Truth Takes the Road Between them Both

"My faith has never failed me, but my relationship with God has been changing with the years. Sometimes, not thinking, I call him Negenechen, and I confuse the Virgen del Socorro with the blessed Mother Earth of the Mapuche--I am no less a Catholic than before, God fordbid!" Ines of My Soul, pg 208

A diagram of The Seven Sacraments, our way to Salvation 

  I just wanted to dissect Ines' approach to Christianity at this point-- because she seems to be dabbling into some non-Catholic Doctrine here which I find very interesting considering the timeframe (the Protestant Reformation going on in Europe around this time). 

    Christianity can be divided into two basic segments based on the doctrinal approach to Salvation. One segment of Christianity believes that we are "reborn" to things of God and receive salvation by receiving the sacraments of the Church. This segment is usually associated with Catholicism. In The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the sacraments are defined as "efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions." 

Protestant approach to Salvation

       The second segment of Christianity (usually associated with Protestantism) believes that our spiritual rebirth consists of having a personal experience/relationship with Jesus. The belief that we are born again spiritually by achieving this personal relationship with Deity was a product of the Reformation. 

       Where does Mormonism stand? Joseph Smith, as he so often did, said that truth takes the road between them both. On page 162 in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith we read, "Being born again comes by the Spirit of God through Ordinances."

          In Chile, Ines is having a tremendously spiritual experience. She is learning to rely on her faith, having a "rebirth" to things of a spiritual nature. It makes sense to me that she would turn towards Mapuche tradition to realize a personal relationship with Deity, even though such a closeness is not emphasized in the Catholic church. She is both the type of person who would and in an environment where she can explore religion and find what really brings her peace. The fact that other men and women were searching for the same thing at this time makes historical sense, too. Ines had her own personal Reformation in South America. 

          Because we know by modern revelation that having a relationship with God (or as we would say, "receiving the Spirit") is just as essential as receiving ordinances, it makes sense that Ines would hunger for more than just what Catholicism offers. She continues faithful to the Catholic church while adopting the "relationship with God" characteristic of the Mapuche. Her spiritual development is not limited to the Seven Sacraments, which is exemplified by this quote.