As a convert, I thought long and hard about Purgatory. It made sense to me. Whether it is just a “waiting place” or whether it is a place of some degree of suffering (other than not being in the presence of God) I do not know.
If I am wrong, and my entrance into Heaven is instantaneous, I will be pleasantly surprised.
If YOU are wrong, you will be very unpleasantly surprised.
That’s pretty much the entire discussion in a nutshell.
I really am not going to belabor the point. I pray for the souls of the dead, including people who were sort of lackadaisical Christians. I don’t know what their last minutes were like, and I desire all souls to be in the presence of God.
Funny, why will I be unpleasantly surprised? I will be getting cleansed before going into heaven. My salvation is in Christ doing everything to save me - as yours is, not whether I believe in purgatory or not.