Before filming for the Book of Mormon Videos began in 2017, producers Aaron Merrell and Jaelan Petrie took a proposed content schedule to President Russell M. Nelson, then the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Merrell and Petrie had carefully considered around 60 different Book of Mormon accounts they could adapt for screen and narrowed the list to about 30. They felt reasonably confident that they’d captured the Book of Mormon’s key moments.
But when President Nelson went over the list, he said, “It looks like you have all of the great stories of the Book of Mormon, but you are missing some of the great doctrine of the Book of Mormon and need to focus on that.”
Petrie said this feedback changed their entire approach to the Book of Mormon Videos project. For instance, Alma and Amulek’s sermon on faith (found in Alma 32-33) isn’t the most cinematic thing to shoot, he said, but it features some of the most “incredible” doctrine on how faith grows like a seed.
“I think that’s part of what the series is about, is getting the great doctrine out to everybody so they understand it, they know it and they can use it in their lives,” Petrie said.
Merrell added that President Nelson also told him and Petrie that the purpose of the Book of Mormon Videos project is the same as the Book of Mormon itself: “It is to help gather Israel, it’s to teach the doctrine, it’s to teach the covenants and, most importantly, to testify of Jesus Christ. That’s the filter that we put every story through,” Merrell said.
Merrell and Petrie shared their experiences working on the Book of Mormon Videos during an episode of the Church News podcast. The fifth and final season of the Book of Mormon Videos launched in March 2024, with the Church releasing a total of 11 new episodes throughout the year timed to coincide with lessons on the following subjects:
- “Jacob Teaches the Allegory of the Olive Tree” | Jacob 5
- “The Lord Delivers the People of Limhi and Alma” | Mosiah 21-24
- “The Lord Delivers the People of Ammon” | Alma 23-27
- “Moroni Raises the Title of Liberty” | Alma 46
- “Helaman’s Stripling Soldiers Fight for Freedom” | Alma 53-58
- “Nephi and Lehi Testify of Jesus Christ” | Helaman 5
- “Samuel the Lamanite Prophesies of Jesus Christ” | Helaman 13-16; 3 Nephi 1
- “The Lord Appears to the Brother of Jared” | Ether 1-6, 12-13
- “Mormon Preserves the Record” | 3 Nephi 5; Mormon 1-7
- “Mormon Teaches About Faith, Hope and Charity” | Moroni 7
- “Mormon Teaches About the Salvation of Little Children” | Moroni 8
After the final two episodes are published in December 2024, the complete series will include 45 full episodes, all available in 15 languages. Some episodes are available in additional languages.
The Book of Mormon Videos can be watched in the following locations online or on mobile apps:
- Gospel Library online
- Gospel Library app
- YouTube (English, Spanish and Portuguese)
- Gospel Stream
- Book of Mormon app
As the Book of Mormon Videos project approaches its end, here’s a look back on the series’ production, what Church leaders have said about it and its impact on individual lives.
‘This is a testimony of Jesus Christ’
Petrie emphasized that the Book of Mormon Videos are meant to be a visualization of the Book of Mormon rather than a dramatization.
“I think it’s a pretty important clarification there, that we’re not trying to be dramatic,” he said. “We’re not trying to do entertainment, we’re actually doing another translation of the Book of Mormon.”
But with that distinction — visualization over dramatization — came some particular challenges. One was set locations; Merrell said “location neutrality” was key when choosing locations, meaning anywhere they picked for filming couldn’t be so recognizable that viewers might think a Book of Mormon story truly took place there.
“So we’re not saying this happened in the Heartland, we’re not saying this happened in Central America, we’re not saying South America. What we’re saying is: ‘This happened, and this is a testimony of Jesus Christ,’” Merrill said.
Another challenge was casting. Petrie said actors had to be active and worthy Church members and of ethnicities that could represent Nephites and Lamanites. Within those qualifications, the number of people with acting experience was very small, he said.
But time and again, Petrie and Merrell said, they saw miracles. While shooting scenes along the Oregon coast of Nephi building a ship, for example, Merrell said, smoke from mountain forest fires significantly obscured the beaches they’d planned to use; but the cast and crew moved forward with faith, and the smoke cleared during filming. The day they wrapped, Merrell said, the smoke rolled back in.
“Afterward, I got home, [and] I looked back at the historical satellite footage,” he recalled. “And you could see in the satellite footage this area right in the beach where we were, that we were protected. We had the ministering angels there who were helping us, supporting us, and we saw a miracle on that shoot.”
Casting issues, too, were resolved through heavenly help. For instance, Ray Fujikawa from Texas, who plays Mormon, responded to a prompting to audition for the Book of Mormon Videos despite having never acted in his life; but he was ultimately “perfect” for the role, Merrell said.
And when it came time for the daunting task of casting the Savior, actor Anthony Butters from New Zealand was “a miracle that out of nowhere just came to us,” Petrie said.
The days spent filming the resurrected Christ’s visit to the Nephites were especially sacred, Petrie recalled. Extras in large productions sometimes get a bad rap for poor acting, he said; but no one was acting in the moments they approached Butters as he portrayed the Savior.
“The tears were real, everything about it,” Petrie said. “I remember one extra went up, had his moment with the Savior and then went off to the side and just broke down because it was so real to him.”
Those types of experiences were one of the many ways that the entire cast and crew infused the Book of Mormon Videos with their testimonies of Jesus Christ, Merrell said.
“Every frame of film that we made, every design that we did, every performance that we did, we asked [the cast and crew] to make sure that this is a testimony, their testimony, of Jesus Christ,” he said.
Church leaders weigh in on Book of Mormon Videos
Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and chair of the Church’s Scripture Committee has overseen the production of the Book of Mormon Videos.
“In an era marked by the delivery of the 200 millionth ... copy of the Book of Mormon, it is fitting that we draw attention to the many other ways [we] can be introduced to the truths of this sacred volume,” he said earlier this year.
Those “other ways” Elder Renlund mentioned include digital channels like the Book of Mormon and Gospel Library apps and the Book of Mormon Videos YouTube channel in English that has more than 30 million views of its 522 videos as of October 2024.
Elder Jose L. Alonso, a General Authority Seventy who also serves on the Church’s Scripture Committee, said the videos aren’t a substitute for studying the full Book of Mormon.
“The Book of Mormon Videos complement and augment our understanding of the Book of Mormon,” he said earlier this year. “They can never replace an earnest study of the written word, but they can open our minds to new thoughts and feelings about Jesus Christ, His gospel, His Atonement and Heavenly Father’s plan.”
For those who have challenges reading, the videos provide an opportunity to see the teachings contained in the Book of Mormon in a new way, he explained.
“For many who are visual learners or who struggle with literacy or comprehension, they can be an ideal way to introduce the story of the Book of Mormon as well as the teachings of the Book of Mormon prophets and of the Savior Himself.”
Elder David P. Homer, a General Authority Seventy and chair of the Church’s Scriptures Media Committee, said in December 2023 that the Book of Mormon Videos are designed to help individuals, families and friends as they learn from the Book of Mormon.
“For some, [the videos] will enhance their study of the scriptures,” he said. “For others, they may be a first introduction to the sacred text. And for others still, they may provide comprehension and understanding where literacy and reading are a challenge.”
