Arise and Shine Forth: Heeding the Call to Serve

Jack Rushton grew up shy and isolated in a Nevada mining town, uncertain he could ever serve a mission. Then a call came to pioneer-era Central America. Through preserved letters home, he recounts dysentery, culture shock, primitive Mayan villages, and the humble Lamanite people who taught him faith. Baptisms, hospital stays, and hard-won self-discipline shaped a man who would later face paralysis with unshakable testimony. A warm, first-hand memoir of missionary service and the spiritual foundation that carried him through life's greatest trial.

• A shy Nevada boy who faked sickness to avoid giving a talk becomes a district president baptizing hundreds in Central America
• Written from letters a mother saved for 40 years—the mission as it really happened, unvarnished
• The spiritual foundation that let a man face life on a ventilator with joy
• An eyewitness to the pioneering explosion of the Church in Guatemala, from 300 baptisms to over 1,000 in a single year

“I know for a fact that one of the souls I brought unto Christ as a result of crying repentance to the people of Central America was mine.”

Perfect for a Latter-day Saint preparing for, serving, or reflecting on a full-time mission, or an older member who served in the mid-century pioneering era and loves faith-promoting missionary stories.