How do you guys retain this information I feel like I’m memorizing it but I don’t know if I’m learning it
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I think that is how most people feel at first. I don’t really feel like I’ve learned a kanji until I have encountered the kanji in “the wild” either in a text book or a podcast I’m listening to while looking at the script. Many people have recommended joining the beginner book club which I plan to do at some point.
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If you’re progressing through the SRS and getting it correct each time, I’d say you’re memorizing it. It can be sluggish at first but stick with it. If you want, to “prove” you’re memorizing it, maybe try going to a Japanese news article and looking for kanji or words you may know!
I remember when I first started that I didn’t feel like I was making progress until I was seeing and understanding fragments of sentences “in the wild”.
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Welcome!!
At the start you have very little Japanese so there is little context and mostly rote memorization. As you see more in different contexts: same kanji different words, seeing words in different sentences, learning new grammar etc etc, you build on each one and learning expands naturally and more easily
Keep going bit by bit and it does get easier. Reading the level 60 celebration posts can give a lot of inspiration 
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Advise: Look up the stroke order and write the Kanji down. yes on paper. yes with a pen.
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