Ricardo Patricio Giménez Salazar was born on November 28, 1971, in Antofagasta, Chile. After moving with his mother and sister to Santiago, his family was introduced to missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he was baptized at age 11. Many years later, in 1995, he met Catherine Ivonne Carrazana Zúñiga when she started attending his ward, and they were married two years afterward. They are the parents of two children.
Elder Giménez earned an undergraduate degree in accounting and auditing at the University of Santiago in 1997 and an MBA at the University of Chile in 2003. Professionally, he began in the mining industry in 1999. He later transitioned to the information technology sector, serving as a finance director for Computer Sciences Corporation in Latin America. In 2012, he returned to the mining industry, working with Sierra Gorda Mining as part of the finance operations team and later with Robinson Nevada Mining Company as administrative manager.
In April 2019, Elder Giménez was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of the Church. He has served in various other capacities within the Church, including full-time missionary in the Chile Concepción Mission, bishop, high councilor, stake president, and Area Seventy in the South America South Area. At the time of his call as a General Authority Seventy, he was serving as a counselor in a stake presidency. Since then, he has served as an assistant to the North America West Area Presidency and as a mission leader with his wife in the California San Diego Mission. He currently serves in the Priesthood and Family Department at Church headquarters and as a Counselor in the North America Central Area Presidency.
Elder Giménez approaches his calling with faith and humility, finding strength in the belief that the Lord qualifies those whom He calls. He strives to inspire others to rely on divine guidance, knowing that as they follow God’s will, everything will work out as He intends.
