I'm still new myself and just finally exhausted my 30 day starting period. I still have sprout because I'm behind on main quest (keeping sync with a friend). You lose sprout status when you hit a certain amount of time played AND reach a certain point in main quest (end of first main quest series I think around lv 50).

To get into novice network, a mentor has to invite you. Many mentors will just invite every sprout they see and there is no yes/no prompt for it... it just dumps you into the channel wondering how you got there (I think that is getting changed in patch or might have already changed with last patch?). Unfortunately, since your novice period is done, you can't get into the network now until you either become a mentor or quit the game and return with returning player status.

All is not lost though! For help, I suggest finding a good Free Company that fits you well. They'll likely be a huge help! Party finder (not dungeon finder) can be used for other things as well... like hunts and FATEs. It's probably a good place to make some friends, but I haven't used it yet. Another good thing is to just make some friends. A lot of players goof off around the towns and if you're a bit social, you can make some friends there. Try and find your way into a good linkshell. That will give you another pool of players you can chat with at anytime for fun or help or to help them.

I don't play WHM, so I don't know a lot about it, but my main questmate does. I had to read up a little bit to help her with mana issues, so I can give a few general tips on that, but you really should hunt down and read some WHM guides. You probably know the general mana management stuff by now. 'Shroud of the Saints' doesn't just drop enmity... it gives you mana regeneration for a while. So use it when mana drops below 70-80% and then every time it's up. Use regen on party members that take constant damage, like tanks. Regen is more efficient than cure spells. Try to use Cure 1 for general healing when you're not panicking. It can proc free Cure 2s. Use those free Cure 2s. Don't use group heals when party memebers are spread out too far to group heal them anyway. Of course... I don't play WHM, so ..erm.. grain of salt and all.