Touching people's lives

My mission has been a growing experience thus far. And I hope 2015 continues to make me grow and shapes me into what Heavenly Father wants me to be! I am grateful for your support and love! Thanks for all you do! This past week we have been working really hard with a less-active getting back into activity and quitting smoking, and we taught her the necessary steps to do so. So that's amazing to see someone quit smoking, and get back to the temple where ALL of God's children belong!
---Matthew on 5 January 2015

I really love the area I am in. I am in Winona, Minnesota, a college town. We take in small towns around Winona, too. My companion is Elder Justensen. I get along with him great. He is from northern Utah. Right now, we are working with Kyle. He is 17 years old, living with his grandma who is a member. Molly who is a friend to a less active family who is around 19. Monty and Dona who are around 50, and Serena and Faith who we are trying to get ahold of again. They are all great people. Here we have a branch, and about half of the branch is converts. I really love the branch and the people here. The weather has been getting cold here, and it is going to get colder from what I have heard. This picture is a picture of the zone that I am in. I am on the left side, and the one on the left of me is Elder Johnson who was my companion, and Elder Justensen is on my right side. Right now, I am just with Elder Justensen, and I am going to be with him for another transfer. Being on a mission has been a great blessing to me. I have seen a change in myself with just the few months that I have been out.
---David on 5 January 2015

Winona is a pleasant town on the banks of the Mississippi River on the border with Wisconsin about 3 hours southeast of Minneapolis. Here's a map showing the Winona Branch boundaries:

And this is Elder Swapp's current home (on the right side of the photo):