- New Moroni
- Moroni blows horn
- Moroni 2
- Moroni lowered on temple
- Crane
- Brother Menzie with statue
- Truck
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Commuters traveling along Eastlink in Melbourne may have wondered about a gold statue seemingly standing among the treetops on their way to work. It’s a statue of the Angel Moroni and is mounted on the spire of the Australia Melbourne Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Due to a heavy hailstorm in Melbourne at the end of 2017, Steven Menzie, Temple Facilities Manager, discovered some damage to the statue.
Much of the gold-leafing on the shoulders and trumpet of the iconic statue had been damaged so it was determined that the statue needed to be replaced.
On Thursday morning 19th April, the current damaged statue was lowered by crane, while a new one that was being stored in Brisbane was freighted to Melbourne and securely mounted to the top of the Melbourne temple spire.
The entire exchange of statues was estimated to take about 4-5 hours. Of the experience, Steven explained, “The Angel Moroni is a significant part of the temple and we need to take great care that it comes down safely. It is a sacred responsibility and must be done properly.”
“Not all LDS temples have an Angel Moroni on them,” continues Brother Menzie. “We are very fortunate that the temple in Melbourne has one to look over all of us.”
There are currently 5 LDS temples in Australia – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.