Meet the New Stake Presidency

A fresh set of faithful faces has been called to lead the Hurst Stake. Let us introduce you to Presidents Hickson, Vimahi, and Skinner.

by Shane Dawson and Kaelyn Ahau

Left to right: President Paea Vimahi, President Todd Hickson, and President Howard Skinner

President Todd Hickson

Todd Hickson grew up in Grapevine, graduated from Colleyville Heritage High School, and has run a successful home construction business in the area since 2006. He did a stint in a fire/EMT academy before serving a full-time mission in southern Italy, then earned a degree in construction management from what was then Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University). 

He and his wife Abby have been married since 2003, and have three awesome teenage boys: Tanner, Caleb, and Levi. The Hicksons love to spend time at the lake, ride dirt bikes, snow ski, play leisure sports, watch movies, and play board games together.

In his new role as the leader of the stake, President Hickson feels “overwhelmed, humbled, and excited all at the same time”. He finds inspiration in his favorite scripture, John 17:3:

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

“[It] sums up the gospel,” he says. “If we truly know, or are seeking to know, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, then we will be doing the things required of us to have ‘life eternal’.”

President Paea Vimahi, 1st Counselor

President Paea Vimahi was born to a family of Church members in Tonga. He lost touch with the gospel when his parents divorced while he was still young, so his conversion really began later, when he went to live with his mother and met the missionaries. In 1985, he, his mother, and his siblings moved from Tonga to Hawaii.

As the oldest of 10 children, he went straight to work to provide for his family, helping on construction projects. Sometime after they moved again — this time to Irving, Texas — he found a job at American Airlines and eventually gained the position he’s held ever since. 

“I’m in the belly of the airplane,” he says with a grin. “Unloading and loading planes. I love it. It’s just like a workout every day.”

President Vimahi is a family man, too; he and his wife Una were sealed in the Laie Hawaii Temple in 1996, and have four beautiful children. He loves spending time with family, watching college football, and church.

Among many favorite scriptures, Ether 3:9 stands out as a personal reminder to check his faith:

And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger.

“Sometimes, we’re seeing it, but not believing it,” he says.  “That Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father…have flesh and bones. That’s the reality of it.”

President Howard Skinner, 2nd Counselor

Howard Skinner was born in Alabama, but grew up all over — including in Puerto Rico, California, and Maryland — as his father served in the Navy. In Maryland, he met his future wife, Theresa Jane, or “TJ”, before serving an 11-month Navy deployment of his own. When he returned, a recently converted TJ introduced him to the Church. He couldn’t put the Book of Mormon down, and was baptized in short order.

Pres. Skinner has spent his career in project management, with a focus on the supply chain and government procurement. He’s served as both an active-duty officer and reservist in the Navy, and worked for Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Textron. At home, he loves to fish, especially in saltwater. He and his wife have 5 children and 18.3333 grandchildren (you’ll have to ask him about that .3333). They consider themselves brown thumb gardeners; in his words, “Our garden is where plants go to die.”

In lieu of a single favorite scripture, he has several in rotation. Recently, he’s found that Isaiah 41:10 helps him “keep the big picture in focus”:

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.