The LDS church is constructing a temple in NW Calgary in the community where R's parents live. In fact, the temple is almost right behind their house, so we have been able to observe the progress on a weekly basis from their living room window. The groundbreaking was in May 2010, and now things have progressed to the point that the top of the spire was lifted in place with a crane. The spire is topped with a golden statue of an angel blowing a trumpet, similar to the one atop the temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. The angel is named Moroni -- an ancient figure from the Book of Mormon -- and his east-facing trumpet symbolizes the worldwide preaching of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
In the 40-year construction of the Salt Lake Temple, the statue was part of the capstone, the placement of which marked the completion of the exterior construction. In this case, the statue helps give the temple its final shape, but does not mark the end of the construction phase. Still, seeing the statue go up still seems like a special event -- perhaps because it is such a visible and distinctive symbol.
R and the kids watched the proceedings from the relative comfort of her parents' enclosed deck on a frigid Thursday morning:
Scott provided me with a play-by-play summary of the events of the day. I noticed that he pronounced "Moroni" as "Ramoni", which makes me suspect he just tacked an "I" on the end of the more familiar name of Ramone from the Disney/Pixar film "Cars."
Scott will eventually sort it out, I'm sure, as he and Moroni will be neighbours. The view from his bedroom in our new house includes a view of the spire, rising above the rooftops. We still hadn't moved in when the statue was put in place, but this was the view from his room when we finally took possession.
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