Missing links comes from the old idea of a (Great) Chain of Being, in which there is a linear progression "upward" presumably ending with mankind, just underneath gods and other divine beings. Concepts of evolution since Darwin recognize, to the contrary, that evolutionary change often involves branching, and that unguided evolution has no preferred "direction".
There are countless transitional fossils. That doesn't stop creationists keep bleating that there are none.
A quick web search will give you some examples, such as the Purgatorius, a transitional mammal fossil.
As for your P.S, most children are simply told 'Goddidit' if they are in a religious family and many schools in Australia only teach children evolution if they choose biology as an elective. This leads them to be quite ignorant of evolution and thus arguments such as 'my uncle wasn't a monkey' can be persuasive to them.
