Carie Skinner - KEYNOTE SPEAKER

We are so excited for our keynote speaker for our Arcadia Stake Women's Conference which will be held on Saturday, January 25, at 9:00 at the Foothill Building.  Get to know her. 

"Carie Jones Skinner was born and raised in a small town in Washington state. She was lucky enough to have 4 sisters (the oldest one being Arcadia Stake’s own Trista Jones Ogilvie!) Carie went to BYU for college and probably had a little too much fun as her B+ grade point average may attest. Carie met her husband, everyone’s favorite, Mark Skinner while at school. They were sealed in the Seattle, Washington temple. By the time she left BYU she had a degree in History, a minor in English, a husband and a child on the way! Carie and Mark have four brilliant, charming, darling children: Hailey, Andrew, Harrison and Avery. They are lucky enough to have one amazing daughter in law who can do no wrong. The Skinners have lived in Utah, Nevada and California, but they spent most of their child rearing years - 17 in total - in a leafy suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. They moved back west to Corona, CA seven years ago. Carie is interested in pretty much everything and everyone. She is funny and clever and never runs out of things to say and has never met a stranger. She loves her family, reading, walking, and hot chocolate. (Not necessarily in that order.) While she was primarily a stay at home mom, she also worked part time for Anthropologie for years and as a county librarian. Now that they are empty nesters, Carie has her dream job as an elementary school librarian. She relishes having a captive audience of small children to read books to all day. Carie loves the gospel of Jesus Christ. She has served the Lord throughout her life in many callings: a seminary teacher, Primary president, Primary song leader (who got by on personality over skill), in Stake Relief Society presidencies, as Stake Young Women’s president, but most often as a teacher. 

 

Here are Sister Skinner's remarks:

 

Becoming One with God through Your Covenants
Sisters, Hello! I am thrilled to be with you today. And a bit overwhelmed, if I am being
honest. What a marvelous opportunity we have today to learn from the Spirit and each other what the Lord would like to put in our hearts and minds. It is my prayer that our time together can be meaningful to you personally and that the message shared by me will resonate with your soul and bring you closer to our Heavenly Father. You may be asking yourself: “who is this person chosen to be the keynote speaker? She doesn’t seem all that impressive.” Sisters, on that point we can agree. I am not terribly impressive. You may also be wondering - why I
seem familiar to you. You may have asked yourself, “Do I know her from somewhere? Have I met her before?” The answer is no, we probably have not met before. But yes, I am familiar
to you, because you all likely know - and love - my sister, Trista Ogilvie, who is a beloved member of your stake. Trista and I share some similar physical traits, enough to look like sisters. But what is uncanny to a near creepy-status is our voice and mannerisms. I likely seem familiar to you because my voice and inflections, my tone and pitch are exact replicas of
Trista’s. 

I know you have all been blessed by the Ogilvies in your stake for many, many years. They are examples of love and service and duty and discipleship. I am lucky to be related to them and you are lucky to fellowship with them. They are some of the good ones. Trista and Nathan
and their four girls have been beautiful examples to me and my family and have served us in countless ways. But, back to me. This is what I like to call the BUY IN. Why should you
listen to me? I am a pretty ordinary person, to be fair. I am 50 years old. I have been married for 29 years to my darling husband Mark. We have four children, two girls and two boys, and one amazing daughter in law. I went to BYU, I graduated with a degree in history and a minor in English. We spent most of our child-raising years in a suburb of Kansas City Missouri.
Oh how we love the midwest! The rest of our time we have lived in Corona, CA. A little bastion of light 45-ish minutes, depending on traffic, southeast of you. We currently live there now. I did not have a career and spent most of my adult life raising children and driving them to their various practices and activities. In the last few years, as our children have left the home, I slowly began working outside of our home. I am currently an Elementary school Librarian. And to answer your questions, YES, it is the best job in the world. And YES I love it with all my heart.
 

I have been a disciple of Jesus Christ my whole life and a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have served in numerous callings - relief society teacher, stake relief society counselor, stake relief society secretary, primary teacher, primary song leader, primary president, stake young women’s president, gospel doctrine teacher and on
and on. As part of the BUY IN or “why you should be interested in what I have to say” - let me tell you a story. Early October, I was looking through some papers in my night stand. I came across my Patriarchal blessing. Do you have your blessing yet? I hope you prayerfully consider receiving your blessing, if you have not. They are pretty amazing and definitely one of the perks of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It had been a few months since I reviewed it, so I sat down and read through my blessing. Now, one of the things I like to do when I read my blessing is write down all the things that it says will happen to me throughout my life. I make a list on a piece of paper and write down all of the thoughts and blessings and pronouncements and then I like to ponder: have I seen this in my life?

