President Kimball, in an address in 1972, said, "I believe that the Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse," and spoke of devices that would enable church members to connect with each other immediately. "That sounds like cell phones and portable computers," Schwendiman said.

Cell phones have become the fastest growing product to ever hit the world economy, he said, noting China has more cell phones than the entire population of the United States. In five years, "everything including laptops and desk top computers will be replaced by a handheld device. The processing power of your phone will equal the processing power of your laptop."

Additional portability for Internet connection and e-mail provides great benefits but also poses great challenges. Latter-day Saints "don't have monopoly on righteousness or revelation. We have to choose whether technology will be to our benefit or to our destruction. Technology is a tool, not a toy."

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