163 Videos Later, the Book of Mormon Videos Bring Stories to Life

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By Church News staff

When the Church completed production on its Bible Videos series in 2016, it wasted no time in getting started on its next big video endeavor — the Book of Mormon Videos.

Seven years later, the 163 videos published at BookofMormonVideos.com have collectively been viewed more than 23 million times. The channel on YouTube has 315,000 subscribers. The videos have been viewed many more times than that on the Church’s website and in the Book of Mormon app.
 

1 Nephi

The launch of the Book of Mormon Videos began with scenes of Book of Mormon teachings and events from 1 Nephi through Enos in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

  
Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr., a General Authority Seventy at the time, led the project’s steering committee and said he was excited for people to see the first videos after two years of production.

“We’re just so overjoyed to share with the Church and with the world what we’ve been experiencing the last few years,” Elder Curtis said.

Those first videos were originally scheduled to be released in September 2018, but the decision was made to postpone that release by a year to more closely coincide with the 2020 “Come, Follow Me”curriculum that focused on the Book of Mormon. This allowed families and teachers to supplement their class preparations with videos that pertained to the first four books of the Book of Mormon.

Sister Reyna I. Aburto was second counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency when the first season debuted.

 
“This is going to make such a big difference in so many lives, because the truths that are contained can change lives. These videos are going to help with the process, because they hopefully are going to bring people to the book,” Sister Aburto said.

Helping people learn about the Savior and read the Book of Mormon were two goals of the series.

Sister Aburto said she hoped the project would help viewers “learn about Jesus Christ and about His mission, His ministry, His doctrine, His teachings, which are teachings of goodness and love for every life. This is such a needed message, right now; this message is so needed in the world.”
 

2 Nephi – Enos

This series of videos focuses on the prophets Nephi, Jacob and Enos. Producing the films while maintaining accuracy and integrity to the scriptural accounts and time in which the people lived was an important part of the project.

“This allows us to put a face to the names and the stories and allow you to see these people who really lived,” said Bill Elliott, media director of the project. “They breathed, they walked the land, and these stories are real.”

 
Elder Curtis was impressed with the storytelling that went into the Book of Mormon Videos to help illustrate   and convey the gospel principles written about in the Book of Mormon.

“Good teaching and powerful teaching carries an echoing effect through the generations,” he said.

In a special screening of the videos for children in December 2019, President Joy D. Jones, then Primary general president, spoke with some children to see what they felt as they watched the depictions.

“These videos are such a blessing from Heavenly Father to individuals, to families, to the Church and to all the world,” said President Jones after the event. “I hope that this could expand the opportunity for families and children to be aware of them, and to want to sit down and actually view them.

“Because once they view them, the Spirit will speak to their hearts, and they’ll feel something.”

 
Mosiah – Alma

The eight episodes of Season 2 of Book of Mormon Videos cover more than 200 pages of content in the book — going through Mosiah and most of Alma.

 
One of the producers of the videos, Jaelen Petrie, said the videos are full of learnings from the gospel of Jesus Christ and the prophecies, teachings and testimonies about the Son of God, as well as His mission and ministry.

“This has changed my understanding of the Savior and His love for all people,” Petrie said. “The Savior is involved in every story.”

Among the individuals from the Book of Mormon whose stories are told in this season are King Benjamin, Abinadi, Alma the Younger, Amulek, Ammon and King Lamoni.

This season of videos saw its first episodes launch just as COVID-19 caused worldwide disruptions as the pandemic spread. While the videos for this season were released, production on remaining seasons largely came to a stop before conditions improved to resume filming.

The following week, on Sept. 13, 2020, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband, answered questions from young adults in a Face to Face event on the Church’s production set in Goshen, Utah. That set was used for both the Bible Videos and Book of Mormon Videos.

 
In the face of the many challenges posed throughout 2020, Elder Rasband offered these words of comfort to those watching that event:

“Through Book of Mormon times and other times, the people of God have always seemed to face trials. ... ” Elder Rasband said.

“And yet we can take comfort and confidence that the Lord Jesus Christ loves this Church and loves this people. As He has said numerous times, if you stand on holy ground, you need not be troubled.”  
 

3 Nephi

 
A silver lining on the COVID-19 cloud came when the Book of Mormon Videos production team had an extra year to refine the scripts related to the Savior’s appearance to the Nephites as described in 3 Nephi.

