By Jillian Ogawa
Although the event received little publicity, the Angel Moroni statue was placed on the spire of the Provo Temple on Monday afternoon.
Typically, the church announces events like the raising of an Angel Moroni statue, but they did not announce the event because of safety concerns and crowd control.
'When we are building a new temple, there''s a lot of space and not as much worry about safety,' said Coke Newell, a spokesperson for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Newell said the temple did not need to be rededicated because the addition does not change the temple''s function.
Plans to add the Angel Moroni to the Provo Temple have been in the works since fall of 2002 when the same change was made to the Ogden Temple, Newell said. The top of the Provo Temple''s spire was cut off so the base of the Angel Moroni would fit, said the temple engineer. And, like the Ogden Temple, the spire of the Provo Temple will be painted off-white later today and finished by this week.
'It just looks good visually,' Newell said.
The temple''s architecture, which represents 'a cloud by day and a flaming tower at night' is not the official symbolism of the Provo Temple, said Jay M. Smith, Provo Temple president. The white spire will not change the symbolism of the temple, but the Angel Moroni is the clear symbol of temples around the world, he said.
Including its base, the Angel Moroni is about 13 feet tall and made out of fiberglass with gold leafing. Some current temples do not have an Angel Moroni because of architectural decisions, Newell said.
However, the decision to add an Angel Moroni to the Provo Temple 31 years after the temple''s completion came because 'the Angel Moroni has become a recognizable part of the church, so if it is possible, we''ll add a Moroni ... That is the image known to anyone worldwide; it helps identify our building and church, ' Newell said.
The church is also continuing to look at existing temples to see if they could use an Angel Moroni, Newell said.
'It''s exciting to see it happen because the Angel Moroni has been such a symbol of our temples,' Smith said. 'We''re happy to have it; it won''t change anything to what we do inside (the temple). We just are excited the brethren see it fit to add the symbol to our temple.'
The construction cranes will only be on the temple grounds this week because no other construction has been planned.
The raising of the Angel Moroni statue was low-key, but news of the event ran in The Daily Herald. Crowds were increasing as the afternoon wore on.
'I read about it in the Daily Herald and was driving by (the temple) and saw the cranes moving, so I stopped to take a look.' said Kelly Curtis, a BYU student from Provo. 'My wife and I are excited because we got married here. We feel like it is our temple.'
Andrew Thiriot, a temple worker and a BYU student from England, said Provo temple workers saw the construction equipment and asked the temple president what was happening.
'The joke going around was to see a sign from above,' Thiriot said. 'It wasn''t a dove, but a crane.'