Bountiful Angel 2.0 Surprise!

About a week ago [the afternoon of Sunday May 22, 2016 to be exact] the golden angel Moroni statue atop the Bountiful Utah Temple was struck by lighting. It was very dramatic! Our home is less than quarter mile away and we saw the bright flash of light and felt the BOOM shake our house. At the time we didn’t know about the angel, but we heard about it later that night. And, someone even captured the exact moment it happened – what are the odds?!

And, here is a photo from the following day of the dramatic injury sustained. 😦

Not all, but most of Mormon Temples have an angel Moroni statue gleaming on the top spire. It is placed there not only as a religious symbol, but also serves a specific functional purpose as a lightning rod for the temple.

So, when the Bountiful angel took that direct hit, it wasn’t some sort of nefarious sign, he was actually just doing his job to protect our beautiful sacred temple.

Unfortunately, after his battle with the elements, Moroni was not only an eyesore, he was unable to perform his job properly if another bolt came along. So, it was time for Moroni 1.0 to be retired, and Moroni 2.0 to replace him. Originally, it was announced the Bountiful temple would receive its new angel at the end of Summer 2016. But, it turns out there was another angel “waiting in the wings” – originally reserved for the Meridian Idaho temple currently under construction – and that angel got a new mission call to serve in Bountiful. 🙂

And so, yesterday was the big surprise event!

Sadly, not knowing in advance, I couldn’t be there in person – but my friend Haylee and her family was there for the entire 4 hours, and she shared some beautiful photos over on her blog HERE. Check it out!

I was wondering last night about the little “angel shop” that must exist somewhere for  these masterpieces to be created, gilded, and shined in preparation for their global temple “mission assignments”. Wouldn’t it be so cool to see that? I wonder how many they make a time? I know there are several different designs and sizes depending on the temples, but I wonder how many angels they make at a time? And, how many “extras” so you suppose they might keep on hand in case of lightning damage (which actually happens quite often)? I suppose since temples are being built all over the world, perhaps there are multiple “angel shops”. That’s a little mystery – but, it probably needs to remain unsolved to keep the angels safe.

Meanwhile, if you would like to learn more about the Angel Moroni statue  – with lots of fun background, history, photos and facts – go check out one of my most popular posts MORMON TRIVIA: The Angel Moroni Statue.

In other Utah news, the missing LDS sister missionary has been found safe and sound. Relief.

Happy Thursday everyone! – MoSop