What do I need to do to make this come to pass? Am I living in such a way that these things may happen? All blessings are different, but mine has a few repeating phrases throughout. As I read it in October, I was struck by a few things. The Spirit will do that, give you a little nudge when there is something you need to pay attention to. One of the things that I noticed in my blessing, was that it mentioned a few times that I would have the chance to speak in public and
that the Spirit would be with me and through my speaking I would be an influence for good. I didn’t really see many times when this was the case. I thought, “I guess that has happened? Maybe when I was stake young women’s president? Or occasionally in a lesson?” But those times didn’t feel like the scope or magnitude mentioned in my blessing. Not many days later,
I found out about this speaking opportunity. The Spirit was nudging me for a reason. Sister Cornwall told me when she asked me to be the speaker that after she prayed for inspiration on who should give the kick off address “my face and name came into her mind.” This is nothing short of miraculous, sisters. I have casually and briefly met Sister Cornwall over the years on
very occasional visits to the Monrovia ward for different family events. I would by no means say that our interactions were anything memorable or overly inspiring in any kind of way to stand out from any other passing acquaintance. The Lord has a purpose today and it is humbling to be part of it. You’ve all got a front row seat. Let’s see how I do!
 

Our topic today is “Becoming One with God Through Your Covenants”
President Nelson in the last conference October 2024 stated: “I have learned that the most crucial question we each must answer is this: To whom or to what will I give my life?
Sisters, to whom are you giving your life? Let me tell you an amazing story about two pretty incredible humans that help illustrate this point:

Rick Hoyt was born in 1962 to Richard and Judy Hoyt. As a result of oxygen deprivation to Rick’s brain at the time of his birth, Rick was diagnosed as a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. His parents were advised to institutionalize Rick because there was no chance of him recovering, and little hope for Rick to live a “normal” life. Richard and Judy soon realized that though Rick couldn’t walk or speak; he was quite astute and his eyes would follow them around the room. They fought to integrate Rick into the public school system, pushing
administrators to see beyond Rick’s physical limitations. Richard and Judy worked tirelessly to find a way to help Rick communicate. When a specialized computer was constructed and brought home, Rick was able to finally able communicate with his parents. In the spring of 1977, Rick told his father that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a local Lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Far from being a long-distance runner, Richard, who was 36 years old, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair and they finished all 5 miles. They came in second to last. That night, Rick told his father, “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.” After their initial five mile run, Richard began training every day. Richard immediately took to sacrificing his time and energy, selflessly giving that
able-bodied feeling to his son. Over the next 35 years, they competed in 1,130 endurance events, including 72 marathons and seven Ironman triathlons. They ran the Boston Marathon 32 times. Also adding to their list of achievements, Richard and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days. “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.” Here is father pushing himself to the brink of what is possible for the
human body, and for what? Not for fame, not for glory and not for riches, but simply for the opportunity to help his son feel free, if only for a few hours at a time.

What would it feel like to have a person in your life who would sacrifice so much to give you all those moments of happiness? What would it feel like to have someone like that on your team, by your side? To Whom are you giving your life? Who are you letting push you?
(If I was musical, this would be a great opportunity for me to sing a line from “Wind Beneath My Wings” but I am not a great proficient with singing and will leave the singing of that song to Bette Midler.) It is my fervent hope that everyone here today has someone like this by
their side here on earth. A spouse. A sibling. A parent. A friend. A ministering sister. I want that for each one of you. It is my SURE TESTIMONY that we all have these kinds of “someones” by our side: a loving and devoted Heavenly Father, a Heavenly Mother, and
our Brother and Savior Jesus Christ. 

As I mentioned before, I am learning to pay attention to the nudgings of the Spirit. In Oct 2022 conference, I was struck by a scripture that was quoted in several conference addresses. It seemed remarkable to me that I kept hearing this scripture in seemingly every talk! (Incidentally I went back and checked and I think it was mentioned in 9 of the talks, a far cry from nearly every one but either way the Spirit told me to take note!) “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30 What is a yoke?” A yoke is a crossbar with two U-shaped pieces that encircle the necks of a pair of oxen, mules, or other draft animals working in a team (emphasis added).

