Deleted account to solve password problems and can't restore

My ATT.net email account stopped recognizing my password and I would create a new password every time I logged in. This was over a period of a couple of weeks. A friend said she'd had the same problem and solved it by deleting the account and then starting it up again.

A week ago I believe I deleted the account, but that seems unclear now. I've tried to log back on, but failed in various ways. Currently, I have tried logging on through Yahoo. I enter my user name, next screen is the check box for I am not a robot, followed by a screen asking for an 8 digit code sent to the mailbox I am trying to log onto but can't.  Very frustrating.I've tried following directions for accessing through Gmail, but don't get the screens called for in the directions.

I really need to be able to access the emails that come to that address. Can you help?