Cornerstone Box Filled For the Payson Temple

I was called to serve on the Payson Utah Temple Open House, Dedication, and Cultural Celebration Committee as the historian. Part of my assignment was to write a history of the temple from the announcement to the dedication 2010-2015. I was also asked to assemble the items that went inside a cornerstone box that was placed directly behind the cornerstone. I followed a list of approved items given to me by the temple department.
Most people know that we place the mortar around a cornerstone in the ceremony that celebrates the completion of a temple right before it is dedicated. Many don't realize that behind the cornerstone is a metal box filled with items that celebrate our faith in Jesus Christ and the events leading up to the temple dedication day.
On June 6th at 3:00 I met in the Payson Temple with the temple committee and their spouses and the construction history missionaries to fill the cornerstone box. Elder Kent Richards who leads the temple department for the LDS church joined us for a few minutes and spoke to us. He mentioned that he helped in the location of the SLC temple cornerstone box with medical equipment from the hospital where he worked as a surgeon.

Then I described the items we would be placing in the box. Each person in the room took a turn to place one item in the box.

Some of the items we placed in the cornerstone box were:

Holy Bible

Book of Mormon

Doctrine And Covenants

Pearl Of Great Price

LDS Hymn book

Two books by President Thomas Monson: Teachings of Tomas Monson, To the Rescue – The Biography of Thomas S. Monson

wheat grown on the temple lot

the newest translation of the Book of Mormon

The Payson Temple History 2010-2015

A binder that included:

pictures of the Savior

photographs of the Payson temple.

Groundbreaking program/tickets/invitations/prayer

open house tickets/invitations/new releases/gifts

cultural celebration tickets

dedication tickets/invitations/prayer 

invitation to the first endowment session

original copy of hymn High on the Mountain Top

line drawing of Payson temple

temple committee credential

copy of The Family – A Proclamation To The World

pictures of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve

copy of Payson LDS Temple booklet

cloth handkerchief and metal medallion with Payson temple logo

copy of The Living Christ

missionary outreach printed materials

list of stakes and wards in the Payson temple district

sample of hand-made temple altar cloth and open house hosting tablecloth

Hard bound copies of city/stake histories in Payson temple district

After we placed the items into the box we brought it outside and slid it inside a cavity on the south east corner of the Payson temple. Then we placed the stone in front of it that read: Erected 2015.
The following Sunday, President Eyring and other General Authorities placed the first mortar to seal the stone. Then they went back inside the temple and finished the first of three dedicatory sessions.