Used as a verb, “yoke” means to join or to unite. To be yoked is to be attached to something that will keep you joined, or aligned for the purpose of working in tandem, or together with
someone or something. Let me explain something I learned about yokes that I think is particularly meaningful and beautiful in understanding what Christ means about yokes.
-Dr. Paul Brand, a Christian doctor who worked in India explained: “If I put a flat, uncarved piece of wood on an ox's neck and use it to pull a cart, very quickly pressure sores will break out on that animal's neck, and he will be useless. A good yoke must be formed to the shape of an ox's neck. It should cover a large area of skin to distribute the stresses widely. It should also be smooth, rounded, and polished with no sharp edges, so that no one point will endure unduly high stress. If I succeed in my workshop, the yoke I make will fit snugly around the ox's neck and cause him no discomfort. He can haul heavy loads every day for years, and his skin will remain perfectly healthy, with no pressure sores. Dr. Brandt goes on “And now, I think I understand the strange juxtaposition of phrases in Matthew 11:28-29. Jesus offers each of us a
well-fitted yoke, of custom design. He promises a yoke designed to fit my frame, my individual needs, strengths, and capabilities. I come to him weary and heavy-laden. He removes those crushing burdens that would destroy any human being, and replaces them with a yoke of appropriate stress designed specifically for me. " When Christ asks us to take his yoke upon us, he is saying, “Come stand shoulder to shoulder with me, and we will walk this path together. I will be beside you every step of the way. I will be the yoke that lightens your
burdens. I will make life’s crushing sorrows and heartaches and disappointments bearable. We can do this together.” Pres Nelson asks: To Whom with you give your life? Rick Hoyt would say: Who will you let push you?

The Lord says: Who will you yoke with me? Interestingly, “Yoke” in biblical terms also referred to the teachings or instructions of a particular Rabbi. This is to say that yoke means “the duties, the obligations, and the responsibilities a person takes on and commits to fulfill” to follow a leader. Jesus asks us to take on His yoke: the duties, obligations, and
responsibilities He asks us to live by as His followers. What are the duties, obligations and responsibilities Jesus asks of us? They are covenants. Covenants or promises between women (or men) and God. When we are baptized, we make a covenant with God. When we go to the
temple, we make covenants with God. When we are sealed, we make a covenant with God.
This is how we take on His yoke. We become tied to Him. Sister Yee, second counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency said: “We were meant to become one with God through covenants. Living our covenants changes our natures to become as He is, bringing us closer and closer to becoming one through His Spirit.” Our nature changes to become as He is.
Sister Camille Johnson, General Relief Society President taught this: “Think of our [covenants] as transformational. At baptism, we witness our willingness to take the Savior’s name upon us, and we promise to serve God and keep His commandments. And in return, He promises His Spirit will always be with us. The promised blessing is not of short duration or
limited; it is everlasting. His Spirit will always be with us; it will transform us.”
It will transform us.

Elder Renlund explained this mind-blowing concept: He said “facets that are frequently associated with baptismal covenant - that we “bear one another’s burden’s,” “mourn with those that mourn,” and “comfort those that are in need of comfort” - are FRUITS of the covenant rather than part of the actual covenant. These facets are important because they are what a converted soul would naturally do. When we make covenants with the Lord we will be transformed. Our natures will be changed. We will experience the fruits or blessings or results
of covenant living. It is not just the making of the covenants that is important. It is allowing
the covenants to change us, better us, and become like Him. Are you experiencing the blessings of the covenants? Are you letting your covenants change you? Let’s take a few minutes and hear some of the fruits or blessings or results  of making covenants with God.
From Elder Bednar:
“Entering into sacred (Temple) covenants and worthily receiving (temple) ordinances yoke us with and bind us to the Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. . . . As we are steadfast in coming unto Christ and are yoked with Him, we receive the cleansing, healing, and strengthening blessings of His infinite and eternal Atonement.
1. Receive the cleansing, healing, and strengthening blessings of His infinite and eternal Atonement.
2. Create a connection with the Lord that is deeply personal and spiritually powerful
3. Incrementally draw closer to Him
4. Experience the impact of His divinity and living reality into our lives.
Elder Bednar “I frankly do not have the ability to describe adequately the precise nature and power of our covenant connection with the resurrected and living Son of God. But I witness that the connections with Him and Heavenly Father are real and are the ultimate sources of assurance, peace, joy, and spiritual strength.”
5. Ultimate assurance of peace, joy, and spiritual strength. President Nelson testified “Each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and temples — and keeps them — has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ. Please ponder that stunning truth. The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power — power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations and heartaches better. This power eases our way.” — “Overcome the World and Find Rest,” October 2022
6. Increased access to the power of Jesus Christ
7. Strength to withstand trials, temptations and heartaches better. Sister Yee: “One of those blessings is the comforting and abiding partnership of our Savior Jesus Christ “in all our doings.” We are never alone. We do not need to navigate the challenges, the uncertainties, and the weaknesses of life alone. He will be beside us; this is our covenant promise and blessing. He loves you and desires to be part of your life, your concerns, your happiness, and your decisions. Jesus Christ desires to give you HIS relief.
8. Partnership of our Savior Jesus Christ “in our doings”
9. Never alone, He will be beside us.
10. He will be part of your life, your concerns, your happiness, your
decisions.
11. Give you His relief. Yee “we can choose to know Him today and receive His healing love, power, and relief into our lives now through our covenants.”
12. Receive healing love, power, and relief now. President Nelson has explained: “Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in God’s heart.
13. Never tire in His efforts to help us and will never exhaust His merciful patience with us.