 
From the set used for scenes in the land of Bountiful, Elder Curtis said, “This is a really important season of filming.”

Sister Aburto agreed.

“We all feel this is the central part of the Book of Mormon because it contains the words that Jesus told those people,” she said. “It contains His teachings and His doctrine. The sole purpose of this project is to testify of Him and to increase faith in Him.”

Anthony Butters, a native of New Zealand, received the script more than a year earlier and used that time to memorize his lines and study the words of the Savior before stepping in front of the camera for such a pivotal role.

That time with the script paid dividends for Butters as he was able to shoot many scenes without the need of a script or off-screen assistance.

 
Elder Curtis said one of his favorite scenes of the entire project came from this time of production.

“Third Nephi 17,” Elder Curtis said without hesitation. And with a tearful emotion, he explained: “The experience of Christ changing His schedule to stay and be with the people. And to heal them. And to bless the children. And the angels coming and ministering to the children. To me, that’s as spiritually powerful as anything.”

 
Special Episodes

 
Two episodes were released outside the normal cadence of seasons. The first tied together the end of the Book of Mormon with its revealed discovery hundreds of years later. The second required most of the seasons’ filming to be complete in order to show a vision from the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Both required careful planning and production spanning the better part of a decade.

In September 2020, the Church released one video depicting a combination of historical events pertaining to the Book of Mormon. First, was Moroni burying the plates in the Hill Cumorah 420 years after the Savior’s birth. Second, was Joseph Smith finding them.

 
This episode was released as the Church commemorated the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s First Vision from 1820.

“We are pleased to release this episode from the series to add to the bicentennial celebration of the first appearance of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith, a historic event that resulted in the publication of the Book of Mormon,” Elder Curtis said.

John Munoa played the role of Moroni in the video. He said he studied Moroni’s Christ-centered teachings and spiritual experiences as he prepared to portray the prophet.

He described Moroni as “a spiritual giant.”

“If I had to choose one thing about him that stood out the most, it would be his testimony of Jesus Christ,” Munoa said.

The other episode to be released not in chronological order had to wait until most of the series’ filming had been completed.

Chronologically, it fits with the storyline of the first videos released about 1 Nephi. But in terms of production, a lot had to happen before this episode could be released.

One of the producers of the series, Aaron Merrell, said a lot of preparation and patience went into this specific episode.

“Portions of Nephi’s vision were filmed during the first season of Book of Mormon Videos while we had the original cast,” Merrell said.

That first season began filming in summer 2017, nearly six years ago.

“The vision sequences of later events were filmed throughout subsequent seasons, resulting in later finishing and release of the episode. We are thrilled that audiences are now able to experience both Lehi’s and Nephi’s visions together,” Merrell said.

 
The fifth season of the Book of Mormon Videos will also feature videos that won’t all follow each other chronologically in order. A full list of anticipated episodes has not yet been released. Casting for those new videos is ongoing and ends April 4. The videos are expected to shoot later this spring.

 
How to Watch, Share

 
Over the past nearly 200 years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members have used and shared hundreds of millions of physical copies of the Book of Mormon.

A decade after the initial release of the Book of Mormon app, the use and sharing of the Church’s sacred volume of scriptures are being enhanced with new digital features and content — including ways to watch and share the Book of Mormon Videos.

When the app was first launched in 2012, the initial version merely replicated the text and offered basic search and scripture-marking capabilities.

With the app available in more than 100 languages, the Book of Mormon app improvements include the addition of “Discover,” “Watch” and “Share” tabs.

 
The Discover tab is the gateway to additional content, the Watch tab opens to the full library of available Book of Mormon Videos segments, and the Share tab provides a quick-response, or QR, code to share with smartphones in the 100-plus supported languages.

“From the time of its first printing over 192 years ago, the commission from the Lord has been to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon,” said Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, a General Authority Seventy who chaired the Scriptures Committee in the Church’s Priesthood and Family Department when these features launched in 2022.

“In the digital age, the Book of Mormon app helps us fulfill this divine mandate. The app is miraculous. It allows us to be better instruments in sharing God’s word with His people, wherever they are, in whatever language they speak.”

“Jesus Christ’s visit to the Americas after His Resurrection is a favorite part of the Book of Mormon for many,” said Sister Michelle D. Craig, former First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency. “The beautiful visual representation of these events will give us another way to share our witness that Jesus Christ lives and that the Book of Mormon is another testament of His divinity.”

Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company.