“The Nephites Live after the Manner of Happiness”
Easy ≠ Happy
Between leaving his home, journeying across the sea, and dealing with his murderous brothers, Nephi did not have an easy life. And yet, in 2 Nephi 5:27, this is how he described himself and his people: “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.”
Nephi’s careful wording indicates that happiness is not just a feeling that sometimes occurs—it is connected to the way we live, and it is something we can work toward. In both good times and bad, we can choose to live as God lives and be blessed with His happiness. But what does it mean to “live after the manner of happiness”? Here are three suggestions:
- Keep the commandments.
- Change our focus.
- Work toward worthy goals.
Keep the Commandments
In our happiness quest, we should avoid looking in the wrong places. Wilford Woodruff taught the Saints to
“seek for happiness by doing the works of righteousness and not seek for happiness by doing evil, for that was contrary to the principle of salvation as taught by the Lord our God.”[1]
Alma also taught that happiness is part of God’s nature and way of living, and “wickedness never was happiness” .1 Trying to find happiness in sin is a doomed endeavor.
Because there is time between choices and consequences, we may see people who seem to find happiness in sinful living. Many sins are tempting because they do bring some pleasure in the moment. But the negative effects of those sins may not come very quickly. Satan tries to take advantage of this. So he pushes us to seek instant gratification and follow our natural-man desires down the path of least resistance. But this sort of surface-level pleasure is not true joy and cannot last. President Russell M. Nelson taught,
“The unrighteous may experience any number of emotions and sensations, but they will never experience joy! Joy is a gift for the faithful.”[2]
God’s commandments lead us to joy. Additionally, they protect us from the negative consequences of sin by establishing safe boundaries. As one of many examples, take the Word of Wisdom. Undeniably, it helps us avoid addictive substances that mimic happiness but disrupt our ability to feel the real thing. 2 Committing to follow the commandments of God can save us a great deal of pain. Obviously, our efforts won’t be perfect. The gift of repentance plays a large part in our search for happiness. Over time, we learn that the best way to be happy is to follow God’s pattern.
Change Our Focus
Living after the manner of happiness can make us happy right now. However, that doesn’t mean we will always be happy in the moment. In a 2014 BYU–Idaho devotional, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland expressed,
“I do not think God in His glory [intends] to make us happy all the time, every day in every way, given the testing and trial this earthly realm is intended to provide.”[3]
Regardless of our personal righteousness, mortality will keep bringing challenges that stretch our faith.
External circumstances can affect us, but ultimately they cannot determine our happiness. Look in the scriptures and modern society. It’s clear that even the wealthiest, healthiest, “luckiest” people can be just as miserable and dissatisfied as anyone else. President Nelson taught,
“My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”[4]
Rather than focusing on what we lack or what we wish was different, we can choose to focus on the good things we already have and the promises God has already made. Our problems are real. But we can change how we experience them by focusing on the solution.
Jesus Christ is the Answer
Jesus Christ is the solution! Focusing on Him increases our access to His grace, His peace, and His joy. Speaking of our sacrament experience, Elder Patrick Kearon recommended that instead of “thinking only about all the ways we messed up during the week before,” we can
- give thanks,
- reflect on the joy of repentance,
- and “ponder the many ways we have seen the Lord relentlessly pursue us with His wonderful love that week.”[5]
We can make peace with how bad our circumstances may be by focusing on how good God is. We can find comfort in trusting that He loves us and will never abandon us. Instead of focusing on our past or our present, we can look to the future, finding hope in the chance to try again.
Wilford Woodruff was away from home when one of his children passed away in 1840. He sent a long letter to his wife Phebe, expressing his grief and his love for her, and how he was coping. He wrote,
“I rejoice that God hath taught us the principles of life and death, time and eternity, the resurrection and the judgment. I rejoice that we are not called to mourn without hope.”[6]
While dealing with painful loss, he was able to rejoice because he held firmly to his testimony. He focused on the plan of salvation, including his hope in Jesus Christ. Likewise, the promised blessings of the resurrection and an eternal family, knowing the struggle would be worth it.