Pres. Johnson “Every man and every woman who participates in priesthood ordinances and who makes and keeps covenants with God has direct access to the power of God. The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood.”
14. Direct access to the power of God
Pres. Johnson, “The blessings of keeping our temple covenants include love and merciful patience; learning “how to ask for God’s angels to attend [us];” learning how to “better ... receive direction from heaven;” “power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better;” and “power [that] eases our way.”
15. Love and merciful patience
16. Learn to ask for God’s angels to attend us.
17. Better receive direction from heaven.
18. Power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations and heartaches better.
What does this power, which flows from keeping the covenants we make through priesthood ordinances, look like in your day-to-day life? How does a covenant woman draw upon this divine power?  

 

Allow me to give a personal example of drawing upon this divine power. In December of 2019, my son Drew was home over Christmas breakfrom BYU. We were a few days from Christmas and less than two weeks from his wedding to his darling wife Ashley, on January 3, 2020 in the Palmyra NY temple, nearby Ashley’s home town in upstate New York. Drew woke up not feeling good and barely made it through our sacrament meeting service. By the time we got home, he was getting worse and worse. Finally he said from his position on the couch “Dad, I can’t move my arms or my legs.” My husband Mark immediately carried my 6’0” tall son to the car and took him to urgent care. At urgent care, Drew deteriorated so
rapidly the doctor thought he was having a heart attack and called an ambulance to take him to the Emergency Room at the hospital. The hospital and doctor had no idea what was wrong with him - but got him stabilized and sent Drew home. Drew continued to feel a lot of pain and was weak, but was fine enough to still get married. We thought it might be some kind of flu or virus and certainly would pass. Drew was a ridiculously active and healthy man of 21. He worked nearly full time, went to school and played on several soccer teams. Within two weeks, he was so tired and exhausted and in so much pain, he could hardly get out of bed. Two weeks after that, he was forced to quit his job and his classes because he just couldn’t find the energy to go to classes. By mid-February of 2020 Drew was all but bedridden. He and his wife
came home to CA for a visit and Drew ended up in the hospital again after his first seizure.
What followed is every parent’s worst nightmare. My once energetic, full of life, unstoppable, athletic son became a shell of his former self. He could hardly leave his bed. He was in constant pain. He had seizures every few weeks, then every few days, then daily.

As you know Covid hit and hospitals and doctor’s visits were shut down and then over the course of the next year, really difficult to get. Over the course of the next 2+ years, we took him to countless doctors and specialists. I think our final total was 38. My husband and I took money out of our 401k to help pay for the costs. No one could figure out what was wrong with our son. Impossibly, his symptoms continued to worsen. He would sometimes pass out without warning, losing consciousness. He would seizure for longer and longer times, sometimes lasting well over an hour. It was excruciating and those were the darkest years of my life.
While Drew and Ashley struggled physically, they were an amazing team. She was by his side every step of the way. His greatest help, his constant cheerleader, our very own angel. To this day, I don’t know how my tiny little daughter in law has the courage and strength and faith to continue. The details are painful to recall and to tell the whole story would take hours.
It was our own personal agony and there was little hope of ever finding a solution for my son.

