October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder Michael A. Dunn › Adults
What the Photograph Showed
From “The Ninety and Ten,” by Elder Michael A. Dunn · Saturday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
Jesus Christ carries our burdens, often in ways we do not see, and He rescues us not by shortening our course but by helping us lengthen our stride.
Objective
Learners will be able to name one way the Savior has carried or strengthened them that they did not see at the time, and will choose one way to turn to Him in a burden they carry now.
Before you teach
- Read Elder Dunn's talk, The Ninety and Ten. Mark the race story (the 1998 ultramarathon through the photograph) and the paragraph that begins “As I marveled at his benevolence”.
- Study Isaiah 53:4, Hebrews 12:1 and Doctrine and Covenants 84:88.
- Bring a slip of paper and a pen for each person.
- Write on the board, and keep covered until segment 4: Shorten my course / Lengthen my stride.
- Pray by name for class members who may be at a hard place right now.
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
Where is your mile 90?
- Begin with prayer. If you wish, sing one verse of I Need Thee Every Hour.
- Explain in two sentences: Elder Michael A. Dunn of the Seventy told of running a 100-mile race. At mile 90, with only 10 miles left, he sat down in the shade of a tree and said, “I give up.”
- Read aloud the question he asked at the start of his talk: the Savior promises to carry our burdens, “But what does that look like in practical terms—especially when we are weighed down and seemingly without hope?”
- Ask the first question below and give 30 seconds of silence. No one needs to answer aloud. Then invite two or three people to answer the second question.
- Where in your life are you at or near a mile 90 right now?
- Without sharing private details, what does it feel like to be almost finished and completely out of strength?
The race
- Tell or read the story, passing the talk from reader to reader, from Ted's promise before the race to the finish line. Stop before the photograph.
- Keep these details: Ted had finished this race many times and knew every twist of the trail. He promised to run the second half with Brother Dunn. At mile 90 he knelt, looked him in the eye and said, “I know you can do this, Mike, and I’m going to get you there.” About a hundred yards from the end he stepped aside and said, “This is your race to finish.”
- Ask the questions below. Write short answers on the board (for example: he believed, he came, he knew the trail, he stayed, he let him finish).
- What did Ted give his friend before he carried anything at all?
- Why did it matter that Ted had already run this trail himself?
The photograph
- Read what the photograph revealed: Ted was carrying two of Elder Dunn's water bottles and his pack, and had carried them every step of the last 10 miles. Elder Dunn never noticed.
- Read the line: “Without fanfare or fuss, he simply shouldered my heaviest burden.”
- Invite learners to turn to a neighbor and answer the first question below. After two minutes, invite one or two to share with the class.
- When have you learned only later that someone had quietly been carrying part of your load?
- What changed in you when you found out?
Shorter course or longer stride?
- Have someone read Isaiah 53:4. Point out that Elder Dunn quoted this verse and said he once assumed it meant the trails we travel would become easier.
- Uncover the board. Read the first key quote together: “the Redeemer rescues not by shortening our course but by helping us lengthen our stride.”
- Divide into small groups of three or four. Give half the groups Hebrews 12:1 with the last paragraph of the talk, and the other half Doctrine and Covenants 84:88 with the paragraph that begins “Anytime we turn to Christ, we turn a corner.” Ask each group to find one way the Savior lengthens our stride and one experience from their own lives that shows it.
- Bring the class together. Take one finding from each group and write it under Lengthen my stride.
- Read Elder Chigbundu's sentence from this conference (in the aligned quotes) as a second witness, and ask the last question below.
- What is the difference between a prayer to shorten the course and a prayer to lengthen my stride?
- Elder Dunn said grace can free us from freight we would otherwise carry. What weight has the Savior taken from you, even while the road stayed long?
- Why can we trust the One who, in Elder Dunn's words, knows both the road and us?
When we cannot see His hand
- Say gently that some in the room may have asked and are still waiting. Read Elder Dunn's promise and what follows it: “I promise that as you expend even your last drops of energy to ask, His helping hand will ultimately give you that much-needed leg up.” Then read the third key quote, on feeling broken.
- Read the words of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that Elder Dunn quoted (in the aligned quotes).
- Hand out the slips of paper. Ask everyone to write silently for two minutes: Think of a valley that is now behind you. Looking back, where do you see the Lord's hand, or a Ted He sent?
- Invite one person who feels comfortable to share a sentence of what they wrote.
- Looking back on a past trial, where do you now see help you could not see then?
Choose and act
- Explain that Elder Dunn gave a promise rather than an assignment. Invite each person to decide what they will do because of it, and to write one choice on the back of the slip. Offer the ideas in the Act list.
- Read the last key quote: “Peace will come even when hoped-for outcomes do not.” Bear your own brief testimony that the Savior knows the road and knows them.
- Tell the class you will begin next week by asking who saw unseen help or was sent to be a Ted. Next week, ask it and let two people answer before you start.
Key passages from the talk
“In other words, the Redeemer rescues not by shortening our course but by helping us lengthen our stride.”
“I promise that as you expend even your last drops of energy to ask, His helping hand will ultimately give you that much-needed leg up.”
“take solace knowing that feeling broken does not mean you’ve been abandoned by God.”
“don’t confuse the perceived invisibility of the Lord’s hand with the inveterate nature of the Lord’s heart. Peace will come even when hoped-for outcomes do not.”
Scriptures
- Isaiah 53:4 Read aloud at the start of segment 4. Elder Dunn quoted it; ask what he first assumed it meant and what he learned instead.
- Hebrews 12:1 Half the small groups read it with the last paragraph of the talk and look for what we lay aside and how we are asked to run.
- Doctrine and Covenants 84:88 The other groups read it with the paragraph on turning to Christ and look for where the Lord says He and His angels will be.
Other voices that agree
“Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after the trials have passed.”
“The burden we carry may not always be removed, but our backs will be built to carry the load placed upon them”
Three things to remember
- The Savior often carries what I do not see Him carrying.
- He may not shorten my course, but He will lengthen my stride.
- Feeling broken does not mean I have been abandoned by God.
Ways to act this week
- Each morning this week, pray about one specific burden and ask for strength for that day's stretch of the road, then watch for it.
- Before bed, write one line about help you noticed that day, seen or nearly unseen.
- Thank a Ted: write or call someone who once carried part of your load and tell them what it meant.
- Ask Heavenly Father who near you is at mile 90, and quietly lift one thing for them without fanfare.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- I Need Thee Every Hour
- Where Can I Turn for Peace?
Adapting the lesson
- At home or with a few adults: skip the small groups. Read Hebrews 12:1 together and let each person answer the stride question in turn.
- Large class: do segments 3 and 4 in pairs with the people sitting nearby, and take only three or four comments from the whole room.
- Short on time: shorten the retelling of the race to two minutes, but keep the photograph and the silent writing.
This lesson is an independent study aid written for this site. It is not an official lesson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Quotations are word for word from the official talk; paragraph numbers count the paragraphs of the talk as published at churchofjesuschrist.org, not counting headings or picture captions. The activities, questions and ideas for acting are suggestions; follow the Spirit and adapt them to those you teach.