To meet standards in a given week (as a district consisting of 4 companionships), we need to get 2 new people on baptismal date, 2 new people at church, and 8 new investigators. Come Sunday, we had met all standards except for church attendance, not only because church hadn't happened yet, but also because there was no one new planning on coming.
Thankfully, we had two chances to meet that standard, as we have church both in Košice as well as in Spišská nová ves. After the first two hours of church in Košice, Elders McCallister and Barton (Spišská) invited us to leave early with them so we could get people to church in Spišská. That's quite last-second, but we were down for it. One problem: they were going to have cake after the last hour of church, and we couldn't eat the cake if we weren't there. So we just told the other missionaries to bring some to Spišská. They agreed, and we thought that was all taken care of.
Our first stop was a small village where the missionaries are somewhat well-known. Almost immediately, Elder McCallister started a conversation with a man off the street as if they knew each other.
"Do you want to come to church with us?" said Elder McCallister.
"Maybe," said the man. "If the other kids go, I'll go."
After we walked farther along, I asked Elder McCallister, "Do you know him?"
"No," said Elder McCallister, "but his dog bit me once."
Our efforts brought forth no fruit from that village, so we drove to Spišská, stopping at each bus stop along the way. Why? So we could invite the people at the bus stops to church! No one came, but it was worth a try.
Finally, 30 minutes before church started in Spišská, we tried inviting people off the streets to come to church. Nothing. Oh well, we won't meet standards, but I'm excited for that cake. Guess what? As luck would have it, the other missionaries, who were driving a car to Spišská with our cake, who were just two minutes away from our church building, found out that no one new would be attending church, so they figured they were no longer needed at church. They turned around and drove back. Maybe they had forgotten about the cake, but neither Elders McCallister, Barton, McQuivey nor I had forgotten. I wish I could show you the look on Elder Barton's face upon hearing the news that we weren't going to get cake. Yes, it was tragic in the moment, but already it's something to look back on and laugh at.
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