Messages from Chile tell of experiences during 8.8 earthquake

Even as Church members in Chile take their maiden steps of recovery following a massive earthquake on Saturday, Feb. 27, many are recalling the horror of experiencing one of the strongest recorded temblors in history. The following accounts were collected by Church News contributor Laurie Williams Sowby. Sister Sowby and her husband, Stephen Sowby, served in the Chile Santiago West Mission from October 2005 to April 2007. They are now serving in the Washington D.C. South Mission.

"We lived on the fifth/top floor of an apartment building in Talagante, in the countryside about an hour southwest of Santiago," she said. "We recall feeling minor quakes many times, two of them strong enough that we could feel the building swaying. Among our assignments was teaching the Church's basic keyboard music classes, one of them in the in the Penaflor Stake Center. We have many dear friends in that part of Chile and were relieved to hear from many of them via Facebook and e-mail that they are all right. We have been touched by their accounts of feeling peace, guidance, and our Heavenly Father's love in the midst of their terror."

Here are some quotes Sister Sowby forwarded to the Church News.

Carmen Luz Ramos Lastres lives about an hour southwest of Santiago in the Talagante Branch of the Talagante District:

"Thanks to God, all of us are okay. The movement of the earth was terrible. I have been in several earthquakes over the course of my life, but this surpasses anything expected."