Study Guide for "The Ninety and Ten"

In “The Ninety and Ten,” Elder Michael A. Dunn uses his experience in a 100-mile ultramarathon to illustrate how Jesus Christ carries burdens and strengthens those who feel depleted. His running partner’s quiet service helps him recognize that the Savior’s help is sometimes unseen and does not always remove the difficulty ahead. As you study, consider how the Savior strengthens you, how He works through others, and how you can trust His care when relief comes differently than you hope.

Before Reading

Before reading or listening to the talk, consider the following questions:

What does it mean for Jesus Christ to carry our burdens without removing every difficulty?
How does Elder Dunn’s running partner illustrate aspects of the Savior’s personal care?
What helps us trust the Savior when we cannot see His hand in our lives?
How can we recognize divine help that comes through other people?
What does faithful perseverance look like when we feel depleted or defeated?

Topics

Recognize How Jesus Christ Carries Your Burdens

Elder Dunn compares Ted’s quiet carrying of his water bottles and pack to the Savior’s personal ministry. Jesus Christ bears our griefs and sorrows, but His help does not necessarily make our course shorter or easier. He lifts burdens and strengthens our capacity to continue, sometimes in ways we do not immediately recognize.

Without fanfare or fuss, he simply shouldered my heaviest burden.

He simultaneously lifts and uplifts, sometimes in unseen fashion, multiplying and magnifying even our most minuscule offerings.

In other words, the Redeemer rescues not by shortening our course but by helping us lengthen our stride.

What does the photograph reveal about Ted’s service that Elder Dunn does not recognize during the race?
How does Ted’s service illustrate the Savior’s willingness to carry our burdens?
What distinction does Elder Dunn make between shortening our course and helping us lengthen our stride?
What burden do I currently carry, and how can I seek the Savior’s strengthening help with it?
When do I recognize, in hindsight, that the Lord carries a burden I do not realize He is carrying?
What small offering of effort or faith can I bring to the Savior today?
How can I quietly lighten another person’s load without seeking recognition?

Seek Christ’s Grace and Receive Help Through Others

Elder Dunn describes grace as divine help or strength and invites us to turn to Christ with confidence in His care. God knows our prayers before we ask, and His help can include people who encourage and support us. The Savior’s promise of angels around us reminds us that we need not face our burdens alone.

Anytime we turn to Christ, we turn a corner.

By His grace we can trust and expect His constant care.

His grace, which is a duality defined as a “divine means of help or strength,” can free us from the freight we would otherwise carry.

And even when we don’t perceive Him at our side, He enlists the Teds—both of this world and sometimes even the Teds beyond—with His heartening promise of angels all around us to bear us up.

How does Elder Dunn define grace, and what does that definition teach about the help Christ offers?
What does God’s knowledge of our prayers teach us about His awareness of our needs?
How can the Savior’s care reach us through other people?
Who are the “Teds” in my life, and how can I express gratitude for their help?
What makes it difficult for me to receive help, and how can I become more willing to accept it?
How can my prayers reflect greater trust in God’s awareness of my needs?
Whom can I encourage or support as an instrument of the Savior’s care?

Trust the Savior Who Knows Your Path

Elder Dunn trusts Ted because Ted knows the race and believes he can finish it. He teaches that we can trust Jesus Christ because the Savior knows the path of mortality and knows each of us personally. Christ understands both our difficulties and our capacities as children of God.

One of the main reasons I trusted Ted during the race is the same reason we can implicitly trust Jesus in every aspect of our lives.

Because He “marked the path and led the way,” there is no portion of our mortal sojourn He has not trod.

He not only knows the road; He knows you and what you, as noble offspring of the divine, are capable of.

Why does Ted’s experience with the race give Elder Dunn confidence in him?
How does Elder Dunn connect that confidence with our reasons for trusting Jesus Christ?
What does the Savior know about us beyond the difficulties we face?
Which part of my present path feels unfamiliar or overwhelming, and how can I entrust it to Christ?
How does remembering my divine identity affect the way I respond to self-doubt?
What experience strengthens my confidence that the Savior understands me personally?
What step can I take because I trust the Savior’s knowledge rather than only my own assessment of my abilities?

Ask for Help When You Feel Defeated

Elder Dunn speaks directly to those at their metaphorical “mile 90,” inviting them to use even their remaining energy to ask for the Savior’s help. He teaches that unexpected outcomes or timing do not mean God abandons us. The Lord’s care remains constant even when His hand is not visible, and peace can come without the outcome we hope for.

To those at or nearing their “mile 90,” ferrying the unimaginable, or if you feel like I did, both depleted and defeated, 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.

And even when the outcome or the timing is not what you plead for, take solace knowing that feeling broken does not mean you’ve been abandoned by God.

Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after the trials have passed.

Peace will come even when hoped-for outcomes do not.

What does Elder Dunn invite those who feel depleted and defeated to do?
Why does feeling broken not necessarily mean someone is abandoned by God?
How does President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s teaching about looking back help explain why divine help can be difficult to recognize?
How does Elder Dunn distinguish receiving peace from receiving a hoped-for outcome?
What does my current “mile 90” look like, and what can I honestly ask the Savior for?
When an answer differs from my hopes, what helps me remain open to God’s care?
What past difficulty helps me see the Lord’s hand more clearly now?
What signs of peace or support can I record even while my circumstances remain unresolved?

Lay Aside Weights and Run With Patience

Elder Dunn teaches that God can help through extraordinary miracles, through another person’s service, or through increased courage, capacity, and confidence. He concludes by inviting us to lay aside weights and patiently continue the race before us. The emphasis rests on moving forward with divine strength rather than requiring a particular form of rescue.

Sometimes the God who makes the impossible possible can part seas and move mountains. Other times He simply sends us a Ted.

But most often He tops off our courage, capacity, and confidence by empowering us to “lay aside every weight” so we can “run with patience the race that is set before us.”

What different forms of divine help does Elder Dunn describe in his conclusion?
How does increased courage or capacity constitute meaningful help even when a difficulty remains?
How does the invitation to run with patience connect with Elder Dunn’s ultramarathon experience?
What weight can I ask the Savior to help me lay aside?
Where do I notice increased courage, capacity, or confidence in my life?
What is one manageable next step in the race before me?
How can I practice patience without overlooking the help God already provides?