With a steady voice, President Gordon B. Hinckley "put the record straight" about his health during the morning session of the 176th Semiannual General Conference of the LDS Church on Sunday, and also urged members to develop greater faith.

"I feel well," the 96-year-old leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said, adding, "my health is reasonably good."

He acknowledged that, as with any church president, his life is "not his own. His mission is to serve."

For months, Latter-day Saints worldwide have wondered about the well-being of the man they revere as God's prophet, particularly since he gave what many considered a farewell talk during the church's last conference in April. In January, President Hinckley had surgery to remove a cancerous growth in his colon. He was hospitalized six days and then underwent further treatment.

"My doctors have called the results miraculous," he said Sunday. "I know that the favorable results come from your many prayers in my behalf."

Following his final remarks at the close of the conference Sunday, some 21,000 members gathered in the Conference Center paid tribute to President Hinckley, standing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to sing the last verse of the hymn, "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet." They remained standing during the benediction, and many in the crowd were teary as he briskly walked out, waving his cane in what has become a signature farewell.

Postlude for the conference included the hymns "God Bless Our Prophet Dear" and "God Be with You Till We Meet Again." During a Tabernacle Choir broadcast before the Sunday morning session, choir members closed with a hymn that President Hinckley had penned: "My Redeemer Lives."

The last verse of that hymn reads: "Oh give me thy sweet Spirit still, The peace that comes alone from thee, The faith to walk the lonely road, That leads to thine eternity."

While positive about his health, President Hinckley did touch on the inevitability of his death, saying he will "carry on as long as the Lord wishes," and "when it is time for a successor, the transition will be smooth and according to the will of him whose church this is."

The only other LDS Church president to live longer was President David O. McKay, who died after 96 years and 132 days. President Hinckley celebrated his 96th birthday on June 23.

In his 11 years as president, he has directed the construction of dozens of new temples and the re-construction of the Nauvoo Temple, overseen design and construction of the Conference Center and cultivated unprecedented media attention for the church.

Under his direction, church membership has grown to 12.5 million worldwide.

President Hinckley called for increased faith during his Sunday sermon. It was a theme echoed by other speakers, in addition to the topics of personal testimony and the need to live principles of the gospel more fully.

"In the on-working of this great cause increased faith is what we most need," President Hinckley said. "Without it the work would stagnate. With it, no one can stop its progress."

He shared two examples of faith. One was of the Willie and Martin handcart companies and the Hunt and Hodgett wagon companies, which came into the Salt Lake Valley 150 years ago. "What a story it is," he said, describing the suffering and starvation experienced by the two companies. "Their faith is our inheritance. Their faith is a reminder to us of the price they paid for the comforts we enjoy."

The second example was of the faith of his wife's grandmother, who, with a simple prayer, found a treasured ring that her

husband had given her after she had misplaced it following her husband's death. The ring represents faith, said President Hinckley as he showed it to the gathered in the Conference Center.

"Such faith is the wellspring of activity," he said. "It is the root of hope and trust. It is this simple faith that all of us so much need."

In an address at the close of the conference, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland bore testimony about the divinity of President Hinckley's position as "God's oracle on Earth, our living prophet, seer and revelator." Prophets, Elder Holland said, are indeed on the Earth, "speaking in the name of the Lord."

"It is no trivial matter for this church to declare to the world prophecy, seership and revelation, but we do declare it," he said. "It is true light shining in a dark world, and it shines from these proceedings."

Like President Hinckley, President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, also touched on the topic of faith. He called on members to develop a "foundation of faith and a solid testimony of truth," to help them withstand the storms of life.

That foundation can be built through honest prayer, scripture study and service, he said.

"We can rely on the faith and testimonies of others only so long," President Monson said during the Sunday morning session. "Eventually we must have our own strong and deep foundation, or we will be unable to withstand the storms of life, which will come."

The foundation of the church and its teachings can be a "defense and a refuge" from the storms of the world, said President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve. Speaking Sunday afternoon, he said "there is safety and protection in the church."

"If we will gather into the church, live the simple principles of the gospel, live moral lives, keep the Word of Wisdom, tend to our priesthood and other duties, then we need not live in fear," he said.

Elder Larry W. Gibbons of the Quorums of the Seventy touched on a similar theme, counseling church members to live in the world but remain separate. Latter-day Saints cannot "follow the crowd," he said.

"How do we lose our savour?" he asked. "One way is when we stop being different from the world. Many in the church are drifting in the direction of the world and looking and becoming more and more like the world. We must stop drifting."

One way to stand apart from a world that has become increasingly dishonest is by living principles of honesty and integrity, said Bishop Richard C. Edgley, first counselor in the church's Presiding Bishopric.

"Honesty should be among the most fundamental values that govern our everyday living," he said. "When we are true to the sacred principles of honesty and integrity, we are true to our faith and we are true to ourselves.

Meanwhile, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve, said that "less active" members who have left the church because of offense can "choose not to be offended" and return to membership. The Atonement of Jesus Christ will help in that process, he said.

"You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people, he said. "However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended."

E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com