diff --git a/sqs/sqs.go b/sqs/sqs.go
index 0330fffd0fb17468c9c3e6d1fdff5ce2b6ca29a0..745d888b9e50d97458ec8c80dc5dbfe73c26b9fb 100644
--- a/sqs/sqs.go
+++ b/sqs/sqs.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ type Messenger struct {
 	QueueName    string
 	QueueURL     string
 	Region       string
-	S3Session    s3.SessionWithHelpers
+	S3Session    *s3.SessionWithHelpers
 	S3BucketName string
 }
 
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func (m *Messenger) SendSQSMessage(headers map[string]string, body string, curre
 	return *res.MessageId, err
 }
 
-func SendSQSMessage(msgr *Messenger, objectToSend interface{}, currentRequestID *string, sqsType string, headerKey string, messageGroupID ...string) error {
+func SendSQSMessage(msgr Messenger, objectToSend interface{}, currentRequestID *string, sqsType string, headerKey string, messageGroupID ...string) error {
 	msgGrpID := ""
 	if len(messageGroupID) > 0 && messageGroupID[0] != "" {
 		msgGrpID = messageGroupID[0]
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ func SendSQSMessage(msgr *Messenger, objectToSend interface{}, currentRequestID
 	return nil
 }
 
-func uploadMessageToS3(session s3.SessionWithHelpers, bucket string, name string, object interface{}) error {
+func uploadMessageToS3(session *s3.SessionWithHelpers, bucket string, name string, object interface{}) error {
 	messageBytes, err := json.Marshal(object)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ func uploadMessageToS3(session s3.SessionWithHelpers, bucket string, name string
 	return nil
 }
 
-func RetrieveMessageFromS3(session s3.SessionWithHelpers, bucket string, filename string) ([]byte, error) {
+func RetrieveMessageFromS3(session *s3.SessionWithHelpers, bucket string, filename string) ([]byte, error) {
 	// get the file contents
 	rawObject, err := session.GetObject(bucket, filename, false)
 	if err != nil {