Three years into this, I was preparing a presentation I was asked to give in the wards in my stake. I was Stake Young Women’s President and they had asked me to speak about temple covenants. I was talking with Drew and Ashley about the assignment and they shared their experience with me. I was so moved, I asked them to write it down. These are their words:
From Ashley, my daughter in law: “I remember one time, almost two years after we were sealed, Drew and I were both so sick at the same time and we were both trying so hard to just
keep going. I was in our office crying while Drew was in the other room in significant pain and having seizures. I genuinely knew deep down that I was not physically or emotionally
capable of taking another step forward alone. Over time in my past (before I was married) I had learned that the most helpful way to respond in these moments is through prayer.
I began saying a prayer and asked that through the priesthood power that I was entitled to receive for our family from the temple covenants I had made with the Savior, that I could have the strength and ministering of angels to help me continue forward, because I knew I could not keep doing this without His help and power. As I haphazardly ended the prayer, there was a distinct shift, and my heart, my eyes, my mind, and every part of me that had felt impossibly heavy moments earlier felt lifted to the point where I was able to immediately leave the office to go help Drew and continue working. This is not the only time in my life or our marriage that this has happened. I know that covenants made in the temple and the priesthood power He gives me there is a reality and can make a life changing difference in the real-life situations we face in marriage, callings, and in our everyday lives. Because of the temple covenants and the connection to Jesus Christ that they make, I have been able to accomplish and handle incredibly difficult things that I did not think I could ever accomplish or handle.”

From my son Drew:
“The temple [covenants have] been a massive blessing for me because it helps me look past hardships in this life and look forward with faith. My life has been anything but what I had planned the day I married my wife in the temple and was sealed to her. The promised blessings and power of the sealing have reminded me on the darkest days that there is more promised
and waiting for me. I may not be able to do much and spend most of my days stuck in bed, but I know because of my [temple covenants] that there is so much more waiting for me. This power and promise given through our faithfulness to Jesus Christ and His eternal power in the temple has allowed light to come through the darkest moments and has given me the strength to keep fighting even when my life circumstances feel too much to bear.” 

 

These are people who have received the blessings of their covenants and it not only have them strength to endure, it transformed them. At the time I shared this with the youth of our stake, my son was undiagnosed and every day was a tedious, painful, struggle. And yet, because of their covenants, they had a power beyond their own. They had the Lord and a loving God who “never tired in His efforts.” It took years and untold visits to doctors and specialists. It took an
extraordinary amount of money and patience and waiting on the Lord. But in the end, we found a diagnosis for Drew. He has a chronic illness called myalgic encephalomyelitis - often referred to as M.E. M.E. has no cure, but knowing what he has given us tools to better manage his condition and medicine to lessen the symptoms. My son is now 26 years old and was just accepted into the Finance Program at BYU. Our God is a God of miracles. Ashley, his wife, graduated from BYU and works for the Church History Department. Their life is not easy. Drew’s health limits him in many, many ways. And he may struggle his entire life for the energy to complete simple tasks that we all take for granted.

BUT. Drew and Ashley bound themselves to our Heavenly Father through covenants. They have called upon the blessings of those covenants and the Savior’s covenantal power.
Here is a reminder of the blessings of our covenants:

 1. Receive the cleansing, healing, and strengthening blessings of His infinite and eternal Atonement.
2. Create a connection with the Lord that is deeply personal and spiritually powerful
3. Incrementally draw closer to Him
4. Experience the impact of His divinity and living reality into our lives.
5. Assurance of peace, joy, and spiritual strength.
6. Increased access to the power of Jesus Christ
7. Strength to withstand trials, temptations and heartaches better.
8. Partnership of our Savior Jesus Christ “in our doings”
9. Never alone, He will be beside us.
10. He will be part of your life, your concerns, your happiness, your decisions.
11. Give you His relief.
12. Receive healing love, power, and relief now.
13. Never tire in His efforts to help us and will never exhaust His merciful patience with us.
14. Direct access to the power of God
15. Love and merciful patience.
16. Learn to ask for God’s angels to attend us.
17. Better receive direction from heaven.
18. Power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations and heartaches better.
I ask again:
To Whom will you give your life? Who will you let push you? Who will you yoke yourself too? I have learned to call upon my covenant promises in my life. You can too. Sisters, let us study the blessings of our covenants. We can be One with God.