Using Technology Wisely: Device Accountability

Develop and strengthen your technology habits by creating opportunities to increase your accountability to yourself, your companion, your mission leaders, and the Lord. These habits will bless your technology use during your missionary service and throughout your life.

Accountability, or being “responsible for [our] own motives, attitudes, desires, and actions” (Guide to the Scriptures, “Accountability,” Gospel Library), is an important step to using technology wisely and developing lifelong righteous technology habits. Without accountability, it is easy to fall into time-wasting or harmful technology habits without much thought. Building positive habits takes effort and self-awareness.

You can increase your self-awareness and safety through several means: time management features (like Digital Well-Being), device filters, using technology in the presence of others, and device accountability reviews with companions or others. (See Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ, 7.5.2.)

Seek guidance from missionary leaders and your companion on how to continually improve your effectiveness and righteousness while using technology. Review often the section “Follow the Safeguards for Using Technology” in chapter 2 of Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2023, 20–22) and the Safeguards for Using Technology Edify lessons. Ensure that you have an up-to-date action plan. (See the section “Create and Follow an Action Plan” in Missionary Resource Guide: Addressing Pornography; see also the Edify Safeguards lessons.)

How can I be more accountable to myself and to the Lord?

Sister Linda S. Reeves taught that “filters are useful tools, but the greatest filter in the world, the only one that will ultimately work, is the personal filter that comes from a deep and abiding testimony of our Heavenly Father’s love and our Savior’s atoning sacrifice for each one of us” (“Protection from Pornography—a Christ-Focused Home,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2014, 16).

Help strengthen your personal filter in the following ways:

Consider what you can do now to strengthen your personal filter.
Leverage built-in Digital Well-Being features on your phone to manage how much time you spend in various apps and adjust settings as needed.
Compare how much time you spend in various apps with how these apps help you find joy and accomplish your missionary purpose.
Reflect in your prayers on your use of technology. Note any ways you feel inspired to change.

How can I be more accountable to my companions and mission leaders?

To help each other use technology safely and effectively:

Review social media posts or text messages as a companionship before you send or post.
Ensure that your companion is within sight of your smartphone unless you are having a private conversation with family or your mission leader.
Encourage each other to live the four safeguards described in Preach My Gospel (20–21).
Review each other’s devices and discuss questions or concerns.

These practices can create a culture of openness since “nearly all challenges associated with the internet or with pornography happen in isolation” (Preach My Gospel, 21).

When do I perform a device accountability review?

Companionships should regularly review each other’s devices. These reviews could be included in your weekly planning.

Preach My Gospel invites you to “help your mission develop a culture of unity, trust, accountability, and compassion so you can all strengthen and support one another” (21).

What should I review on another missionary’s device?

As you review another missionary’s device, respect each other’s personal information by not looking at private emails, journals, and notes. Consider the following as you perform the review:

What evidence do I see of positive and effective technology use?
Is this device an approved smartphone that is enrolled properly in Church protections? If the smartphone is enrolled properly, it will say “This device is managed (or owned) by your organization” on the lock screen.
Review and discuss their recent Digital Well-Being statistics. Discuss what is going well and what challenges they may be facing. Ask how you or your mission leaders can best help and offer support.

If we share a device, how can my companion and I do a device review?

If you serve in a mission where you and your companion share a smartphone, you can review the same things listed above together or ask another companionship to review your phone.

What if I find something concerning on another missionary’s device or social media?

Be sensitive and considerate when you review another missionary’s device. If you see something concerning, you might ask the missionary a few basic questions in a nonthreatening, nonjudgmental way. Give them the opportunity to be accountable and take responsibility by asking their mission president for help. Express love and support. If you still feel concerned after talking with the missionary or they are unwilling to discuss the issue with your mission president, ask your mission president for help.

Do not share private matters with other missionaries (see the section “Be One” in Preach My Gospel, 21). If what you find on a companion’s device is having a negative or distracting impact on you, it is important to be transparent and seek help from others. Please reach out to your mission president for support.