Exhausted from checking on church members in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, I came home to assess the damage at the parsonage. We were lucky with just a few trees down, and no structural damage. Others in our community weren’t so lucky. Strong Christians who had been faithful their entire lives now looked at their homes buried under trees. How could God let this happen?

My heart was broken last fall in a booth at the McDonald’s in Barnwell, SC. I had agreed to meet with two young men from the local Latter Day Saints (LDS) church, and I asked them a simple question: If you were to die today, do you believe you would be with God in heaven?