What is the Happiness Letter, and which leaders quoted it?

The short answer

The Happiness Letter is an 1842 text attributed to Joseph Smith and linked to an alleged plural marriage proposal to Nancy Rigdon. The earliest known text comes from a newspaper that received it from John C. Bennett. The Joseph Smith Papers prints it in an appendix because the attribution is uncertain. What survives from 1842

The Church’s manuscript history places the text under August 27, 1842, but scribes compiled that volume after Joseph’s death. The Deseret News printed it in 1855. Follow the publication trail

What does the Church advise now?

Section 13.29 of the Church’s style guide tells writers to omit the listed opening quotation because historians cannot verify its authenticity. Current editorial guidance

Who quoted wording that appears in the letter?

• Dallin H. Oaks, Thomas S. Monson, Jeffrey R. Holland, Russell M. Nelson, Quentin L. Cook, and others quoted “Happiness is the object and design of our existence.” Some continued into the list of virtues. Compare the opening quotations
• Delbert L. Stapley and M. Russell Ballard quoted “We cannot keep all the commandments without first knowing them.” Read the commandments passage
• Ezra Taft Benson and D. Todd Christofferson quoted “Whatever God requires is right.” Compare the longer versions
• The Old Testament institute manual quotes the passage about how the same act can be right or wrong under different circumstances. Read the manual’s use of the passage
• The 2009 Book of Mormon Student Manual quotes the paragraph on Solomon and special revelation while discussing Nephi and Laban. Read the Solomon passage in context
• Holland and Kim B. Clark quoted wording about how God is “boundless in his mercies and blessings.” Compare the mercy quotations
• Joseph B. Wirthlin and M. Russell Ballard quoted “in obedience there is joy and peace.” Robert D. Hales and Christofferson quoted wording from the same passage about God designing our happiness. Read the quotations

What to say

“Yes, Church leaders used words that appear in the letter. Their talks document later use. The 1842 evidence is where we have to look to judge who wrote it and what happened with Nancy Rigdon.”

What survives from 1842

The letter takes its nickname from its opening sentence, “Happiness is the object and design of our existence.” John C. Bennett sent a text he attributed to Joseph Smith to the Sangamo Journal, which published it on August 19, 1842. Bennett said Joseph had written it after approaching Nancy Rigdon about plural marriage. The text discusses revelation and appeals to Solomon. It contains no explicit proposal and does not name plural marriage.

The Joseph Smith Papers prints the letter in an appendix because its editors regard Joseph’s authorship as uncertain. No original or early manuscript copy has been found. Bennett’s newspaper printing is the earliest known text. He supplied the names of the author and recipient in his introduction. The text itself is unaddressed. Joseph Smith Papers introduction and transcription

What did Sidney and Nancy Rigdon say?

In September 1842, the Wasp printed Sidney Rigdon’s account. Sidney reported that Joseph privately denied authorship. He also reported that Nancy said the letter was written by someone else and was in that person’s handwriting. We have Nancy’s statement as Sidney reported it. Handwriting can identify who put words on paper. Determining who composed those words requires more evidence, especially if someone dictated them. Joseph Smith Papers, historical introduction and notes

What evidence connects the text to a proposal?

Joseph’s May 12–13 journal entries record a letter to Sidney and a private interview about rumors involving Sidney’s family. They leave the content of their discussion unspecified. Bennett connected the text to a proposal in his newspaper account. Nancy’s brother supported the proposal account in a 1905 affidavit, while Orson Hyde disputed it in 1845. If Joseph proposed, Nancy declined. The reports about a proposal and the attribution of the surviving text require separate judgments. May 1842 journal entries · Joseph Smith Papers, historical introduction

In a letter dated July 27, 1842, Nancy’s brother-in-law George W. Robinson claimed he was present when she confronted Joseph before her family. He said Joseph first denied the account, then acknowledged it after Nancy told her story and a letter was produced. Robinson places himself at the family confrontation. He does not say he witnessed the private proposal, and his account does not reproduce the letter he described. John C. Bennett, a close associate of Robinson’s, published the surviving extract. It gives us an additional contemporary account, with a shared publication channel and no surviving manuscript to match against the printed Happiness Letter. Robinson’s letter, printed pp. 245–47 · Joseph Smith Papers, July 27 date and context · Robinson’s connection to Bennett

How did the letter enter Church history?

