The Story Behind The New Temple Square Statues (with Ben Hammond)

The plans had the Five Wise Virgins facing south. In the quiet of his studio, sculptor Ben Hammond felt one of the few promptings of his career and anchored the bronze aimed at the Salt Lake Temple instead. Ben grew up moving pipe in rural Idaho, begged master sculptor Blair Buswell for the chance to sweep his floors, then spent nearly ten years as his apprentice. Today, his statue of Martha Hughes Cannon stands in the United States Capitol, his sculptures of the Savior's ministry and the Restoration stand on Temple Square, and this faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints calls the work good, not perfect.

In this episode of Why We Believe, Ben tells Nathan Gwilliam how he pieced Martha Hughes Cannon's face together through her living relatives and what her granddaughter said when she saw the clay. He shares the two weeks he spent studying the death mask of Joseph Smith, the four years that tested his family with illness and an overflowing house, and the morning prayers that kept him pushing the wagon. When Nathan asks why he believes, Ben gives Peter's answer. Good things in his life have come through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Book of Mormon helps him look in the mirror and like the person he sees.

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