Opening question
Think of a hard stretch of your life that you got through. Looking back now, what help were you given at the time that you did not notice until later? You don't need to share details, but what did that help look like?
Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
The Ninety and TenRelief Society & Elders Quorum lesson
Elder Michael A. Dunn · Of the Seventy · Saturday Afternoon Session
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A 25-minute class
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Jesus Christ carries our burdens, often without our noticing, and He usually helps us by strengthening us to finish our own course rather than by making the course shorter.
Skip the President Uchtdorf quotation and the closing list of ways God helps (parting seas, sending a Ted); keep the class on the photograph and what it showed.
0–2Open2–5Hook5–20Discuss20–23Apply23–25Testify
Before Sunday
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Sunday: Elder Dunn's "The Ninety and Ten"
This Sunday we will discuss Elder Michael A. Dunn's October 2026 conference talk about a 100-mile race and the friend who carried his pack for the last 10 miles without saying anything. Please read or listen to it on the Gospel Library app if you can. Ponder this: when has the Lord carried part of your load at a time when you only saw it later?
Pick one opening
Opening question
Think of a hard stretch of your life that you got through. Looking back now, what help were you given at the time that you did not notice until later? You don't need to share details, but what did that help look like?
Story hook
Elder Dunn ran a 100-mile race. At mile 90 he sat under a tree and told his friend Ted, "I give up." Ted knelt down and said, "I know you can do this, Mike, and I'm going to get you there." They finished the last 10 miles together. A week later a photo came in the mail, and Elder Dunn saw something he had missed during the race. Let's read what it showed.
Teach this first
The Savior carries our heaviest burden, often without our seeing it
The photo showed that Ted had strapped Elder Dunn's water bottles and pack to his own waist and carried them the last 10 miles without saying anything. Elder Dunn connects this to Isaiah's words that Christ "hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows" (Isaiah 53:4). He teaches that the Savior lifts us, sometimes in ways we can't see, and that He usually helps us by giving us strength to keep going rather than by making the road shorter.
Elder Dunn taught that "the Redeemer rescues not by shortening our course but by helping us lengthen our stride."
Ask the class
- 1.Elder Dunn thought the Savior carrying our sorrows meant the road would get easier. What is the difference between the Lord making the road easier and the Lord strengthening you to walk it?
- 2.Ted carried the pack without saying anything. Why might the Lord sometimes help us in ways we don't see until later?
If time remains
The Lord often sends help through other people
Elder Dunn teaches that even when we don't feel the Savior beside us, He sends "Teds," people on earth and sometimes beyond, to lift us. Ted could help because he knew the trail and believed in Elder Dunn, and the talk teaches that Christ knows every part of our path and knows what we can do.
Ask the class
- 1.Who has been a "Ted" for you, and what did they do that made a difference?
Counsel together
Quorum / Relief Society business
- •Who in our ward may be near their "mile 90" right now, and how can we help carry their load quietly?
- •How can our ministering look more like Ted's: showing up for the hardest part and carrying weight without drawing attention to it?
Last 3–5 minutes
Close
This week, pray about one person who may be near their "mile 90," and quietly carry something for them: a meal, a visit, a ride, or a message saying you believe they can keep going.
Elder Dunn promised that if you use even your last bit of strength to ask, the Savior's helping hand will give you the lift you need, even when the outcome or timing is not what you asked for.
Your witness: Think of a time the Lord carried part of your load and you only recognized it later. Share briefly what you saw when you looked back, and what you know about the Savior because of it.