Searching for favorite photos

So frustrated. I am trying to mark photos as favorites and then find them at a later date. I have read the threads and none are helpful and all seem to include people that get no resolution:

 My photo albums do seem to be in the photo app (the main photos folder is and I have each set of photos, by date, in folders within the photos app, so I assume since the parent is in the app, the children folders are too).

  I do NOT have a favorites folder (unsure why).

 When I mark the photos, there is no way to find them later (no favorites option on the search bar, which seems asinine since you can mark a photo as such).

 I have tried everything. I have looked in all settings within the photos app and there is no a way to "turn on" favorites identification. When I mark it as a favorite, I can see the heart ONLY when I open the photo (this is worthless). 

Why is this so hard? It's so basic and it is an option. Each option should have a use and this seemingly has none. Yes, I can get another photo app, but I don't need one and if that is the case, why list the option at all? Please advise. I can see I am NOT the only one perplexed trying to use this. If the heart has no use, please just remove it, as it does nothing for users. I have 20K photos in my computer. Having to go through each one in each folder to find my favorites again is completely worthless. Hoping there is a resolution. Please advise.