It is important to reach out to others. There may be times when you are in a situation where most people are members of the church and only one or two people are not. When you are in this situation it is easy to unintentionally make the nonmembers feel excluded. We often talk about things that they do not understand or use words that may not understand.
When you are in this situation you can work to help everyone feel included. When you are talking about your calling or something similar that they may not understand, you may want to briefly explain the background of the situation. While you want to include the person, you do not want to draw a great deal of attention to the differences either.
It is also important to think about times when you are in groups in places and how it is affecting those around you. For example if you meet weekly at a park for playgroup, you should be considerate of others who go to the park as well. You can be friendly and reach out to include everyone in your conversations. You should also teach your kids to reach out and be friendly with everyone there.
The impressions that we leave will either be positive or negative. We want to leave the best impression possible. At times all that takes is being friendly or reaching out to others. If we just talk to each other we give the impression of being cliquish and unfriendly. We can make a big difference in these areas, by simply being more considerate.
Additionally we can work on our individual interactions with others. This can include volunteering at school or when we are at work. It can include how we interact with our neighbors. It is very important to always be positive and friendly with those around us.
Related Articles:
General Conference: “A Gospel Sharing Home”
Primary Time: “The Gospel Is a Gift to Share”