More than 35 years ago, Elder John D. Amos, General Authority Seventy, was a “Navy Nuke” or a sailor in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power program.
A stereotype frequently associated with Navy Nukes was that they would often overthink the simple things or make things harder than they needed to be, Elder Amos explained during a BYU–Hawaii devotional on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
So the other sailors came up with a catchphrase: “Don’t ‘Nuke’ it.” Or, in other words, “Stop overthinking things in the way a Navy Nuke might. Don’t dissect everything down to its nuts and bolts,” Elder Amos related.
With that in mind, Elder Amos offered some “humble advice” regarding living the gospel of Jesus Christ: “Don’t ‘Nuke’ it. Keep it simple.”
“Like it says in Alma 37:6, ‘By small and simple things are great things brought to pass,’” he said.
Elder Amos was accompanied to the Laie, Hawaii, campus for Tuesday’s devotional by his wife, Sister Michelle Amos, who also spoke.
‘The simple Opelousas, Louisiana, description’
Elder Amos said that the small town in southern Louisiana where he grew up has a “culture of simplicity. We like short and relevant descriptions of things.”
Noting that BYU–Hawaii’s mission is to develop lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, Elder Amos said he appreciated the first sentence of the definition of a disciple in the “Guide to the Scriptures,” which offers what he called “the simple Opelousas, Louisiana, description.”
The “Guide to the Scriptures” states that a disciple is “a follower of Jesus Christ who lives according to Christ’s teaching.”
In Doctrine and Covenants 41:5, the Lord says, “He that receiveth my law and doeth it, the same is my disciple; and he that saith he receiveth it and doeth it not, the same is not my disciple, and shall be cast out from among you.”
Said Elder Amos, “So, I think it’s pretty clear that being a disciple requires us to be both a follower that knows His law and a doer that lives according to His law.”
Elder Amos noted that God’s work and glory is to help His children receive eternal life (see Moses 1:39), but that in order to receive eternal life, individuals must become disciples of Jesus Christ.
“To become disciples of Jesus Christ, we must go through the conversion process. That process is an ongoing process, which is why it’s important to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ,” Elder Amos said.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught: “Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. We should know the gospel is true and be true to the gospel” (“Converted unto the Lord,” October 2012 general conference).
Conversion is acquired line upon line, precept upon precept, patiently and persistently, Elder Amos said. “To continue the conversion process and be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, do those small and simple things like daily repentance, prayer, fasting, scripture study, partaking of the sacrament weekly and regular worship in the house of the Lord.”
He then emphasized, “Let’s simply keep His commandments and the covenants we made with Him.”
The power of the Book of Mormon
In her remarks, Sister Amos shared of her childhood on a farm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When she was 12 years old, Sister Amos was introduced to the Church by her aunt, and in 1979, she and her nine older siblings were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Her dad, however, was a Baptist deacon and struggled to accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God. “He was born a Baptist and said he’d die a Baptist,” Sister Amos related, while her mother said, “I’m going to wait for your dad.”
However, “Because my dad continued to pray and study the Book of Mormon, the power of God strengthened him to overcome his family traditions and other personal challenges that held him bound from accepting the restored gospel,” Sister Amos said.
He was baptized a member of the Church on May 31, 1979. He and his wife were sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple on June 7, 1983.
“I stand as a witness today of the truthfulness and power of the Book of Mormon,” Sister Amos said. “The words of God contained in this book helped change my dad from a Baptist deacon to a Melchizedek Priesthood holder. It changed my family and my life personally for good.”
