Mel--do you ever loose your cool?
Originally Angel Moroni was on deck to be installed in August. It was here, made it through customs (no small feat) and was waiting patiently in its shipping container on the construction site. The hold-up was in the steeple. Some of the granite--4" thick slabs that are pre-cut and fit together like a perfect puzzle was missing and that caused the delay. Not all the granite, of course, just the pieces at the top of the steeple.
I think if that was the most trying challenge of the construction project everyone would be jumping for joy. As it is, things are pretty much on schedule, but still no firm dates for the open house or dedication.
Our weather-reading skills have been honed to a high degree these last eight months, and November 5th was a nearly perfect day. Perfect here is not a bright, sunny, cloudless sky, but big, billowy ocean clouds coming and going, or even fine, gauzy clouds that save us from the searing sun. Cloudless is brutally hot.
We chose the 10-minute walk around the corner to the construction sight and knew other walkers headed toward the temple site as well. Meanwhile, traffic was vrooming along like usual. Kaikai came too, bringing his "big guns". I like camera people. I think I'd like to be a camera person some day. In the mean time I'll be happy to be the lackey of a camera person. They usually have a magnificent bag of tricks that captures images.
We had our point and shoot.
There were folks who came specifically to watch, and folks who happened to be passing by.
The construction workers were all doing their thing, but there was definitely added attention on the upper reaches of the temple. We watched the crane intently. At about 3:00 it dropped it's line with the attached belt, then slowly brought up Moroni. This is it! I wanted to shout and sing and clap.
UP
UP
UP
We weren't the only ones tickled and joyful; even our mailman said he saw Moroni go UP
Elder Bernal--caught by surprise, Elder Deiparine and Elder Curtis (the president's assistants and our neighbors); Elder Clark.
The sister missionaries (on the left) with their investigators.
The hymnist expresses my feelings the best this time:
I saw a mighty angel fly
To earth he bent his way.
A message bearing from on high
To cheer the sons of day.
Truth is the message which he bears,
the gospel's joyful sound,
To calm our doubts, to chase our fears,
And make our joys abound.
Temples are the gateway to eternity.
