Q: Before when I would delete an email a line would be put across it and then I would purge them, but now they just disappear. How can I recover them? And are they gone for good?

Previously your email account was most likely setup as IMAP, but your Exchange account acts similar to Windows explorer, in that you don’t lose the email but rather it is placed in the Deleted Items folder of your exchange account. You may go there to retrieve your deleted email, or empty the folder which would delete them, just like the Windows recycling bin.