Personally I think Church history and the scriptures suggests a little winnowing is a good thing. We can proclaim the gospel and help people gain a testimony. But ultimately it is an individual thing what to do with that testimony. Ultimately religion is a very personal and self-motivated endeavor. I think we err when we make religion seem so passive.

I think going to church doesn’t have much to do with how “wound” one is.

Church Attendance is really easy. It’s like paying tithing or obeying the word of wisdom.

J. – thanks for the compliment.

And, of course, abundant evidence shows that Latter-day Saints in Utah have far higher levels of religious participation–no matter how you measure it–than Latter-day Saints elsewhere, and this has probably been true for at least 40 years. (The motivations for their high church activity is subject to interpretation.) Moreover, within Utah itself, the larger the percent Mormon in a given county, the higher the level of LDS church participation in that county.

That makes sense. Any community organizer can tell you that unless you can pay staff, you have to rely on people’s personal relationships to get them to work.

Relationships define people. If there are few alternatives to Mormon relationships then you won’t have status, sex, or access to resources unless you attend Mormon activities.

Of course, nobody thinks that way. But people are seldom aware of the incentives that shape their behavior.

(I have missed church twice in 8 years, once for a hurricane, once for a blizzard. Both times Church was cancelled and I found out in the Hurricane by reading the flyer pasted to the window of the church.)

Matt, dude, chill. Remember what the Prophet Joseph Smith said: a bow that is never unwound will lose its spring. Unwind the bow, my man!

First let me say I am a convert, and genuinely hope and feel I am an outlier in your demographics (I have missed church twice in 8 years, once for a hurricane, once for a blizzard. Both times Church was cancelled and I found out in the Hurricane by reading the flyer pasted to the window of the church.)

That said, does it stand to reason that 1st gen. converts hold better retention rates in more LDS populous areas? Does Population LDS per Capita make a difference, and could this be analyzed for ward size? If I am house shopping in San Antonio, should I look for the Ward boundries that have the most LDS is the smallest area?

Personally, I think I have been helped by adopting my wife’s “pioneer ancestry” – (She is 3rd generation Texas LDS, but they have some of the best conversion stories I’ve ever heard.)