Here the 1953 RLDS edition twice changed the singular was to were, probably because in each case the delayed subject conjoins peace and joy. The editors for that edition apparently felt that these two instances of “peace and great joy” should be considered plurals. As explained under 1 Nephi 4:4, the original text allows for singular was to occur with a subject of plural conjuncts, as in Alma 4:9: “yea there was envyings and strifes and malice and persecutions and pride”. And, one could also argue, the conjuncts in a subject noun phrase can be viewed as a singular unit when there is a semantic connection between the conjuncts, as in the following examples involving peace and joy:
Summary: Maintain in Helaman 3:32 the use of the singular was for the two subjects that conjoin peace and joy; even if these two nouns form a semantic plural, the original text allows for cases of subject-verb disagreement.