Rafael E. Pino

Rafael Eduardo Pino Gimenez (born 27 October 1955) has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2008 and is the first Venezuelan general authority in LDS Church history.

Pino was born in Valencia, Venezuela. He was trained in commerce and has been employed by the LDS Church in a variety of positions since joining the church in 1972. As a young man, he was a missionary for the LDS Church in the Venezuela Maracaibo Mission. Prior to becoming a general authority, Pino had also been a bishop and a stake president in the church. From 1999 to 2002, Pino was the president of the Argentina Rosario Mission of the church.

At the April 2008 general conference of the LDS Church, Pino was accepted by the membership as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, a full-time ecclesiastical position. Immediately prior to his becoming a general authority, Pino was a member of the Fourth Quorum of the Seventy and an area seventy in the church's South America North Area.

Pino married Patricia Monica Villa Dassler on March 31, 1981 in the Washington D.C. Temple. They are the parents of three children.

References

*LDS Church, [http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/new-general-authorities-and-area-seventies-announced "New General Authorities and Area Seventies Announced"] , 2008-04-05, press release, newsroom.lds.org, accessed 2008-04-17
*"Called to Seventy: New General Authorities and Area Seventies sustained", "Church News", 2008-04-12
*"Church News", 1999-04-24
* [http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=e975279c7c699110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1 “Elder Rafael E. Pino,”] "Liahona", May 2008, p. 138