Nearly 175 years after the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Gordon B. Hinckley celebrated the life of the faith's founding prophet, Joseph Smith, on the concluding day of the church's 175th Annual General Conference Sunday.

The focus was fitting as members of the church plan and carry out events large and small in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith's birth, as well as the observation of the April 6, 1830, organization of the church. Smith, who was born Dec. 23, 1805, in Vermont, was killed in Illinois in 1844.

"During the brief 39 years of (Joseph Smith's) life there came through him an incomparable outpouring of knowledge, gifts and doctrine," President Hinckley said. "Looked at objectively, there is nothing to compare with it. Subjectively, it is the substance of the personal testimony of millions of Latter-day Saints across the Earth."

Chief in that knowledge, President Hinckley said, are eight tenets revealed to Smith that are now the doctrinal foundation of the church: the nature of the Godhead, the Book of Mormon, priesthood authority, the importance of families, the innocence of children, temple work for the dead, eternal life and modern revelation.

Knowledge of the nature of the Godhead was perhaps Smith's greatest gift, President Hinckley added, countering long-held beliefs of Christians since the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. Latter-day Saints believe Smith saw God and Jesus Christ in a vision in 1820 as two distinct beings in the form of men.

"I submit that in the short time of that remarkable vision, Joseph learned more concerning deity than all of the scholars and clerics of the past," he said.

President Hinckley also emphasized the Book of Mormon as a second witness of Christ to accompany the Bible. In the last 10 years, 51 million copies of the Book of Mormon have been distributed in 106 languages worldwide.

"It is a tangible thing that can be handled, that can be read, that can be tested," he said. "It carries within its covers a promise of its divine origin. Millions now have put it to the test and found it to be a true and sacred record."

Members also received an emphatic warning Sunday afternoon from Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve to avoid pornography.

The "avalanche of evil" is not only sweeping the country but afflicting many active Latter-day Saints, Elder Oaks said, depriving church members of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Besides its addictive nature, pornography can also impair normal romantic and spiritual relationships with spouses, he said.

For church members — particularly men — swept up in pornography, Elder Oaks advised three steps toward repentance: acknowledge the evil, seek the help of the Lord and do everything possible to avoid involvement with pornography, rather than seeking to minimize or rationalize its use. Men who seek out degrading and filthy images lose the power of their priesthood, he said, adding they may be able to hide from others, but the Lord knows their sins.

"The good news is that no one needs to follow the evil downward descent to torment. Everyone caught on that terrible escalator has the key to reverse his course," Elder Oaks said. "He can escape. Through repentance he can be clean."

As President Hinckley reflected on the origins of the church, which now has more than 12 million members in 80 countries, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve encouraged members to look for future opportunities to spread the gospel.

Elder Ballard encouraged church leaders to find at least one additional young man in each ward or branch who could join the ranks of roughly 51,000 missionaries in 339 missions around the world.

Church leaders "raised the bar" for LDS missionaries in 2003, requiring 19-year-old men and 21-year-old women to meet more stringent worthiness standards before leaving on proselytizing missions.

He said "raising the bar" on worthiness was not a signal to send fewer missionaries. Instead, the goal should be for parents to likewise raise their standards in rearing children who are worthy to serve missions.

"There is an incredible amount of work that needs to be done. The Spirit of the Lord is brooding over many of the nations of the world," he said. "Doors previously locked are opening to use. We need more hard-working, testimony-enriched missionaries in order to reach more of Heavenly Father's children who are now at a place where we can reach them."

Elder Ballard also referred to a new missionary book called "Preach My Gospel," discussed at length by Elder Richard G. Scott on Saturday. The recently published guide encourages missionaries and members to present the gospel in their own words, instead of via prescribed dialogues.

In remarks concluding the two-day conference, President Hinckley said humanitarian efforts by the church are combining with missionary measures to reach people around the globe.

"Our humanitarian efforts have literally blessed the lives of countless thousands not of our faith," President Hinckley said. "In the terrible tsunami disaster, and in other disasters incident to conflict, disease and hunger, we have done a great and marvelous work, assisting with others without worrying about who gets the credit."

The church's efforts have not gone unnoticed, he added, receiving the Circle of Humanity award from the American Red Cross in February, as well as a recognition from Rotary International for a funding program to eradicate polio in Third World countries.

Elder David A. Bednar, who became the youngest member of the Quorum of the Twelve in October, encouraged members to leave the annual conference with heightened sensitivity to the "tender mercies" of the Lord. Small moments of reassurance and comfort, he said, are not mere coincidence but are personal evidence of love from God.

"We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord's tender mercies," he said. "The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live."

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