The date August 27, 1842 in the manuscript history identifies where the compilers placed the text. The Joseph Smith Papers dates the creation of that volume to two periods between 1845 and 1855, after Joseph’s death, and identifies Leo Hawkins’s handwriting on the addendum page. The entry’s date alone cannot tell us who composed the letter or when it was written. Manuscript history D-1, addenda

1. 1842. Bennett supplied the text to the Sangamo Journal and printed it again in his own History of the Saints. Both versions carry his attribution to Joseph Smith. Newspaper text · Bennett’s book
2. By 1855. The Church’s manuscript history included the text in an addendum. The Deseret News printed it on December 12, 1855, as part of its serialized history. The surviving records leave open which copy the compilers used. Manuscript addendum · Deseret News installment · Gerrit Dirkmaat’s provenance study
3. Later quotations. The printed History of the Church, volume 5, includes the passage. Christofferson cited page 135 in 2009. Monson cited Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1988. Their references show where they directed readers. Neither citation supplies an independent account from 1842. History of the Church, volume 5 · Christofferson, note 1 · Monson

Which lines were quoted later?

Modern Church leaders quoted wording from several parts of the surviving text. Their talks generally credit Joseph Smith through later compilations. 1842 transcription

Compare excerpts from individual talks

The opening about happiness

• Dallin H. Oaks (1991) quoted “happiness is the object and design of our existence.” He cited Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 255. In 2020, he again attributed the opening idea to Joseph at a devotional for members in Japan. Joy and Mercy · Japan Newsroom’s devotional report
• Jeffrey R. Holland (2014) and Samuel Annan-Simons (2024) continued through “and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it.” Holland gave the address at BYU–Idaho and the Ensign published an adaptation in 2017. Annan-Simons wrote for his region’s Liahona as an Area Seventy. Holland’s address · Annan-Simons’s article
• Thomas S. Monson (1988, 1993, and 2002), Joseph B. Wirthlin (1992), L. Tom Perry (1993), and James E. Faust (2000) continued through “and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.” Monson’s October 1993 First Presidency message used the list to organize the entire article. Monson, 1988 · Monson, 1993 · Monson, 2002 · Wirthlin · Perry · Faust
• Quentin L. Cook (2019) quoted the same opening through the list of virtues at a Jewish–Latter-day Saint dialogue in Jerusalem. He introduced it as “something attributed to our founding prophet, Joseph Smith.” His footnote links to the later manuscript history. Ulisses Soares (2018) used the shorter phrase “the object and design of our existence” and cited History of the Church, 5:134. Cook’s Jerusalem address, note 21 · Soares, Paths to True Happiness
• Russell M. Nelson (2003) quoted the opening through “keeping all the commandments of God” in an article about divine love. Compare Nelson’s quote · Divine Love, note 34

Learning and keeping commandments

Delbert L. Stapley (1977) quoted “We cannot keep all the commandments without first knowing them” and the rest of that sentence, which says to keep the commandments already received before expecting more. He cited Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 256. M. Russell Ballard (1995) quoted the same sentence. The Blessings of Righteous Obedience · Answers to Life’s Questions

Whatever God requires is right

• Ezra Taft Benson (1980) quoted “Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof until long after the events transpire.” His talk cites Scrapbook of Mormon Literature. The 1842 print reads “till” where the talk reads “until.” Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet
• N. Eldon Tanner (1973) quoted a variant that ends “until all of the events transpire.” Benson (1988) and D. Todd Christofferson (1999 address, published 2005) used the short line “Whatever God requires is right.” Benson applied it to Nephi killing Laban and Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac. Tanner · Benson, 1988 · Christofferson

Christofferson also used a different passage in a 2009 general conference footnote. Read his later quotation

What did Holland say about Nephi and Laban?

In a 1976 Ensign article, Jeffrey R. Holland cites Doctrine and Covenants 64:12–13 as a parallel to Nephi receiving a judgment by revelation. He then quotes the letter’s examples of different divine commands about killing and its line about what God requires. He treats Nephi’s obedience to revelation as the point of the story. Compare Holland’s quote · Ensign, points 5–7

A 2021 critique asks whether that reasoning would allow a bishop to harm someone if he believed he had received a revelation. The analogy makes it fair to ask how someone would recognize a genuine divine command. To evaluate the claim about a bishop’s authority, read the full verse. Section 64:12 says to bring an unrepentant person “before the church.” Section 134:10 limits religious discipline to fellowship and good standing and expressly rules out physical punishment or endangering life. Holland argues that Nephi received a divine command in that account. A bishop’s impression would still have to be judged against the limits scripture places on Church authority. 2021 critique · Doctrine and Covenants 64:12–13 · Doctrine and Covenants 134:10

That which is wrong under one circumstance

The Church’s 1980 Old Testament institute manual quotes “That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another.” It continues through the letter’s examples of different commands about killing and its assertion that whatever God requires is right. The lesson applies the passage to Abraham calling Sarah his sister in Egypt and cites Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 256. Genesis 12–17, section 5-5

The Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Teacher Resource Manual quotes the same passage in its section 132 lesson on when God authorizes plural marriage. It cites History of the Church, 5:135. Teacher resource manual, D&C 132, p. 225

Revelation adapted to the circumstances

The 2018 edition of Preach My Gospel quotes the line about heaven being governed “by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are placed.” Chapter 4 applies it to personal revelation for missionaries and cites manuscript history D-1. The revised 2023 chapter teaches about personal revelation without that quotation. 2018 edition, chapter 4 · 2023 edition, chapter 4

The Solomon passage

The 2009 Book of Mormon Student Manual quotes the paragraph beginning “So with Solomon,” including “even things which might be considered abominable” and the claim that God sanctioned them “by special revelation.” It cites History of the Church, 5:135, while discussing why Nephi was commanded to kill Laban. That use documents how the manual applied the passage. The 2026 style guide singles out the opening quotation about happiness. Book of Mormon Student Manual, commentary on 1 Nephi 4:10 · Church Style Guide, §13.29

The letter draws on Solomon’s request for wisdom. In 1 Kings 3, God gives him wisdom, riches, and honor. The letter extends the example to unnamed acts supposedly sanctioned by revelation. The Joseph Smith Papers notes the possible connection to Solomon’s marriages. Jacob condemns David and Solomon’s many wives and concubines, while Doctrine and Covenants 132:38 distinguishes what God gave from what they received without His sanction. The inference that the letter was defending a proposal to Nancy still depends on evidence about that particular encounter. 1 Kings 3:5–14 · Joseph Smith Papers, transcript notes 4–5 · Jacob 2:23–30 · Doctrine and Covenants 132:38–39

The passage about God’s mercy

• Jeffrey R. Holland (2003) quoted “Our heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive.” After the ellipsis, he continued with a passage about compassion from Joseph Smith’s June 9, 1842 Relief Society discourse. His footnote lists Teachings, pages 257 and 240–41. The Grandeur of God · Relief Society discourse
• Kim B. Clark (2017) used a shorter form: “Our heavenly Father is more … boundless in his mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive.” His footnote cites manuscript history D-1, addenda, page 4. Thou Art Joseph, note 24

Obedience, joy, and peace

• Delbert L. Stapley (1977) quoted “In obedience there is joy and peace unspotted, unalloyed” and continued with the passage about God giving commandments to promote happiness. Here he cited History of the Church, 5:135. The Blessings of Righteous Obedience
• Joseph B. Wirthlin (1989) quoted the opening through the list of virtues, then skipped to “In obedience there is joy and peace” and the letter’s wording about God giving commandments to promote happiness. He cited History of the Church, 5:134–35. Running Your Marathon
• M. Russell Ballard (1995) quoted “in obedience there is joy and peace unspotted, unalloyed” and continued with the letter’s explanation that God gives commandments to promote happiness. He cited Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Answers to Life’s Questions
• Robert D. Hales (1996) quoted “God has designed our happiness” and continued with the wording about God giving commandments to “promote that happiness which He has designed.” The 2024 Book of Mormon seminary manual reproduces this excerpt from Hales’s talk. April 1996 general conference · 2024 seminary manual, 2 Nephi 2:26–30
• D. Todd Christofferson (2009) quoted the passage beginning “As God has designed our happiness” in the first footnote of his general conference talk. He used the line about God giving ordinances and commandments to promote that happiness and cited History of the Church, 5:135. His 1999 devotional used the separate line about what God requires. The Power of Covenants, note 1

A BYU quotation in July 2026

BYU management professor Jeffrey S. Bednar quoted the opening through “the path that leads to it” in a July 21, 2026 campus devotional. He attributed the wording to Joseph Smith while discussing what it means to endure to the end. The address came three weeks before the Church published the style guide below. BYU devotional, The End of the Doctrine of Christ

Current editorial guidance

In the style guide published August 12, 2026, the Church tells its editors and writers to omit any part of the opening happiness quotation because historians cannot verify its authenticity. Section 13.29 identifies the opening through the list ending with keeping God’s commandments. The guidance addresses use of that passage. The question of who wrote the letter still rests on the historical evidence. Church Style Guide, §13.29

What follows from the evidence?

The talks show that Church leaders used the text as Joseph Smith’s. Establishing authorship still depends on the historical evidence for the original attribution. Likewise, the claim that the letter accompanied a proposal depends on accounts of the encounter and how they fit the text, since the document itself does not state the purpose.

If the proposal account is accurate, the appeal to divine authority raises a fair question about pressure. A sincere response should address that concern. Latter-day Saints already have a scriptural standard for it. Doctrine and Covenants 121:41–42 ties legitimate influence to persuasion, gentleness, and sincere love. The claim that God commands something still leaves open the question of how anyone knows He gave that command and whether a person used their authority properly.