guidance Archives - Daryl Watson

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One Step at a Time

January 4, 2026

On a New Years Day trip to Glasgow, we enjoyed taking our grandson out for a while.

It was a chilly one, but we all got dressed as warmly as we could.

We headed towards the park and had some fun there.

At one point, he walked towards the steps and Monic said “just let him go, he loves steps.”

And off he went.

He has only been walking a few weeks, so I watched with interest how he’d master 4 flights of stairs.

Stepping Up

Step by step, he’d pull himself up, one by one.

He was frequently distracted by small pebbles, and he’d stop and try and pick one up, but with his winter gloves on that proved tricky for him.

I was behind him the whole time, to support and steady him on his big adventure, ready to step in if needed.

And every now and again, he looked around just to make sure that I was there.

Making it to the top seemed to me that it was a long way for him to go.

It proved to be a little too much and I helped him complete his journey in his time of need.

Help on Hand

Reflecting this morning, I am so grateful for all who have been there for me in my time of need.

Sometimes as we set out on life’s big adventure, unexpected challenges, difficulties and distractions can arise that can test us in many ways, temporally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Adversity is often the refining fire that can strengthen us in so many ways, including our faith.

Rarely by removing the challenge, but by reminding us that we are not alone in it.

Looking back, I can see how often help has come at just the right moment for me.

Through family. Through friends. Through quiet acts of kindness and timely reassurance.

And, at times, through the unseen watchful care of a loving Heavenly Father.

“I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders… that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.” – Mosiah 24:14

As a new year begins, I’m grateful not just for the journeys we are invited to take, but for the help we are given along the way.

I am thankful too for the gentle reminder that when the climb becomes too much, there is always Someone close by, ready to steady us and help us home.

Who has helped steady you along the way?

Just before setting off on my walk along Scotland’s West Highland Way this May with my missionary friends, my brother Paul and his wife Gwen gave me a beautiful gift to mark my 60th birthday: a 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔, inscribed and deeply personal.

Oftentimes, I’ve carried it with me, not always for navigation, but for what it reminds me of: direction, intention, and trust in something steady.

One of my favourite activities as a facilitator involves asking groups, sometimes 10, 20, or even 100+ people, to stand, close their eyes, and point in the direction of north.

The results are always the same: arms point in every direction.

Some are confident, many are uncertain, and only a few ever get it right.

Then I pull out a compass and show them how quickly truth is revealed when you use the right tool.

I always gift them each a small compass to keep, a simple reminder that knowing where you’re going, starts with knowing what you’re using to guide you.

What tool do you use?

In a similar manner, I love the words of Marvin J. Ashton:

“…just as a compass is valuable to guide us out of the dense forest, so the gospel points the way as we walk the paths of life.”

There’s something insightful in that comparison.

I know that life can be full of dense forests: uncertainty, doubt, temptation, fear, distraction.

I also know that the gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t eliminate these things, yet it’s my experience that it helps us move through them without getting lost.

President James E. Faust once said: “The gift of the Holy Ghost is available as a sure guide, as the voice of conscience, and as a moral compass. This guiding compass is personal to each of us. It is unerring. It is unfailing.”

Not perfect circumstances. Not perfect knowledge. But a perfect guide.

I’ve learned that you don’t have to see the whole map if you trust your compass.

Whether you’re navigating the Highlands of Scotland or the hard questions of life, it’s the same principle.

The Spirit points true. The gospel holds steady. And I’ve kept walking.

60 years with the gospel as my guide. I still face storms, but I never face them alone.

As 2 Nephi 32:5 reminds us:

“For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

What are you using today to find your way, and is it pointing you to True North?

If you’d like to know more, speak to a member or a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Not Hidden, Just Unseen

June 8, 2025

Our walk along the West Highland Way was simply magnificent.

Reuniting as former missionaries of the Belgium Netherlands Mission, our walk had everything – beautiful scenery, amazing views, sun, rain, silly moments aplenty, great people, sheep galore, even a feral goat!

There was just one thing missing on our trip, spotting a Highland coo!

Tourist shops were bursting with Highland coos on every item imaginable, except the trail, where they were nowhere to be found.

Constantly, we kept our eyes peeled, scanning distant fields and searching for the elusive coo’s.

I recall debating whether a dark blob in the far-off field might be one.

But alas, nothing. No hairy beast. No curved horns. No majestic bovine presence.

It became a bit of a running joke: “Still no coos!”

Kilmahog!

Then, on the drive home, something nudged my memory: Kilmahog.

I’d been there some years before.

And sure enough, as we pulled into the car park, crowds of tourists were gathering.

Highland coo’s.

Large, calm, shaggy and very real.

And I thought: Isn’t that just like life?

In a similar manner, so many of us may be searching for something meaningful, truth, purpose, peace and direction in life.

Many scan the horizon, hoping to spot something that feels right, but never quite seem to find it.

But when someone knows where to look and gently points the way, in a fleeting moment, everything can change.

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is like that.

It’s not hidden. It’s not exclusive. It’s available to all, but often people don’t know where to find it.

In Jeremiah 29:13 we read “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

Sometimes it just takes someone who knows the way, or remembers where the coos are, to point the rest of us in the right direction.

And that’s exactly what we as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do every day, point people in the right direction.

Who could you lovingly point in the right direction this week?