Sharing her life as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to an online audience is something Emily Susan Pack never imagined herself doing.
At first, she started by sharing silly songs about her faith, now Pack is recording songs, making music videos and diving into the Latter-day Saint content creator sphere, all while being a wife and mother.
“I’m just living the motherhood season of life,” Pack says. “My house is really dirty and loud, and it’s a dream come true.”
The 32-year-old Mesa, Arizona, resident gained prominence among Latter-day Saints for sharing music melodies about the cultural oddities many members experience. Whether they be about green Jell-O, funeral potatoes or even sacrament bread on Fast Sundays.
She blends humor and faith in a way that attracts many members — and even former members. Her Instagram account has more than 16,000 followers.
In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune she talks about her rising popularity, her music, her tongue-in-cheek style, her goals, the importance of laughter and “her first audience” for everything she creates: her three kids (ages 3, 5 and 7).
“If I can’t get them to laugh through a song or if the melody is not catchy enough,” Pack says, “then I just throw away those songs.”
(The following has been edited for length and clarity.)
People call you a Latter-day Saint content creator and musician. How would you brand yourself?
Pack • I guess I always just define myself as a musician. That’s just what I’ve always been. It’s so funny now being a social media creator. I almost deleted my Instagram in January of this year. I was like, “It’s just a thing I scroll on and waste time when I should be with my kids.” But then, for whatever reason, I just posted a couple of songs about Mormon culture … and then it just took off.
Fascination with Latter-day Saint culture is rising. Did you try to capture that member experience with your songs?
Pack • Usually I’m kind of bad at going into Sunday school, and I’m usually chatting in the hallways with people. I love finding those shared experiences that we have in church. We have a shared faith. But outside of that, we have shared humanity and a shared culture. And that, I think, is really, really magical. When things first started being shared, I was really shocked because they were being shared on LDS Relief Society pages, and then also by ex-Mormon pages. John Dehlin from “Mormon Stories” shared a few of my videos, and it’s been circulating on Reddit. My sister has left the church and she’s always sharing with me, like, “Look, your video is on this other page that I follow.”
I do want to capture that shared experience even outside of our faith. People who have left the church still want to talk about funeral potatoes and still want to talk about green Jell-O. That’s still something that can connect them to their family. It feels like a miracle that I’ve been able to create a shared space between opposing choices, and that’s really special to me. That’s something I never want to mess up.
People mention that you are authentic with your faith. Do you feel music is a way that you can share your faith with others?
(Emily Susan Pack) Musician, comedian and content creator Emily Susan Pack blends comedy and music on her social media pages.
Pack • Yeah, I’m grateful that I’m able to share my humor, while also sharing my journey of someone who left the church and came back to church and is active in the church. But I still joke about things and don’t take anything too seriously. I think we really all need to be reminded constantly of each other’s humanity, and it’s really easy for us to picture people as part of a corrupt system or part of a group of sheep or something pretty nefarious. But when we just see people as the humans they are — who are silly and flawed and laughing in the hallways — then I think it lets people be less afraid of their neighbors who go to church or their neighbors who leave church. And when we’re less afraid of each other, then we can serve each other better. And that’s really what we need, because the world’s pretty dark, and we really just need to be closer to our neighbors.
In your discography, you have a song called “Julia Reagan.” How do you pinpoint moments like these in your music and comedy?
Pack • I really only write about what I’m genuinely feeling. It’s just what I’m thinking about at the time. Julia had a big moment this summer. I think it was coming up on social media a lot. When I saw Julia’s billboard the first time, I had landed in Utah and I got in the rental car and I was like, “Oh, that’s weird.” Then the second sign, I’m like, “What the heck is this?” And then by the third sign, I had to start Googling. And then I’m just in tears because of how [billboard executive] Bill Reagan loved his wife so dearly.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) A billboard honoring Julia Reagan is seen in Taylorsville in February 2025.
It’s funny because everyone was talking about Julia and there was a comedic angle, and you could just make fun of it. But I really wanted it to come from my genuine heart of how I felt seeing this display of love. I was thinking about my own husband and my own experiences with loss, and I just wanted to write a sweet song for this sweet love story. And so that comes through in the songs, and people walk away maybe not knowing how to feel. But, you know, that’s a good thing. I think there’s just a lot of nuance in life, and so I’m really grateful to be able to capture that in music
Who is your inspiration for your tongue-in-cheek style?
Pack • I’m compared a lot to [composer] Randy Newman, which just blows me away. That’s something people comment a lot. Even in the past, before I had an Instagram presence, I would be at an open mic and people would come up and say, “This is weird, but you sound like the ‘Toy Story’ guy.” So I’m really honored to be compared to Randy Newman, who’s such an incredible songwriter. He has that New Orleans jazz style, which I’ve always gravitated toward. I guess my inspiration … I do have an improv comedy background. I’ve been doing improv for the last 15 years. So I just have that clown blood in me. I’ll always be joking around about something. But I also really genuinely care about what I’m saying.
(Chris Pizzello |AP) Randy Newman performs at the Oscars in 2020. Emily Susan Pack's style is sometimes compared to Newman's.
Humor is ingrained in your music and storytelling. Why do you feel it is important to make people laugh, especially in the Latter-day Saint community?
Pack • Laughing is so magical, especially when you get people laughing together about something across a divide. Friendships are forged in laughter, and laughter is such a unifying and bond-building experience. Laughter is more than being entertained.
If you’re watching “The Office” reruns at home, and you laugh at something by yourself, it doesn’t really do anything for you. But when you’re laughing together with a group of people, it really strengthens and enriches your life. We can debate about things forever. We can listen to a lot of “TED Talks” and a lot of serious discussions and read data together. But at the end of the day, if we’re laughing at something together that brings us closer, that’s kind of the indescribable humanity healing experience that I’m so hungry for.
How does being a mother impact your comedy? Do you intentionally make it more family-friendly?
Pack • I don’t have any privacy. I have three kids, and they’re not really the type of kids that go to their room and play. They’re always climbing on my shoulder or on my lap. And they’re really my audience. They’re my first audience for everything. And so if I can’t get them to laugh through a song or if the melody is not catchy enough, then I just throw away those songs. I used to be a little more edgy as a comedian. But now it feels like a waste of time to make some art that not everyone can enjoy. … I really only want to make something that my kids, everybody’s kids, your grandma, your ex-Mormon cousin, your weird uncle, your neighbor, your toddlers and your middle-aged weirdos can all enjoy together. That feels worth my time. I just want to hang out with everybody.
At the end of the day, what is the goal of your platform? Whom do you hope to reach with your music?
Pack • Most people really think through what they want their Instagram to be. Then they launch their Instagram and then cultivate a following. For me, it kind of happened into a following, which I’m really grateful for. But it feels like I’ve been living my mundane mom life, and I turn it around and there’s 100 people in my living room. It’s like, “How do you want to proceed?” So my goal is to keep trying to build a bridge between all these people in my life.
My family’s very diverse. Me and my siblings and my parents, we’re all such different people politically and religiously. Even our humor is very different. I just come wanting to strengthen my family. And not trying to convince people to think like me but just to minister to people as they are. That’s my goal in life, and I guess that will be my goal on my Instagram as I press forward with whatever it is that is growing here.
Note to readers • Dylan Eubank is a Report for America corps member covering faith in Utah County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps to keep him writing stories. This story is available to Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.