Hello and welcome to the forums - thanks for joining!
The best person to explain would be your wife, as she would be able to show you.
Usually, for sent/received messages, you go in to the messaging app and go to either the inbox or sent message box. You can't read deleted messages (on most phones) as they are no longer on the phone. It would depend on the phone though... I don't have experience with that device!
Hope you find this place useful!!