While work progresses to ready the temple in Portland, Ore., efforts to ready the people of Oregon for a temple also are moving ahead rapidly.
As television cameras, newspaper photographers and excited Church members looked on May 11, the statue of the Angel Moroni was placed atop the 170-foot eastern spire of the marble-encased temple. The gold-leaf statue of the ancient prophet, who represents the heralding of the restoration of the gospel in the latter-days, was lifted by a 224-foot crane. The event signaled a great step toward the temple's completion, still almost a year away.
"It was a major milestone," said James H. Bean, vice chairman of the temple committee, and one of about 150 people who witnessed the event.
"Just as the ground breaking and laying the foundation are significant events, the placement of the statue of the Angel Moroni is a signal that the temple is drawing closer to completion," he said. "Now it really looks like a temple."
Work on the site began in October 1986, and the roof and exterior of the building are nearly finished. Only two of the six spires have yet to be completed. Interior construction has just begun, and the landscaping will get underway soon.
"We have had good cooperation from the weather and that has aided us in the construction," Bean said. "The work on the temple is going well and it's nice to see it taking shape."
Work of a different sort is being coordinated out of the office of the director of the Portland Institute of Religion, some 10 miles away in downtown Portland. Brian L. Smith, a member of a three-man Portland Multi-Regional Public Communications team, is working to prepare the hearts of Portland residents for the temple by providing information aimed at helping them gain a greater understanding of the Church and its doctrines.
"We wanted to generate positive feelings about the Church and draw attention to what we really believe before the temple is completed," Smith said. Working with Pres. LeGrand H. Woolley of the Beaverton Oregon Stake, Smith developed a series of inserts for placement in Portland-area newspapers. Each insert is designed to illustrate the Church's belief in the Savior, along with a general gospel theme.
In April 1987, about the time the concrete structure was being poured for the temple, a full-color, eight-page insert was distributed through the local daily newspaper to 174,000 homes in a five-stake area in the Portland suburbs.
The insert ran during the Easter season, and asked readers the question, "What think ye of Christ?" It included references about the Savior in the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants and offered complimentary 11-by-17-inch pictures of the Savior.
Seven months later, the insert, "Another Witness of Jesus Christ," was published and distributed to 700,000 people over a 22-stake area in Portland and Salem, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash. This insert explained how the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ, of His atonement and of Heavenly Father's plan for His children.
"We found that many Church members had opportunities to talk about the gospel with their friends as a result of the insert," Smith said.
He said typical responses were, "Oh, I saw your insert. I didn't realize the Book of Mormon is so much like the Bible."
He referred to one especially gratifying incident, where a man who had previously read the Book of Mormon checked out from a library, sent for his own copy through the insert offer. The man became convinced of the book's truth and was baptized a month later. In another instance, a woman who had been investigating the Church, but hadn't decided to be baptized, saw the insert as an answer to her prayers and was baptized.
More often, the insert is an introductory tool, Smith emphasized, and serves to help explain the gospel in a positive light, rather than bring about immediate conversions.
The next insert, entitled "Promises of Eternal Relationships," is set to circulate this month to 535,000 residents within the boundaries of 14 Portland-area stakes.
Its theme centers on the Savior, with a special emphasis on family relationships. Interested readers can send for a free audio tape of the video, "Together Forever," produced by the Missionary Department of the Church, or brochures on family history and family relationships.
This insert has already generated two referrals. Smith said one of the typesetters and one of the printers, who worked on the insert, asked him for more information.
A fourth insert will be produced in conjunction with the temple open house, and will explain why the Church has temples, and what Church members believe about the House of the Lord. An invitation to the open house will be included in the insert, which Smith hopes to circulate throughout Oregon, possibly distributing as many as 1.5 million copies.
"Pres. Woolley and I have had great spiritual experiences producing these inserts," said Smith. "It seems that as we've tugged and pulled at the whole thing, things have just seemed to fall into place, and we came to the place where we could say, `This seems to be right.' "
"The inserts, coupled with other missionary programs and videos from Church headquarters, have done a lot to bring people to an awareness of the Church," Bean said. "The inserts have helped people to understand the role of the Book of Mormon as another witness of Christ."
In addition to the inserts, a movie about the Portland Temple was produced and shown on cable television channels in the Portland metro area between sessions of general conference Easter Sunday. The movie was filmed on the temple grounds, March 12 and 14.
The film includes scenes of individuals sharing the excitement they felt when learning a temple was being built in this area; the building contractor explaining about some of the materials used in its construction; families talking about what the temple means to them, and footage of the beautiful building itself.
Smith also headed this project. He said most of the equipment and labor used in the film were donated.
