Elder John D. Amos, General Authority Seventy, spoke during the Sunday afternoon session of October 2025 general conference about happiness through gospel living. The following is a summary of what he said.
Elder Amos’ talk summary
The late President Russell M. Nelson once told a group of Primary children that the secret to his long life was reading the scriptures.
“Well, there we have it. The simple secret for happy living is to just follow God’s recipe as detailed in the scriptures. I call it the ‘Good News Recipe.’”
Everyone has moments when they feel their ingredients aren’t good enough, when they struggle to follow directions, when they do something out of order or when something is out of their control.
“What do you do if something goes wrong when following the recipe? Well, embedded in the Good News Recipe is the ‘secret ingredient’ to ensure you always get it right in the end. The answer is always Jesus Christ.”
When someone needs to invite Jesus Christ into their life, they can follow the steps that President Nelson taught about receiving personal revelation: find a quiet place they can regularly go to, humble themselves before God, pour out their hearts in prayer and turn to Heavenly Father for answers and comfort.
“I testify that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and He has accomplished everything we need to be able to return to Heavenly Father.”
Read the full text of Elder Amos’ talk: 'The Good News Recipe'
Notable quotes
“The simple secret for happy living is to just follow God’s recipe as detailed in the scriptures. I call it the ‘Good News Recipe.’”
“What do you do if something goes wrong when following the recipe? Well, embedded in the Good News Recipe is the ‘secret ingredient’ to ensure you always get it right in the end. The answer is always Jesus Christ.”
“I think we all have moments when we feel our ingredients are not good enough, or we struggle to follow the directions, or perhaps we do something out of order, or something happens that is out of our control, and so on. What’s the remedy? It’s simply to add more of what invites Jesus Christ into your life.”
Who is Elder Amos?
- Elder John D. Amos was sustained as a General Authority Seventy during April 2025 general conference.
- He was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and was introduced to the Church in college by his future wife, Michelle Evette Wright.
- Elder and Sister Amos were married June 9, 1990, in the Atlanta Georgia Temple. They have three children.
- Elder and Sister Amos previously served as mission leaders of the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission.
What has Elder Amos done recently?
- In April, Elder Amos and the 15 other newly-called General Authority Seventies were featured on the Church News podcast.
- In October 2024, while serving as an Area Seventy in the Church’s North America Southeast Area, Elder Amos praised the Church’s relief efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
