EL BAURU

February 12, 2017

El Bauru. Hamburger, ham, cheese, fried egg, veggies.  The ultimate health food.

Is this a great sandwich or what?  It’s called a Bauru.  It is made by frying hamburger and then putting ham, cheese, a fried egg, corn, peas and other veggies and salsas on it.  They then put it all together and then cook it like a big toasted cheese sandwich.  Renee and I can’t eat a whole one.  For the Elders, it is no problem.

So for the week, Monday and Tuesday we were busy doing office stuff.  We have several things we are doing to make the office run more efficient like having the water and light bills come to an email instead of looking them up on the internet.  Good stuff but not the kind of stuff that gets people to read your blog. So let’s talk about the sandwich a little more.  On Wednesday we needed to go to Durazno, about a two and a half hour drive to fix a bed for the sisters.  You might as well make a day of it so we met the six missionaries in Durazno for lunch at the street diner called El Gaucho.  Guess what their specialty is?  El Bauru!  We have had it before but it was especially good this time.  The sisters shared one as did Renee and I.  The Elders ate a whole one each.  Wow, they are my heroes.  I remember when I could eat like that and stay thin.  Not so much anymore.  After lunch, we fixed the bed in about ten minutes.  I put a board up the side of the broken part and put in a few screws.  You know, if a few do a little good, a lot will do a lot of good.  Sister Vasquez was good help even though she has no idea what to do with the saw.

We also found out that the tap in the kitchen of the Elder’s apartment was leaking, so I stopped at the hardware store and got a new one.  Elder Oroche was in charge and had the old one off before we got back.  As is the case with all plumbing jobs, we needed a few other parts so I took the second trip.  But, all in all it was done in a two trip job and now they have a new tap.  I am so impressed with Elder Oroche and Elder Ruiz, the zone leaders.  They are so positive and happy.  I’m thinking of asking President Eddy if I can be their companion.

Thursday was another office day which helped us stay caught up.  Friday we were off for Castillos.  We had a special request to have Renee show the Elders some quick and easy recipes.  She got everything ready to make tin foil dinners, Spanish rice, stroganoff, stir fry and the rice/pea/hamburger casserole that our family likes.  The elders were real good to help prepare the veggies and help cook.  They were also good at helping to clean up.  Guess what they were the best at?  Eating!!  They each took some of the five different meals and really put the food away.  A big surprise is that they still had room for the chocolate chip cookies that Renee made.  You can tell from the photo that they had a good time.  We sure did.

The rest of the weekend we spent in Castillos.  We stayed at a hostel called “La Vieja” right in town.  It was really quite nice and probably better than any missionary apartment that we have.  We slept pretty well and did not have to travel as much.  Our emphasis is getting to know the existing members and inviting them back to Church.  We pray continually that we will be led to those who need us to visit them.  Friday afternoon we decided to find our friend Johnny Lopez and family.  Problem is, they don’t live in Castillos during the summer as he lives in “Aguas Dulces” which is on the beach about five miles from town. He lives there so he can do paintings for people and sell them.  We had some idea where he was staying so we took off, kind of like Nephi, not knowing what to do.  We found a guy that knew Johnny and told us where to go.  As we wandered around in the car we ran into Johnny and his wife.  We had a good visit.  They are such good people.

After that we made some other visits in town and then went to the Hostel.  On Saturday morning we started by going on a charla with the Elders to see Anna.  She is a wonderful lady and very sincere about her testimony.  We were able to testify to her about the Church.  It was fun.  Then we were off to find more people on the list.  We had some success and have the list organized now so we can find some more when we go back in two weeks.  Lunch at Narda’s was great as usual.  We had milanesas, green salad and “Russian salad”.  This is made with rice, potatoes and carrots.  The Uruguayos put a ton of mayonnaise on it.  I prefer it without.  I think Narda realizes this because she makes it without and then you can add what you want.  I want none, so that is pretty easy.  We topped it off with Renee’s pear pie.  I’m telling you it is worth coming to Uruguay to get some pear pie from Renee.
Saturday evening we had a good couple of visits ourselves and went on a Charla with Elder Jensen and Ramos.  They taught the principle of baptism and following the Savior.  They did such a wonderful job.  You could feel the Spirit and we enjoyed bearing testimony also.  So that brings us to Sunday.

The Missionaries work all week with one goal in mind- how many people are going to come to Church.  I can’t even begin to tell you how hard they work to teach and inspire and encourage people to come to Church.  So this morning when FOUR investigators came to Church, that was big!  I mean really big!  Elder Jensen is currently the branch president.  He along with Elder Ramos really form a good companionship.  They work hard and teach very strong charlas with the Spirit.  It is a blessing for us to be with them.  I sent the picture of Sunday School to Elder Stewart who was in Castillos until November as Analia, the sister in the middle was baptized when he was here.  I hope he likes it.  We are already looking forward to going back in two weeks.

Another thing, we got on Facebook this week. I have to say that I don’t understand anything about it but it is fun to learn.  We have found out a lot about the missionaries that have gone home.

Another busy week is past.  We continue to have a great time.  Thanks for all of your support.
Gordon and Renee