Understanding the Catholic church

I’m a 23 year old girl raised in a Protestant reformed church but I befriended a girl who was Catholic and she had lots of questions for me regarding my church. As I was answering her questions I began to realize I didn’t actually know the answers, and a big questions that stuck with me was this: what did the church looked like from the death of Christ until now? Protestantism is roughly 500 years old, so does that mean no one has gone to heaven? As I dove into this question and others I had, I stumbled upon this podcast and it has answered so many questions. I’m praying about what direction to go but so far, the answers from the Catholic side of things suffice way more than the Protestant views. Greg and Ed’s discussions have been a huge help!