A fulness of joy is found only among resurrected, exalted beings (D&C 93:33). Indeed, exaltation consists in gaining a fulness of joy; it is to enter into the “joy of the Lord” (D&C 51:19). In mortality men experience joy only in righteousness—that is, in obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel—the gospel being the “glad tidings of great joy.”
Joy is characteristic of the presence of the Holy Ghost, from whom it comes. It is experienced only when the Spirit is present, and that most acutely in the manifestation that our sins have been remitted, in the knowledge that our path is pleasing to and approved by God, and in our helping others find the way to light and salvation (see Mosiah 4:3; D&C 18:13).