During one of the last "zone conferences" I attended on my mission in Thailand in 2004, we discussed the pinnacle role of The Book of Mormon in bringing people unto Christ and its symbolism as the "keystone of our religion". The validity and rigidity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints stands or falls with the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon. I doodled a drawing of an arch with The Book of Mormon as the keystone and decided right then that when I got home, I would build one out of wood. Within the first week or so of being home, I built my first Book of Mormon Arch for my Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Hansen. This year (2009), I built another one for my parents for Christmas. I knew they liked the original one and my mom had made hints that she wanted one...it took 5 years, but I did it.
All of the pieces are seperate and unattached with the exeption of The Book of Mormon and the small pieces on either side of it. I did this because normal keystones are pie shaped and hold the arch up with the weight pressing against the side pieces, a book shape simply slides out. The project is a nice symbolic piece and not meant to be used as a literal object lesson. It makes for a fun puzzle for the kids too!
