Savior of the World & Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration

I recently was able to see two productions put on by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Saviour of the World: His Birth and Resurrection and Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration.

Both shows were unique, inspiring and amazingly done.

The Savior of the World: His Birth and Resurrection is a live play done in the Conference Center Theater during the Christmas season. This is a much more intimate setting than the main Conference Center hall. The smaller theater holds 850 people in comparison with the large hall's capacity of 21,000.

I found an excellent review at LDSVideo.com of the soundtrack to this production:

On November 28, 2000, lights in the Conference Center Theater dimmed for the theater's inaugural performance, the premiere of Savior of the World: His Birth and Resurrection. Seven Latter-day Saint writers, under the direction of the Church's presiding leaders, created this sacred musical drama as a testimony and tribute to the Savior during the second millennial anniversary of His birth. In order to incorporate severl Messianic prophecies and the visitations of heavenly beings into the play, the production team devised a simple set: a semicircular, stone colonnade with a railed balcony to represent the heavens. In performance, prophets view scenes as if in vision from atop the colonnade and speak familiar scriptural prophecies. Descending from the colonnade, angelic messengers visit the earth. And in virtually every scene, cast members dressed in white gather on the colonnade to witness the events below -- a poignant reminder of heaven's interest in the lives of all God's children.

Since the production opened, this interest has been keenly felt by audiences totaling nearly a quarter of a million and by more than 800 cast members. At each performance, children, parents and grandparents, many participating together as families and as service missionaries, fill the colonnade and add to the rich tradition of uplifting theater in the Church. Over a century and a half ago, that tradition was established when Brigham Young built the Salt Lake Theater and directed that it be "a place... where holy angels could be, and where the Spirit of God would reign and its influence be felt by every person who should enter" (Deseret News, January 11, 1865).

That Spirit is invited into the Conference Center each Christmas and Easter season. As the events surrounding the Savior's birth are depicted, the Spirit testifies of Christ's divinity. Born a lowly babe as foretold by ancient prophets, He was resurrected and lives again, as witnessed by Mary Magdalene, Peter, and many others. He lives still, and one day He will return to the earth to reign in glory. "Come, Lord Jesus, Come."

I want to add to that review. The show was powerful and a wonderful reminder of the sacred life of the Savior Jesus Christ. I wept various times and was filled with the Spirit as I watched how the lives of those connected with the Savior's birth and resurrection had their lives changed and their faith, testimonies and knowledge of the truth that: God loves us, so He sent His Son.

If you haven't seen Savior of the World: His Birth and Resurrection, I highly recommend that you get tickets next Easter or Christmas, as it is highly effective and well written to give real meaning to both celebrations of the life and mission of Jesus Christ.

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I was also able to go twice to the new movie in the Legacy Theater about the prophet Joseph Smith. This movie was also a tear jerker, testimony builder and helped me to realize in a more profound way that Joseph Smith truly is a prophet of God and that he fulfilled the mission that he was sent to do. That mission could be summarized as: Joseph Smith did what a loving Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost required of him, so that the gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored in its fulness in our day, thus enabling the work of God to go forward, which is to bring to pass the eternal life and immortality of man.

Without a restoration of the gospel, the priesthood authority to perform the ordinances of salvation could not be administered. They are now available to all of God's children through the preaching of the gospel to all the earth by His authorized servants, as well as through the preaching of the gospel to the dead. All of God's children can now receive baptism by those in authority on earth. If they accept the gospel while in this life, they may be baptized into the Church and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. If they are dead, they may be baptized by proxy in holy temples.

There is no other way that God could be just to those who didn't have the opportunity to have the gospel in this life. His plan is a perfect plan of love, justice and mercy to all of His children!

Regarding the movie Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration, I was impressed by how well it was written and how accurate it was to the life as a whole of the prophet's experience in the short time that was available for the film. The entire film lasts only about 68 minutes, and the writers did a good job of mentioning all aspects of the prophet's life by giving specific examples of each type of trial he and the early saints went through without going into details on things that would make the movie longer but be a repeat of some of the same trials.

For example: many characters portrayed in the film were named, while others were not. Oliver Cowdery was depicted helping to translate the Book of Mormon, had dialog, was shown with Joseph as they received the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist, as they baptized each other, and again a few times as the Church was organized. However, his name wasn't mentioned until later in the film when it was said that even Oliver had fallen away, and many others. There was instead a character who was a Blacksmith named Lyman who had struggles of whether he would continue having faith or whether he would struggle through the trials that beset him. He followed Joseph from Ohio to Missouri to Nauvoo and had children killed by mobbers, his home burned and other persecutions. His faith was tested, but at the end when Joseph went to Carthage, he was still with a tearful goodbye. It would have been too hard to do character development and introduction by name of so many people involved in Joseph's life and then have them not be there later. The movie could have easily been a 10 part film of 2 hours each, so I was impressed with how well it was completed. I can imagine how the mother and father of Joseph's wife Emma Hales Smith could have been developed more and Joseph's interactions with them to show how hard it was for Joseph and Emma when Emma's parents didn't approve of their marriage and wouldn't console them when their children died. However, this was shown and done very well within the time available.

The over-all feeling of the movie includes happy times that show how good of a person Joseph was and how much he cared for the human race, and sad times that portray Joseph and the people who followed him as they endure trials. The movie did an excellent job of showing the strong character that Joseph had. It also made a good portrayal of why people followed him. They followed because they learned from him the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. They gained a witness for themselves that what he taught was true. The gospel is simple and can be easily understood. It just makes sense. If your heart is open to the Spirit, and you truly have a desire to be a good person, you must only ask God your father in heaven, and He will tell you through simple but undeniable means that He loves you and wants you to return to Him. That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is for.

I could tell that even my three young children (ages 6,4,2) could feel the power of the movie. The movie also did a wonderful job at showing the persecution and horrors of what the saints experienced without being graphic. Even the martyrdom of Joseph and his brother Hyrum was shown in a way that all of my kids could watch, and rather than being scarred by the images they see, they will have a memory of what happened and appreciate the sacrifice of the Prophet and Patriarch.

I was able to see the movie twice, and will see it again in a couple of weeks. I recommend that everyone see it.