On the first big day of shooting, the crew arose to find a peculiar orange cast to the sky. This caused concern because some of the major action of the film was about to be shot, and the effect of the orangish sky on the color balance of the picture was unknown. The crew was informed that a volcanic eruption had just started on The Big Island. Smoke and ash from the eruption of Kilauea in October 1969 drifted over to the island of Oahu (which is not typical of such eruptions). Big, black clouds of soot filled the sky for a couple of days, with ash even landing at the filming location. Production ceased, with the film company waiting for the skies to clear. When filming resumed, tighter shots were used to exclude as much of the sky as possible. Production was then delayed by rain which came as a fine mist. The valley where the principal action (in the village) was to be shot turned out to be located just below a mountain where the heaviest rainfall on the island occurred. The production was on a tight schedule so filming continued in the rain, which was accompanied with a washed-out sky. Once again shots were framed to avoid showing the sky. Fortunately the drizzle-like rain did not show up on film, and shots with it matched those filmed when it was not raining. The color balance turned out to be acceptable as well, in spite of the unusually-colored skies. However, the use of the lovely vistas in the background had been partially limited by the problems associated with atmospheric conditions.
The cows that are integral to the film's plot were loaned by The Animal Husbandry Department of The Church College of Hawaii (later BYU Hawai'i) and delivered to the principal filming location. A trail was hacked to keep the cows moving in a line and the camera camouflaged, but the cows took off in all directions and refused to cooperate. Filming had to be moved to a spot west of the college, where the cows were accustomed to coming down a path every night to be milked. Fortunately the new location was very similar, and with the cows following their usual routine, the essential shot was soon "in the can".
At first the production was planned for distribution by the LDS Church "Deseret Sunday School Union[us]" after a general board member read the story in "Woman's Day" magazine and saw potential for a good film. However, because of the cost involved with the decision to transport equipment and a crew to Hawai'i, it was found that neither the Sunday School nor the BYU film department's educational fund had the necessary amount necessary to wholly finance the project. The Sunday School gave permission for the film to also be released as a regular school educational film following their initial use of it. This allowed $15,000 from the BYU educational fund to be used as a supplement to the Sunday School budget. This decision not only allowed the film to be made, but also brought in considerable profit to BYU as the film became one of the studio's best-selling shorts in the educational market, being used not only in colleges and schools, but also by some corporations using it to motivate employees.
A heavy-duty generator was rented from the company that produced the TV series Hawaii Five-O (1968) and an offer to provide the use of any other equipment that might be needed was made. However, they said not to ask for any help with casting, since they were having difficulty in casting their own productions.