BYUH students and staff say filming a Book of Mormon video allowed them to appreciate the scriptural event and characters more
Acting as Nephite and Lamanite warriors in the filming of the “Book of Mormon Videos” on Oahu last August 2022, BYU-Hawaii students and staff recalled their experience as a great testimony builder. They said portraying their characters and enacting the stripling warriors’ battle scene allowed them to walk in their shoes and value the scriptural event more.
The film is now uploaded on Youtube, entitled “Helaman’s Stripling Soldiers Fight for Freedom.” The students said the filming took four days from Aug. 24 to 27 at Gunstock Ranch in Kahuku. They encouraged everyone to utilize the video in their personal studies of the Book of Mormon.
Portraying the stripling warriors
Zach Stackhouse, a junior majoring in political science from Utah, said being casted as a stripling warrior scout deepened his understanding of what it was like to be in one of the stripling warrior’s shoes.
“We were given sandals and [animallike] skin clothes to wear,” he said, as they prepared to film for the battle scene between the stripling warriors and the Lamanites. “Honestly, it was not comfortable,” he said. “I remembered filming a marching and a running scene like 20 times. Those sandals weren’t comfortable to run in, and it was cutting up my feet,” he explained.
Stackhouse said he initially thought how terrible his experience was but shortly after he received an impression from the spirit. “I felt the spirit telling me, ‘Now imagine how much worse it was for them when they were actually running for their lives from the Lamanites’, “ he said.
Stackhouse said he was physically tired not from running for his life, but from filming. He said the exhaustion he felt helped him to understand the mind of the warriors.
BYUH Student Life Vice President Kala Kau said filming the scriptural event together with the students was memorable for him. “I knew what a difference it could make to be able to not just read the scriptures but also to visualize them and be engaged in those scenes,” he said.
Acting as a Lamanite warrior, Kau said this experience strengthened his testimony of the Book of Mormon and made him appreciate the stripling warriors. “Experiencing firsthand these battle scenes, although just acting, made me think of their sacrifices,” he said.
“They were defenders of their faith, fighting for their families and their God, even in the face of opposition and mortal danger,” he said. Seeing that enacted and portrayed was powerful, he added.
Sirawit Kitwongpak, a BYUH alumni who majored in accounting, said being part of the film made him joyful even though he was young and inexperienced for the role. As one of the stripling warriors, Kitwongpak said the role inspired him to be more faithful. Just like them, “I dare to be brave, obey the prophet and trust in God even when experiencing bad situations,” he said.
Obtaining new perspectives
Stackhouse said he was given a few lines in the scene where he told the character portraying Helaman that the Nephites were no longer being pursued by the Lamanites. “I remembered the directors explaining the scene to me about the Nephites kneeling in prayer and thanking God for being preserved,” he said.
He said the directors told him how the Nephites were preserved, thanks to the mothers and maybe sisters, who were praying for them to still be okay and not be killed. “That was something I have never given a lot of profound thought to, and it influenced me deeply,” he said.
“We put so much focus on the young men out of war, and we have no idea what was going through the mind of their mothers who had already lost their husbands to the Lamanites,” said Stackhouse. “Now they’re worried about the fact that they might lose their sons too,” he continued.
As one of the greatest scriptural events in the Book of Mormon, Stackhouse said people get used to hearing the miracle in the end when reading the story of the 2,060 stripling warriors. When filming the battle scene, he said the directors told them the stripling warriors, who were probably ranges around 12 to 16 years old at the time, were against fully grown Lamanite adults.
“We had another actor and nicknamed him ‘Smalls’. He was really young, like a 12-year-old kid,” said Stackhouse. He said they filmed a scene where the kid was fighting one of the biggest Polynesian boys they had on set.
“I realized as I was standing and preparing for these fake battle scenes, how much bigger and stronger all of the Lamanites have seemed. I remember looking at us and said, ‘We look like ants running to attack a giant’,” said Stackhouse.
He said the scene made him visualize and put into perspective how powerful the miracle of not a single one of the stripling warriors being slain really was.
A great resource for scripture study
Kau said, “The reason why [the Church] is making the [Book of Mormon videos] is to testify of Jesus Christ and help share the message of the book.”
“I really appreciate that the Church has gone to such lengths to produce the [Book of Mormon] video and make it more accessible,” he said. “These are great resources and are a quality production,” he added.
Kitwongpak shared he also has utilized the Book of Mormon videos in his personal studies and family home evenings. He said it is also more entertaining to watch something than reading.
“I felt that the videos sometimes allow people to [ponder] and feel more because of the background music,” he said.
Stackhouse said he wants fellow students to remember that these stories are not fiction. The Book of Mormon videos allow students to have a better mind picture of the event and put themselves into the situation, he said. “I think a blessing that would come from using it is the ability to make it personal.”
“We’re taught to liken the scriptures to ourselves,” said Stackhouse. “When we’re able to watch a movie and see the emotions on a character’s face, we’re able to put ourselves in their shoes and maybe think what would I do here, what would I have done differently, and think about all the help that the Lord gives,” he said.