For many people, the Church's initial infusion of Spirit is enough to get them into the waters of baptism. However, many do not understand how to maintain that spiritual infusion on their own. Without frequent spiritual visits by missionaries, they quickly fade back to their old lifestyles.
Another factor is socialization. People hang out with others with similar interests.
While a new convert may have one or two LDS friends, they will have dozens of non-LDS friends. Those friends will encourage them to socialize in the ways they are accustomed to doing. For those not solidly grounded in testimony, it becomes easy to become distracted by old social networks and friends. Socialization by many LDS members can help the newly formed, but weak, testimony to grow, because it affords the new member opportunities to ask questions, be taught, and feel the Spirit more often.
Pres Hinckley noted that new converts need three things: 1) a calling, 2) a friend, and 3) to be nourished by the word of God.
Too often they are not given a calling until it is too late. Or they are given a calling way to above their ability and it scares them away.
A friend should actually be many friends. I would hope every member of the ward would invite each new convert into their home for dinner sometime within the first 3 months after baptism.
I knew a branch president who was wise on this matter. A family that was being taught a second time by the missionaries (after 18 months) assigned members to have the family into a home every Sunday after Church for dinner. They were baptized, and a year later the brother was set apart as the elder's quorum president. THAT is how you provide the social component.
Finally, socialization provides opportunities for the member to be spiritually nourished. If the new member lives in a difficult environment (fighting parents, etc), friends can provide a nourishment they cannot receive elsewhere. And our Sacrament meetings need to kick into gear. Elder Holland once told me that we need to "set our pulpits afire" as we once did in the Church. He taught that if we teach the doctrine with the Spirit, then they will come and stay.
Will we keep all of them? Probably not. But our conversion and stay rates will jump dramatically.
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