What to do with pre-foreclosure home in Missouri ?

[Mike]

I have a single unit family home in pre-foreclosure in Missouri behind 3 payments. what can I do to slow down the foreclosure process here so that I get the time to catch up with payments. Are there any programs offered by the govt to help people in pre-foreclosure. Someone offered that we do a short sale. But we’re not sure. Can we refinance if in pre-foreclosure, now that we're already 3 months behind. We bought the house for $175k and owe $135k . so we do a short sale ro refinance?? Or should I sell house to my friend and then later on have him sell it back to me? has anyone gone into this before? I want to know how missouri works with pre-foreclosure homes.