Life can be a real bite.

Tamara W. Runia, first counselor in the Young Women General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, learned that one day when she lost a tooth right before a speaking engagement in what turned out to be an embarrassing yet enlightening mishap.

Speaking about faith amid life’s trials at the kickoff for this week’s Brigham Young University Women’s Conference, Runia recounted how she was at home preparing to talk to a group of Young Women for the first time. After her chores at home, she remembered she needed to floss before leaving the house.

As Runia began flossing, one of her teeth flew out of her mouth and dropped into the sink. Running late, she superglued her tooth back in place but found that her lip was stuck to her tooth and threatened to rip if she pulled too hard.

Eventually, Runia told the Marriott Center crowd Wednesday night, she was able to use fingernail-polish remover to unstick her lip but found that her red nail polish had run down her hands and stained her white blouse.

“I had changed my clothes, grabbed my notes, gotten into the car, and I remember looking in the rearview mirror, and picking off the last little bits of cotton ball from my teeth, and thinking, ‘I can never tell anyone what just happened.’ But my next thought was, ‘Why not? I was going to speak to those Young Women and their leaders about being real. And why wouldn’t I share what life is really like for me?’”

These moments, Runia said, help strengthen her faith when fears and doubts arise. At the same time, she warned, such anxieties can “dim” the light members are supposed to let shine.

The Young Women leader equated faith to a muscle that needs to be exercised or else it will diminish, especially during life’s difficulties.

“Faith isn’t faith until it’s tried,” Runia said. “And the moment we need it is the moment we question it. And this is the moment faith can truly expand.”

Runia also addressed the topic of self-worth and how members can struggle with it. She pleaded with women to remember that their worth isn’t tied to their daily to-do list.

“Sometimes we think we earn our worth by being good at life or crossing things off a list,” she said. “But I want you to know that is not true, because your worth isn’t something you earn. Our worth never changes. It was given to you by God, and it cannot be increased or diminished by what you accomplish or don’t accomplish by the end of the day.”

She asked the audience members to separate their list of accomplishments from their identity. Shen then invited them to write down that night a list of what they did and then a list of who they were.

Runia told the audience that “working part time” is what she did every day, but her identity remained — that she is a daughter of “Heavenly Parents.”

When life gets overwhelming, Runia remarked, “the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a preventative from all pain. It is a resource in the event of pain.”

The BYU Women’s Conference, celebrating its 50th anniversary, continues through Friday.

Note to readers • Dylan Eubank is a Report for America corps member covering faith in Utah County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps to keep him writing stories.