Editor's note: James Francis, 19, a Brookings resident, is serving as a missionary in Chile for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was in the Recoleta district of the capital of Santiago, about 215 miles north of Concepcion, when an 8.8 earthquake rocked the South American nation at about 3:40 a.m. local time Saturday. The next day, he sent an e-mail to his parents, David and Madelyn Francis, of Brookings, letting them know he was well and unharmed. The Francises shared this e-mail and a second one sent Monday with The Brookings Register. These are excerpts from their son's correspondence :

"Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010 2:08 p.m.

Querida familia.

We got instructions to e-mail you to say everything's okay. So, that is what I am doing.

It was a very interesting experience , to say the least. Especially on the third floor of an apartment. Especially on the top bunk of a safe but very sway-able bunk bed. I woke up when the shaking got serious (at 3:39 local time), and no idea how, but I recognized the situation very quickly.

I couldn't see a thing (my glasses were on a shelf at the end of the room), but I could tell my bed was moving a lot. The interesting thing was the sound. There was a huge, deep rumbling that I'm assuming was coming from the earth.

Everything was thrown around and mostly on the floor, but fortunately nothing was broken or damaged (granted, we have practically nothing breakable or damageable). Electricity, obviously, was cut immediately.

We didn't really do anything during the day but wait, because there was the potential for a serious aftershock. There were plenty of smaller ones, but nothing serious.

As of yesterday, most of the community (Recoleta) had water; as of today, most of the community has electricity.

I'll write a more detailed description tomorrow . Things are in decent shape here. You should be worried about the missionaries in Concepcion.

March 1, 2010 10:36 a.m.

Querida familia y amigos,

" Before I say anything else, I and all the other missionaries are fine; things are not very bad where I am right now.

We did almost nothing Saturday, but the day still passed incredibly quickly. " We were able to see a bit of the damage in Recoleta, the community (suburb? not sure) in which we live, and although there are a couple buildings with serious damage, it looks like we mostly escaped. Saturday night we decided it would be safer to sleep in the chapel.

What we saw of Concepcion and the other cities close to the epicenter was pretty bad. I was worried about the missionaries there, and also on Juan Fernandez Island (part of the Santiago North Mission), but I heard today that everyone is safe. The community/suburb of Quilicura, part of my mission, is a bit worse off; I just talked to a friend of mine who's stationed there, and they don't have water, electricity or cell phone service . (In Recoleta, we've got all three, although the apartments' electricity is still off. Also, the gas in the apartments for heating water won't be restored for a couple days at least.)

Now it's weird because everything is so normal . We just had the seventh most powerful earthquake ever recorded (if I heard correctly ), and life is nearly back to normal in Santiago (the only exceptions being the communities of Quilicura and Maipu). It's a testament to earthquake-resistant buildings and a prepared culture and country, I guess.

I love you all, and I hope things are going well back in the U.S. Again, keep Concepcion and the other cities near the epicenter in your prayers. A few of the elders I know here have family there; as far as I know, they're all fine, but they still need God's help.

We've been blessed here.

Abrazos,

Elder Francis