Can't get thumbnail to show up in front page widget

I can see on the preview of a finished version of the theme that images and an excerpt show up in the three widget areas (front page widget one, two, and three), but i can’t see to find how to do this for mine. I can get a post to show there by choosing recent posts in the widget area and putting that in one of the front page widget slots, but there is not image showing up just a title of my post. I do have a featured image attached to the post.

Also, wondering if you can place a set post or a page in those front page widget areas instead of recent posts or a list of your pages?

my site is http://www.holycrosscrusaders.ca