PAYSON — Workers on Thursday installed the Angel Moroni on top of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Payson Temple.
The temple was announced in January 2010 and ground was broken in October 2011. When completed, the 96,630-square-foot edifice will serve approximately 78,000 church members in 22 stakes, including nine in Spanish Fork and six in Payson. Ultimately, it will be one of four temples in Utah County; existing ones are in Provo and American Fork, and the Provo Tabernacle, seriously damaged in a fire last year, will be converted into that city's second temple, as announced at last weekend's LDS general conference. There are 135 temples worldwide, plus 13 under construction and 18 announced.
Moroni is believed by LDS Church members to be a prophet who lived on the American continent in the fifth century A.D. Mormons believe he later returned as an angel in the 1820s to deliver ancient records that Joseph Smith translated as the Book of Mormon.