SANDY -- A natural disaster like this week's massive earthquake in Chile does cause concern for some families with missionaries. One family in Sandy says their son has been without clean water since the earthquake hit, and they worry about his safety.

They've been able to talk with their missionary through e-mail and Skype video on the Internet, and say he's been advised to not wear his missionary tag, not admit to being an American and try to not look so clean-cut. "My brother made the statement that, 'This is hell on earth, what's going on down here,'" says Renee Cundick.

She doesn't chat with her younger brother as often as she would like, but when she has lately, it seems to be only bad news.

"I really think he's in a dire situation," Renee says.

Her brother, Christopher Morgan, graduated from Spanish Fork High School in 2008 and is now serving an LDS mission in Concepcion, Chile. He was there when the earthquake hit.

"We just try to think of, how we can help him? He's saying he doesn't have food or water, how can we help?" Renee says. The family has been putting together relief kits but hasn't found a reliable way to get them to Morgan and his companions. More than that, though, the family is worried about his safety.

"When we talked to him on Skype -- we had all the kids on Skype -- and there were shots fired, and the whole household ducked," says Christopher's mother, Cynthia Morgan.

Cynthia also says her son told her some Chilean residents believe a conspiracy theory.

"That say that Americans have caused the earthquake; and my son was beat up, and that's how he found out about the conspiracy theory," Cynthia says.

Because of that, Cynthia says her son was told to not identify himself as an American or wear his missionary name tag. He's now staying with a Chilean family who brought him in for his safety.

"I don't think the people know there are dangerous pockets of areas that the news people aren't at. They're just very, very dangerous," Cynthia says.

KSL spoke to Scott Trotter, a spokesman with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He says the stories the Morgan family are hearing are possible, but from everything he's heard conditions are just the opposite: missionaries are safe, and helping in recovery efforts. Another LDS missionary in Chile confirms that, saing the earthquake hit them "pretty bad," but the work is well underway.

Elder Mark Roberts says missionaries are helping residents in the city of Talca, near the quake's epicenter. He says there is so much to do.

"That's the life of a missionary: service, service, service," Roberts says. "Especially the people we were teaching, the members of the Church here. There was so many people running through our minds, how could we not help?"

Roberts, who is from Mesa, Ariz., has been in Concepcion, Chile less than five months.

E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com