckley explained.

"Every good citizen adds to the strength of a nation. With that assumption I do not hesitate to say that the nation of Chile is better for our presence, and the same thing is happening in every other nation in South America."

To capsulize what the Church does across the world, President Hinckley spoke of three generations of LDS women in Mexico. The grandmother lived in the bush and had never learned to read or write. She joined the Church but remained illiterate. Her daughter received a little schooling, and could read a newspaper headline or something of that kind.

President Hinckley said that he met the granddaughter when she graduated from a school the Church operates in Mexico. "I asked her, 'Now what are you going to do?' She replied, 'I have received a scholarship to the medical school of the National University.'

"That, to me, was a miracle," he remarked. "From the bush and total illiteracy, to refinement and medical school in three generations. She spoke not only her native Spanish, but English as well. She gave full credit to the Church and its programs for what had happened to her."

President Hinckley said that education unlocks the door of opportunity for the young, so the Church pours large resources into educating its youth. The crown jewel of its educational efforts, he said, is Brigham Young University which, with an enrollment of 27,000, is the largest church-sponsored private university in the United States. He noted that the Church operates other schools but, with its growth, there is an ever-diminishing percentage of LDS young people who can attend such schools. He spoke of the encouragement, even assistance, that the Church gives to students to attend universities in their own lands and participate in institutes of religion near campuses in many parts of the world.

He touched on the Church's engagement in micro-credit undertakings, whereby small amounts of funds are loaned to people to become entrepreneurs, "taking pride in what they are doing and lifting themselves out of the bondage that has shackled their forebears for generations. From a bread shop in Ghana to a woodworking business in Honduras, we are making it possible for people to learn skills they never dreamed of acquiring and to raise their standard of living to a level of which they previously had little hope."

President Hinckley described how the Church functions without a "professional priesthood," but through its general membership. "The genius of our work is that we expect things of people. They grow as they serve and there are numerous opportunities to challenge them.

"None of us who serve as officers of this Church was ever trained in a religious seminary. We may not have the polish of those who have been, but we bring to our service an enthusiasm for the work and a love for the people that are wonderful to witness, and inspiring to experience."

He spoke of the missionary program, through which nearly 60,000 — young men, young women and retired couples — are serving throughout the world in 331 missions. "Enmity grows out of ignorance and suspicion," he declared. "As we learn to know and appreciate those of various cultures, we come to love them. The cause of peace is strengthened in a very real sense, by this tremendous program which we foster."

President Hinckley gave some insight into the Church's welfare services and humanitarian relief efforts. He described its farming projects in the United States and other countries, and spoke of its dairies, bakeries, canneries, meat packing plants, bishops storehouses and other facilities designed to meet needs of those in distress. He said the Church tries to take care of its own and also reach out to those who find themselves in trouble because of war, earthquake, flood, drought and other disasters.

"Human suffering anywhere and among any people is a matter of urgent concern for us," he said. "We have our own Latter-day Saint Charities organization, and we have worked with other non-governmental agencies in extending humanitarian aid. These include Catholic relief services, Mercy Corps International, the American Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity and other groups across the world."

He spoke of food, clothing, medicines and other supplies the Church recently sent to assist Kosovo refugees and of assistance it has provided to people in 146 nations through 3,474 projects in recent years. "Politics has not been a consideration in assisting those who are the recipients of this help," he said.

President Hinckley told of the Family History archives and satellite libraries, which are available to everyone regardless of faith or religious affiliation.

"I have had time to touch on only a few of the things we are trying to do but I hope that I have given some small indication of our activities as we move this work across the world," President Hinckley told the forum.

"Our desire everywhere is to make bad men good and good men better. Wherever we go, we go in the front door. Our representatives honor the laws of the nations to which they go and teach the people to be good citizens." He thanked the consuls in attendance for their hospitality in affording visas to missionaries who go to their home nations.

"We teach, we train, we build, we educate, we provide opportunity for growth and development," President Hinckley continued. "We give hope to those without hope, and there is nothing greater you can give a man or a woman than hope. We give love. We bring peace. We do not seek to tear down any other church. We recognize the great good they all do. We have worked with them on many undertakings. We will continue to do so. We bear witness of the Lord, Jesus Christ whose name this Church carries and whose example and teachings we try to follow. We acknowledge that we could not accomplish what we do without the help of the Almighty. We look to Him as our Father and our God, and our ever-present helper, as we seek to improve the world by changing the hearts of individuals."

Gaye S. Smith, director of Media Relations, Southern California Public Affairs Council, contributed to this report.