cant get mail on iphone 5C ios 8.1.2

Mail icon takes me to "welcome to Mail" screen, though I am already signed in to mail. Sometimes I see a screen flas that shows VIP but then it switches to the welcome screen. I hard rebooted twice, but no difference. I can get mail on the ipad air2. Should I sign out (and lose the mail data on the phone?

How can I delete the account - the support pages don't address the ios 8.1.2 screens as I see no "delete account" anywhere in settings.