Snowy weather dampened but did not eliminate confrontations between street preachers and those attending the first day of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 173rd Annual General Conference Saturday.

Authorities were ready for the worst because of the ongoing controversy over protests at the Main Street Plaza. But no serious incidents were reported between the dozens of preachers from around the country and the thousands of conferencegoers.

"It's pretty boring," said Janelle Eurick, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. "And cold and wet."

Because of the bad weather, the ACLU sent only two volunteer observers to the plaza to make sure the preachers weren't wrongly detained or arrested. None were, Eurick said.

"There's a lot of controversy over a few protesters but there doesn't need to be," she said. "They're exercising their rights within the law. They've been there every year during conference and there hasn't been a problem."

The free speech dispute arose in 1999 when then-Mayor Deedee Corradini and LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley negotiated the church's purchase of a one-block stretch of Main Street for $1.8 million. A lawsuit resulted over church plans to restrict certain speech and behavior. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the city couldn't enforce such restrictions on a public easement that runs through the property.

Talks are under way about transferring ownership of the easement from the city to the church.

As in past years during general conference, evangelical Christians and Baptists shouted slogans and waved signs decrying the LDS Church. Among their messages was one saying "Mormons are worse than homosexuals," and suggesting that attendees would be better off in a gay bar.

That bothered Philip Hazori, himself a Baptist from Denver who was passing through the plaza. "When we look at them, we see hatred, we see bigotry," Hazori said after arguing briefly with one of the street preachers on the plaza. "They claim they're the same denomination we are."

In front of the church's Conference Center, longtime protester Lonnie Pursifull was back for his 16th conference, standing in a cold, soaking wet sweatshirt in the rain, holding a huge sign declaring "Liars, Deceivers, Seducers," a play on the "LDS" initials.

"I want to lead all Mormons to the Lord Jesus Christ. What they do with it is up to them," said Pursifull, state director of Street Preachers Fellowship. He said Hazori was not a "fellow Baptist. Real Baptists go out and serve God."

Pursifull said police were a bit aggressive at first on Saturday, but things soon settled down. He had high praise for Salt Lake City Attorney Ed Rutan, who met with a group of protesters for 2 1/2 hours in his office and came downtown on Saturday to witness firsthand what was going on.

"We have to give credit where credit is due. He probably helped this be as peaceable as it is today," Pursifull said. "He has done a good job on this event."

Although as many as 100 preachers were expected for what could be their last protest on the plaza, less than half that many actually turned out on the plaza or on North Temple outside Temple Square and the church's Conference Center.

Jake Kartchner, a high school senior from Sierra Vista, Ariz., who was attending conference, said Saturday he didn't take the preachers or their message seriously. "I think they're jokes. There are only a few of them," Kartchner said. "Look how many of us there are here — thousands."

Randall Pace, a student at Brigham Young University, strode without comment with a companion through a small throng of protesters.

"We mostly feel sorry for them," Pace said. "We don't think they're very happy. We mostly don't pay much attention to them."

One or two street preachers got a lot more vocal and freely tossed out insults and unkind words as LDS men hurried to a 6 p.m. priesthood session in the Conference Center. However, there appeared to be no verbal or physical altercations involving either side and most of the conferencegoers ignored the protesters.

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