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This blog is a collection of articles written by Times of Faith creator, Heather Ruth Pack.

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Keep the Commandments: It's Not as Hard as You Might Think

November 06, 2024

When I was a little girl, we sang a song at church called Keep the Commandments. Keep the commandments; keep the commandments! In this there is safety; in this there is peace. He will send blessings; He will send blessings. Words of a prophet: Keep the commandments. In this there is safety and peace. ~LDS Children’s Songbook Except this is what I heard in my mind as I sang those words: Always be perfect; always be perfect! If you don't you'll be in danger; if you don't bad things will happen. Perfection brings blessings; Mistakes brings punishment. Listen to the prophet: Always be perfect. In this there is safety and peace. I guess it comes as no surprise I didn't like that song very much. And by "didn't like" I mean I hated it. So much so that I usually wouldn’t sing it but just mouthed the words. Fortunately, as I got older I came to realize that God didn’t expect me to be perfect while here on ea...

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Mary Magdalene: The First Evangelist

April 20, 2025

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Jesus Never Asked You to Obey the Commandments

February 23, 2025

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Jesus Wants to Be Your Valentine

February 03, 2025

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Jesus Wants You to Have a Happy New Year

December 27, 2024

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This Month's Popular Posts

Jesus Christ: The Perfect Exemplar

Christians believe in and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. We want to be just like him. But how? We can't all move to Israel, give no thought to food or shelter, and spend our days walking among others healing and blessing them. I think that in order for us to truly understand how we should be like Jesus Christ, we need to understand some key words including (a) exemplar, (b) follow, and (c) emulate. EXEMPLAR As the literal son of God, Jesus Christ has many names. One of those names is exemplar. An exemplar is defined as someone who serves as an excellent model to follow. Jesus explained why he is an exemplar when he said "I am the way, the truth, the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). As I study the life Jesus Christ, my testimony grows that he truly is an exemplar and someone to follow. FOLLOW Christ said, "Come, follow me." (Luke 18:22). The word follow can have several meanings. One...

Jesus Wants to Be Your Valentine

Jesus Wants to Be Your Valentine Next month we celebrate Valentine’s Day. When I was young, I would peer into my decorated shoe box at the end of the school day to see who in my class had given me a valentine. Back then, students weren’t required to give a Valentine to everyone. We counted our cards to see who had the most and thus was the most popular student. Our valentines rarely came with candy in the envelope, maybe a conversation heart if we were lucky. As a result, without candy to sort and unwrap, I would take the time to read each and every preprinted card with the student’s name hastily scrawled on the bottom. The name either brought elation or disappointment. “Really? David wants to be my valentine? Not with the way he treats me on the playground!” Over the decades, I have seen this holiday has become more elaborate. Restaurants now have fully booked reservations. Roses sell at a premium. And thanks to Parks and Recreation, a new holiday has emerged on February 13, G...

Mary Magdalene: The First Evangelist

T oday we celebrate Easter and the greatest event in the history of the world, the resurrection of Jesus Christ . One of the major characters in this story is Mary from Magdala, also called Mary Magdalene . I have a soft spot in my heart for Mary Magdalene . Her feast day is on my birthday . In 1988, Pope John Paul II deidentified her as a prostitute (undoing what Pope Gregory had done 591) and said that she is the apostle to the apostles. In 2016, Pope Francis elevated her rank from memorial to a liturgical feast and declared her to be a n “authentic evangelizer.” An evangelist is someone tasked to share the gospel. Evangelism i sn’t a word that we say very much in my religion. I t’s a ctually hard for me to think of Mary as an Evangelist because I imagine Evangelists to be quite different than her. But as someone who was told to share the good news that Jesus is risen, what else would she be? Gospe...

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