Mitt Romney spoke at the BYU Forum on November 18, sharing the behind-the-scenes lessons he learned while running for President.

He said, “At the beginning of a campaign you experience a great deal of what I’ll call unwelcome anonymity.  Nobody knows who you are…

“The anonymity is soon lost and in some remarkable ways.  During my last campaign I was taken aside by one of our national security agencies and I was informed that all my emails were being monitored and closely read by a foreign government.  In fact the same was true for all the people who had emailed me, my staff, my friends, my family. All of their emails were also being monitored by the government of that nation. And believe it or not the words of a hymn came to my mind, ‘Angels above us are silent notes taking, of every action, then do what is right.’

“The government involved was no angel, but our words and deeds may well be recorded in heaven and so I presume are the pages we open on the Internet and the sites we browse.  Our anonymous surfing may not be recorded on earth but it surely leaves an imprint in the book of life. Remember every day you’re writing your autobiography.”

Related article: “Future Missionaries: Consider Your Online Reputation.”