I don't know how to explain it, really. From the outside looking in it seems to be a lot more stable and supportive of its members, I'm surrounded by people who just parrot back what the talking heads say, with no filter or introspection. The impression I get is that things are falling apart because people are biologically wired to put their faith in something, and when they reject god they're putting their faith in megacorporations and politicians that care nothing more then to squeeze you dry to make short term profits. A proper church would at the most cynical least recognize that they can get more money from you by building you up in education and confidence so you have stability and prosperity indefinitely.
I do feel like I'd need to demonstrate more commitment and initative before taking further steps, though.
I think that if you're looking to convert religions for worldly reasons then it's not likely to end well. It might, I do know some people who got roped into things and grew to love it (like a guy who got into Catholicism because his kid goes to a Catholic school). But I think that looking for community is in some way like the same problem as looking for love, if you go looking for it actively it will flee from you? The motivation needs to be rooted in the belief in the thing itself.
If you don't like conformism then you'll be dealing with a different kind of conformism. Mormons tend to be massive normalfag conservatives/libertarians but they're also very obedient to their own authority. I don't know how true this is, but I've heard that enthusiasts of early Mormon history actually stick out badly among those raised in it.
Mormons do have good institutions, I don't know about them being big on "building people up" - mind you they expect 10% in tithes - but they also have very effective poor relief, those Home Storage Centers (which you can use even as a non-member), and so on.
There's also an issue, which I haven't resolved myself, of whether it's worth it to shun your own culture. Mormonism is a global religion in a sense, but most of them come from a small, New England-meets-West culture. And that too is something where a lot of people make out pretty well - they convert to a new religion and it BECOMES their families' new tradition, it happened to all of us at some point far enough back. But I often think if I shouldn't just resign myself to being Southern Baptist whether or not it makes any sense or pleases me.
They take anybody. You don't have to convert to the religion just to go to services, I knew a guy who went for a year before getting baptized, and unlike me he actually stuck with it. Just go ask them for missionaries. Keep in mind that a lot of converts wind up leaving when the missionaries leave. They feel like they're a part of something, but it turns out that it was the missionary visits they were attached to, not the congregation. Note that Mormons place a huge emphasis on their personal feelings over evidence. A cynic would say that it's convenient for a far-fetched sales pitch. They also don't believe in Biblical infallibility. 99% of the stuff they believe in that drives other Christians up a wall comes straight out of the Bible or ancient Christian practice (including muh seer stone in a hat, temple garments, and baptizing the dead), but when there is a contradiction a Mormon isn't going to give a shit what the Bible says because their perspective on it is that the Bible had two thousand years to be corrupted, the Book of Mormon and other new scriptures were given to them in their current versions in recent documented history.
Their dietary restrictions are wank and they recently made them, arbitrarily, more restrictive. There's also a two-tier membership in the church, if you're not familiar with this already. Any asshole can wander in and get baptized. Going to a temple requires a temple recommend. They have no concept of confessional like Catholics, you don't have to tell anyone what specific thing you did, but you are obligated to refuse a recommend if you know you violated their standards. The sacrament meeting in the meetinghouse is the church service, but the high rites of the religion take place in the temple (cathedral).
