Helio R. Camargo

Who is Helio R. Camargo?

Helio da Rocha Camargo was the first Brazilian general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy for a limited time and then was moved to the Second Quorum of the Seventy when the limited-term members of the First Quorum were made into a separate Second Quorum.

Camargo was born in Rio de Janeiro. He entered a military academy in 1943. Camargo advanced to the rank of captain in the Brazilian military before his retirement.

Camargo married Nair Belmira de Bouvea. They had six children. Nair served as temple matron of the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple when her husband was president of the temple and also as an area representative of the General Auxiliary Boards.

After leaving the military Camargo moved to São Paulo where he became a banker and also entered a Methodist seminary. Camargo was ordained a Methodist minister but was later expelled from the seminary because he opposed infant baptism. He was one of three ministers expelled at that point, the other two were Saul Messias de Oliveira and Walter Guedes de Queiroz, who also later joined the LDS Church.