Latter-day Saints from all over the country have served in Iraq and Afghanistan either as soldiers or civilians in the “war against terror.” Patriotic and religious artist, Chad S. Hawkins, travelled the world to gather and publish their stories in their own words in Faith in the Service (Deseret Book, $21.95, Hardcover; Book on CD, abridged, $16.95)

The events in the book take readers from the mountains of Afghanistan to the streets of Iraq in tales of faith, service and sacrifice. Among the anecdotes:

• Major Bruce Flint shares the spiritual lesson he learned while giving Saddam Hussein and other high-level prisoners optometry care.

• Elder William K. Jackson, an Area Seventy over Afghanistan and a Foreign Service officer, tells of miraculously surviving a suicide bomb attack on his convoy.

• Sergeant Jill Stevens, who later became Miss Utah, describes becoming one of the first females to run a marathon in Afghanistan, and how the Afghani women inspired her to finish the race.

• Dozens of other compelling stories such as partaking of the sacrament gathered around a Blackhawk helicopter; taking food, clothing and toys to a Muslim village in Afghanistan, and holding church services in Hussein’s palace.

Hawkins, the son of a veteran, credits various random but inspiring experiences as the motivation for collecting the stories. From witnessing the emotional homecoming of a soldier to noticing a neighbor doing yard work without her military husband, he says he felt inspired to start the project from sources all around him.

Faith in the Service is available at Deseret Book; DeseretBook.com and wherever LDS products are sold.