Special P-day at Ostuni - Book of Mormon Video Filming

We had a most memorable p-day today. We drove with the Bari sisters to Ostuni, where we met the Statte and Lecce sisters. We then drove to a large olive vineyard outside Ostuni, Antica Masseria Brancati where the church’s movie crew was filming the Book of Mormon video of the allegory of the olive tree, from Jacob chapter 5.

 

We were invited by Sister Kathy Williams, whom we met during our covid delay. From time to time, she would call us to give us an update on the status of our call and to make sure we hadn’t “slit our wrists.” Her husband, a retired BYU professor of ancient scripture, works on these movies.

We met two of the producers who gave us an incredible tour of the vineyard showing us trees between 2,000 and 3,000 years old, explaining how olives are grafted in, showing us wild and tame trees and walking to the “nethermost part of the vineyard.” 

We took lots of photos and videos of this once in a lifetime opportunity. What a blessing to us and the six sister missionaries.  Below, I'm standing next to a tree that is purported to be 3,000 years old!

Here's Dawn and me in front of the tree they used as the "mother tree" in the video.  

We then visited the set where they were shooting a scene with the master of the vineyard planting a new tree. We then got to visit with cast and crewmembers for a bit and take photos.

In the picture below, I'm standing next to the man who got to play Moroni. Note his beard and also he wears in a small ponytail, just like in the movie. His “regular job” is art director for the movies. He designs stuff like shields and armor for the war scenes, flags for the armies, etc.

Finally, we went into the vineyard buildings, still a working olive farm, and the producer gave us a sneak preview of the 3 Nephi video of the Savior’s appearance at the temple in Bountiful. Pretty cool!