Phone book gone

Anything not purchased from Apple (music from iTunes, books from iBooks, et al) is likely to be deleted from your iOS device when (A) synced to a different computer than the last time it was synced or (B) the phone is updated to a newer iOS. Occasionally, some things just may randomly vanish as well. The reason is due to digital rights. When Apple first came out with iTunes, the music industry threw a bit of a fit and made them program things so that a combination of iTunes and an iPod could not be used as a vessel for music piracy. This carried over to books as well. If you didn't buy it from Apple, then Apple does not guarantee the content. They don't have the legal right to keep content not bought from them safe, and if there is a glitch, or an update, or you sync with a library on a different computer, then that content will be lost.

That being said, using iTunes to make a backup on a single dedicated computer might save any kinds of notations or bookmarks you place on things not ought from Apple. This I can't guarantee, but it is likely. If you switch between two computers, that's when things get lost. Also, backing up to iCloud will also not likely keep anything not purchased from Apple.

Are you sure you did NOTHING with the phone? If you have your browser open, and in your phone plan, you don't get unlimited browsing, and the browser runs on minutes, that could be why your minutes are disappearing, and that should be the only logical explanation to why your minutes should just be going away.

I also have the exact same problem.
However, you don't need to take out the battery to re-power on the phone. Just hold the power button for a longer time (about 10 seconds). The screen will light up and the device will reboot.

Are you accidently turning the lock on?

my scren stays black and wont turn on till i take out the batery and turn it on agian

I would say the LCD is dead. They seem prone to that because we have had to replace two handsets with exactly the same problem. The one lost the top row of the screen, the second is completely screendead. Though all is not lost. Any GAP compatible cordless handset will work with that base, so you can replace them and not have to buy an entire system :) Ebay is a good source for handsets only.

Spules - reflash the mobile that should correct any issues that you maybe having.

fittrainer - have the firmware on the phone reflash take the phone to a mobile service center and have them fix it for you.

try a master reset

Do you have your address book sorted by first or last name, first/last and name/picture are the only options I have.  but when I open the address book, I can type names to jump to, one letter at a time, just like typing in a name... like 3332777555 for 'carl'.

i can help... i have incurred this problem a couple of times and understand the frustration! firstly, the reason why snd how this problem occurs is you have saved a number to your phonebook without a name and this causes the phone book to wig-out! to fix the issue simply press "1#". This will allow you to view your phone book in its speed dial order. Scroll through this menu until you find the saved number without the name and DELETE it. This will immediately bring your phone book back to normal. Good luck!