"Sent" E Mail Message Folder

This is a general answer, ie not specific to Verizon e-mail software: did you at any time change your e-mail settings? Some systems save them automatically and your option is to stop them from doing so; others don't but provide an option for you to do so - really depends on total mailbox memory available. All e-mail is saved somewhere on the sending and receiving servers as well as on intermediate nodes - in addition to your own system, if applicable - so theoretically you can always get them back. If you think they're vital for some reason - proving a legal case, eg - you can ask Verizon to retrieve them; they can do it and are legally obligated to do so, but you may have to file a police report and/or obtain a court order first.

For future messages you'd like to save, simply send a bcc to yourself - then you can always save that in a different computer file.

Nope. Most of my E Mail does go to the "sent" folder. I looked all over my list of sent mail, switched around the order of them, and still can't find the one that I sent this morning.

Another thing. Although FIOS internet is faster than cable, I find that my E Mails are downloaded very slowly. Cable pulled up E Mails almost instantly. Anybody know why?

On your Q1, why didn't you send a bcc to yourself if you really wanted to be sure to have a copy of your outgoing message?

On your Q2, there's an epic battle going on between the various telecom providers, the cable companies and the FCC. Read more:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20012274-266.html