“I was moved to contemplate how Jesus would have lovingly called His disciples from the assembled crowd. He knew them, loved them, trusted them. Surprisingly, I had never contemplated what the experience would have been like. This depiction enlightened my understanding, and I received one more spiritual confirmation of the reality of the events told in the Book of Mormon. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in 3 Nephi is the path of happiness; ultimately, it is the only path to eternal happiness.” Dale G. Renlund said while attending the Book of Mormon production.
The cast and crew began filming Third Nephi two weeks ago and hope to have everything they need by the end of August for post production.
Due to the COVID-19, the team had a year to work on improving the scripts before having the chance to return to the set.
Besides Elder Renlund and his wife having the opportunity to attend the production, Elder Curtis and Sister Aburto also were given the opportunity to attend.
“We all feel this is the central part of the Book of Mormon because it contains the words that Jesus told those people,” Sister Aburto 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.”
There was also more unexpected benefits from the pause in the production. Right before the pandemic lockdown, the actor was chosen who would play Christ in this season of the videos.
Anthony Butters from New Zealand received the script more than a year ago. He was able to use the extra time from the lockdown to memorize his lines and study the words of the Savior. Sister Aburto said this has lucky helped the production go more smoothly.
Reciting the words of the Savior is only a small part of Buttler’s role. Actually acting like the Savior is something more important and potentially intimidating.
“All I can do is portray the Savior that I know. I am not trying to be totally accurate to the actual Savior because I’ve never met Him in person. The Savior I know is full of love, is not intimidating, is probably formal in the right circumstances, but when [He] is with you, [He] is not formal, [He] is personal,” Anthony Butters said. “The Savior I know gets it, has a sense of humor, has been through what you have been through, is not scary to talk to.”
As he spoke, some of the children who are actors stopped to watch him answer. They pointed, giggled quietly and whispered to each other. Butters isn’t Jesus, but the children immediately knew who he was portraying, Jesus Christ.
“Getting to know the Savior and His role in the lives of each individual is a part of the purpose of the Book of Mormon Videos”, Sister Aburto said.“We want families to be learning about Him. We want children and youth and people of all ages to be focusing on Him because this is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” she said. “We know that He is at the head of this Church, and our hope is that people will just get closer to Him.”
This process of creating the Book of Mormon videos that will help the Holy Ghost touch people isn’t always easy and it usually requires a lot of prayer and revelation among the cast and crew.
“[ In Third Nephi ]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.”
The released Videos can be found in the Gospel Library app as well as in the Gospel Library section of ChurchofJesusChrist.org and on the Book of Mormon Videos YouTube channel.
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