Clarification of basic gospel principles and a call for private righteousness were common themes in many of the sermons presented Saturday during the opening sessions of the 170th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The first day of the weekend conference opened with meetings in the new 21,000-seat Conference Center north of Temple Square. The building is set to be dedicated during this morning's conference session following a special cornerstone ceremony at 9 a.m. on the center's southeast corner.

All three members of the church's First Presidency were among the speakers at a session for male priesthood holders on Saturday night. Each addressed the subject of personal purity and the responsibility that rests with men and boys to honor their priesthood.

In remarks re-emphasizing the counsel given to mothers two weeks ago during the annual General Relief Society meeting in the Tabernacle, President Gordon B. Hinckley asked fathers to guard their children from drugs and the parties where they are used, and pornography, which he said is becoming increasingly accessible on the Internet.

"I fear this may be going on in some of your homes. . . . It is foul sleaze that makes its exploiters wealthy, its victims impoverished," President Hinckley said, adding that he fears some fathers themselves "like to hear the siren song of those who peddle filth. . . .

"If there be any man within the sound of my voice who is involved in this, or who is moving in this direction, I plead with you to get it out of your life," he said.

"In terms of your happiness, in terms of the matters that make you proud or sad, nothing, I repeat nothing, will have so profound an effect on you as the way your children turn out."

President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, encouraged prayer, faith and honesty as ways to avoid being "tossed about on a sea of sin and crushed on the jagged reefs of lost opportunities, forfeited blessings and shattered dreams."

"Hypocrites are those who outwardly wear masks that portray goodness but inwardly practice evil and deceit," said President James E. Faust, second counselor in the presidency. "Brethren, we can shield ourselves against the enemy within each of us by using the protective mantle of the priesthood of God."

The First Presidency's remarks to men were foreshadowed Saturday morning in remarks by Sister Margaret D. Nadauld, general president of the Young Women's organization. She spoke of the divine role of womanhood.

"Fathers, husbands, young men, may you catch a vision of all that women are and can be. Please be worthy of God's holy priesthood which you bear and honor that priesthood, for it blesses all of us," Sister Nadauld said.

"Women of God can never be like women of the world," she said. "The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith."

In his address, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, explained the church's doctrine of baptism for the dead. He quoted from newspaper accounts that had explained the temple ordinance as a way to retroactively impose the Mormon faith on people who have died.

"They assume that we somehow have power to force a soul in matters of faith. Of course, we do not," Elder Christofferson said. "The church does not list them on its rolls or count them in its membership." The church's "anxiety" to redeem the dead is an expression of a belief that "every soul, without exception" is offered an opportunity to accept the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ.

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve also clarified a gospel principal, repentance, which he called "an essential aspect of the plan of happiness of our Father in Heaven that is often ignored even though it invariably yields peace and joy."

In an address during the afternoon session, Elder Scott called the subject "widely misunderstood and often feared." Repentance is not optional, he said, but demanded of everyone. He reviewed steps of repentance and assured members who have already repented of serious transgression that they are not second-class citizens in the kingdom of God.

"To you who have sincerely repented yet continue to feel a burden of guilt: To continue to suffer for sins when there has been proper repentance and forgiveness is prompted by the master of deceit," he said. "Lucifer will encourage you to continue to relive the details of past mistakes, knowing that such thoughts can hamper your progress."

Elder Scott explained his testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ and said the "distressing effects of sin" for which God has forgiven "need no longer persist in one's life."

Elder Loren C. Dunn, one of the members of the First Quorum of the Seventy who was given emeritus status during the day's proceedings, recounted events surrounding the recent open house and dedication of the Boston Massachusetts Temple.

"There were over 16,000 who attended the four sessions of the dedication, either at the temple or at nearby stake centers," Elder Dunn said.

In reference to controversy in the Boston community over the construction of the temple, Elder Dunn recalled the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple by LDS Church founder Joseph Smith, in which he "asked the Lord to break off the yoke of the persecutions of that day."

"While challenges still remain," Elder Dunn said, "we are seeking the yoke of misunderstanding and prejudice being broken in this era of temple building and open houses."

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