Items provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a time capsule inside the new Church History Library were collectively called "a snapshot of our day" at ceremonies Wednesday.

Better stated, most of the items were actually "reprints" instead of original "snapshots," with the soon-to-be-opened library itself a state-of-the-art time capsule of sorts set to house the church's collection of millions of historical documents, books, journals, photographs and film.

"You can't read history and not have a greater appreciation for the past and an awareness that every day, we are writing a history for others one day to read," said LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson, who presided and spoke at the 30-minute ceremony inside the massive six-level, 230,000-square-foot building.

President Monson provided the 16th and final item for the time capsule, a signed copy of his book "Faith Rewarded: A Personal Account of Prophetic Promises to the East German Saints." He talked about his 18-year assignment supervising the church's efforts and growth in Europe's Eastern Bloc area.

"It covers one of the most traumatic and dramatic portions of my ministry in the last years since I was first called to the Quorum of the Twelve many years ago," he said to the several hundred Church History Department employees and church-service missionaries gathered.

The time capsule will safeguard copies of historical documents or common-print publications. Collecting historical items over the past 180 years, the church has learned — sometimes the hard way — of the importance of preserving its history.

Many pages of the original Book of Mormon manuscript, placed in 1841 in the Nauvoo House cornerstone, were destroyed or damaged by moisture. Other manuscript copies still exist, and many remaining original pages have since been preserved.

Also, items placed by Brigham Young in the Salt Lake Temple cornerstone in 1857 suffered a similar fate. At the temple's 1993 centennial anniversary, historians found that little had survived after 136 years. Fragments helped historians identify only about half of the printed contents.

President Monson's book joined the 15 other items — scriptures, conference reports, publications and photographs — individually sealed in plastic, stacked in a sturdy cardboard container and then placed in the 6-by-18-by-24-inch stainless-steel container. The container was to be sealed with wax before being placed prominently in a library wall.

Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Quorums of the Seventy, who also serves as church historian and recorder, called the library's location at the northeast corner of Main and North Temple streets "the choicest remaining vacant parcel of real estate in downtown Salt Lake City — location does matter."

He said Wednesday's time-capsule ceremony is the first in a series of events leading up to the dedication of the library on June 20. The staff moves in next month, and soon after, all the documents will transferred from their current locations in the Church Office Building, the Salt Lake Tabernacle and the Granite Mountain Records Vault.

Open houses and receptions are planned for the week or two before the dedication.

Wednesday's event drew the church's First Presidency, several members of the Quorums of the Twelve and the Seventy and the Presiding Bishopric.

E-mail: taylor@desnews.com