Work toward Worthy Goals
Joseph Smith wrote: “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (Articles of Faith 1:13). In another instance he said, “Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it.”[7] We can expect a good harvest if we put in the work during the growing season, pursuing the path that leads to joy.
The path to joy for this life and the next is the covenant path. After making a difficult trek through a snowstorm, Wilford Woodruff saw the Kirtland temple in the distance and wrote, “I truly felt to rejoice at the sight, as it was the first time that mine eyes ever beheld the house of the Lord built by commandment and revelation.”[8] Wilford Woodruff also wrote of taking “great delight”[9] in reading the Book of Mormon, learning of ancient prophets, and seeing their words fulfilled. We can have the same experience, reinvigorating our temple worship and scripture study as though discovering the joys of the gospel for the first time.
The Lord Loves Effort
The Nephites living “after the manner of happiness” were described as “industrious,” “labor[ing] with their hands” and preparing for the future (2 Nephi 5:17). The early Saints in Kirtland were once called poor and despised, but two and a half years later, Wilford Woodruff described seeing “cheerfulness beaming upon every countenance that indicated prosperity, and the noise of the ax and the hammer.”[10] He saw that working hard and working together was transformative in Kirtland—not only improving their practical circumstances, but bringing them closer to God and to each other.
We too should be “anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness” (D&C 58:27). There are praiseworthy and virtuous goals to seek in all areas of life, including education, careers, relationships, and talents, and there is satisfaction in making progress. As we prioritize our covenants and seek after good things, we have the power to make a positive difference in our lives and in the world.
Live the Way Happy People Live
To conclude his 2014 address, Elder Holland said, “In short, your best chance for being happy is to do the things that happy people do. Live the way happy people live. Walk the path that happy people walk. . . . We have choice, we have volition, we have agency, and we can choose, if not happiness per se, then we can choose to live after the manner of it.”[11] Feelings of happiness may come and go, but as we strive to obey, focus on Christ, and work toward worthy goals, we can trust that the fruits of righteousness will come in time.
As Joseph Smith wrote from Liberty Jail, “Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (Doctrine and Covenants 123:17).
About the Author
Cammie Garner studied biodiversity and conservation at Brigham Young University and completed a master’s degree in biology education from Grand Canyon University. After working as a tutor and STEM camp counselor, she became a full-time service missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a missionary she serves in the temple, FamilySearch center, humanitarian center, and local art lab, and also produces content for missionary social media projects. Cammie enjoys writing, painting, music, and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation
The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation’s mission is to digitally preserve and publish Wilford Woodruff’s eyewitness account of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and make his records universally accessible in order to inspire all people, especially the rising generation, to study and to increase their faith in Jesus Christ. For more information, please explore wilfordwoodruffpapers.org.
- Endnotes
- Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, January 18, 1857, p. 196, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/journal/1857-01-18. ↑
- Russell M. Nelson, “Joy and Spiritual Survival,” October 2016 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Jeffrey R. Holland, “Living after the Manner of Happiness” [Brigham Young University–Idaho devotional, September 24, 2014], byui.edu. ↑
- Russell M. Nelson, “Joy and Spiritual Survival,” October 2016 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Patrick Kearon, “Welcome to the Church of Joy,” October 2024 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Letter from Wilford Woodruff to Phebe Whittemore Carter Woodruff, October 31, 1840, p. 1, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/letter/1840-10-31. ↑
- History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] [addenda], p. 3 [addenda], The Joseph Smith Papers, josephsmithpapers.com. ↑
- Wilford Woodruff’s autobiography, volume 1, p. 84, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/autobiography/volume-1. ↑
- Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, June 13, 1847, p. 67, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/journal/1847-06-13. ↑
- Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, November 25, 1836, p. 113, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/journal/1836-11-25. ↑
- Jeffrey R. Holland, “Living after the Manner of Happiness” [Brigham Young University–Idaho devotional, September 24, 2014], byui.edu. ↑
