Former Governor Gary Herbert Refused Wine at the White House. What Obama Did Next Surprised Him.

The tray came out with two goblets on it. One was for the head of the National Governors Association, who had just finished introducing the President of the United States at a White House dinner. The other was for President Obama himself. Both goblets held water. Gary Herbert, then serving as Utah's 17th governor, had told the protocol office he would not toast with wine, because his faith comes with a health code and he did not want anyone to think otherwise. Out of respect, the President raised water with him, and so did much of the room. On a recent episode of Why We Believe with host Nathan Gwilliam, Gary shared that story and the deeper pattern behind it. For nearly 12 years leading Utah, his faith in the Lord and his public service moved together, and he believes they belong that way.

A Water Goblet at the White House

The toast could have been an awkward moment. Some guests consider it bad luck to toast with water, and the room held governors, dignitaries, and the President. Gary asked the protocol office for guidance, explained that as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints he does not drink alcohol, and received permission to raise water.

What followed surprised him. Vice President Biden thanked him warmly for including him in the toast, something Gary learned rarely happens. And President Obama, seeing the two goblets arrive, chose the water. A moment Gary expected to be delicate became a chance to live his faith quietly in front of national leaders, teaching by example rather than by sermon.

That is the pattern Gary returned to throughout the conversation. In his experience, public life did not force a choice between his faith and his service. People gravitate toward leaders with principles, honesty, and empathy, whatever their politics.

Doors That Close and Doors God Opens

Long before the governorship, Gary tried out for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The answer came back in the classic form: don't call us, we'll call you. A door closed, and a mission call followed instead.

Years later, after high interest rates crushed his real estate business during a brutal recession, Gary channeled his frustration into a run for the Orem city council. He lost by about 35 votes. Another closed door. Within months, people urged him to run for the Utah County Commission instead, and that race changed the course of his life. Fourteen years on the commission prepared him to serve as lieutenant governor, and when Governor Huntsman left to serve as ambassador to China, Gary stepped into the governorship ready on day one.

Gary is careful not to declare which outcomes were best. As he puts it, that is not for him to judge. But the shape of his life taught him to hold disappointments loosely, because God often closes the wrong door while preparing a better one.

The Weekend Utah Fasted and Prayed

Around 2012, drought turned Utah into kindling. Fires broke out across the state, sometimes eight or ten burning at once. Gary's administration threw its resources at the flames and could not get ahead of them. He remembered counsel his father gave him: pray like everything depends on the Lord, and then work like everything depends on you. The work was happening. It was time to pray.

With the first Sunday of the month approaching, Gary reached out to Elder L. Tom Perry and asked whether the Church could invite its congregations to a weekend of fasting and prayer to stop the fires. Then he contacted denominations across Utah, Christian and non-Christian, inviting anyone who believed in a supreme being to join. It became one of the largest combined efforts of prayer the state had seen.

Days later, rain came. Not the windy summer storms that whip fires higher, but gentle rain that fell and doused the flames. Speaking later to an interfaith gathering of clergy, Gary said it may not rank with Moses parting the Red Sea, but to him it was a modern day miracle, one that believers of many traditions witnessed and shared together. Out of that experience grew an annual gathering of religious leaders at the Governor's Mansion, where clergy of many faiths became friends.

Leading Through Earthquake and Pandemic

March 2020 brought a test of a different kind. The same week the pandemic was declared, a 5.7 earthquake shook Utah. Fear and uncertainty spread faster than the virus, and civility frayed. It was, Gary says, the hardest stretch of his political career, and it came in his final year of office.

His approach blended prayer with preparation. He gathered the best minds in business, science, and medicine, moved early to secure medications, and set a double goal most states treated as a choice: protect lives and protect livelihoods. Teachers needed safe schools, so he worked to make classrooms among the safest places in the state, and families in other states began moving to Utah to get their children back into classrooms.

Gary prayed to get the policy right, and he prayed for something more personal. Feeling slow of speech, he asked Heavenly Father to let the Spirit help people understand the sincerity of his heart even when his words fell short. By that December, Utah's unemployment had fallen back near where it started, and the state became a national example of recovery.

The Know-How and the Do-How

Asked how he gained his testimony, Gary points to no single event. A faithful mother who taught him to pray morning and night. Two fathers he honors. Church callings that put him to work from his youth. A mission to the Eastern Atlantic States that solidified what home had planted. Step by step, prayer by prayer, the testimony grew, and he says it is growing still, now in his calling serving children in Primary.

His counsel for anyone seeking their own witness comes straight out of scripture. Nephi said, I will go and do. The Savior taught that whoever does His will shall know the doctrine. Gary's version is plain: if you want to know whether the church is true, go out and work at it, try it and see. He loves the distinction between the know-how and the do-how. Knowing what is right matters, but the blessing comes in the doing.

Key Takeaways from Gary Herbert's Story

Nephi's I will go and do still applies, because the Lord blesses the do-how and not just the know-how. Gary's father taught him to pray like everything depends on the Lord and then work like everything depends on you, and that counsel carried a state through wildfire. When God's children fast and pray together, His hand can reach even a state that is burning. A closed door is not rejection, because God often closes the wrong door while preparing a better one. And a testimony rarely comes in one moment; it grows step by step through prayer and steady service. If your own faith needs a next step, take Gary's counsel and go do something about it this week, then listen to the full conversation on Why We Believe.

Thank you for reading this week's blog post inspired by the Why We Believe show. If you are interested in more stories like this, you can check out our other blog posts and episodes at WhyWeBelieve.com, or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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