I just haven't been able to do it...what do I need in order to receive my email on my phone?

Do you have a data plan with AT&T. You will need this so you can receive email directly to your BB. Then you need to login to your Carrier's BIS site and set up your email accounts.

Where can I log into my BIS account? - BlackBerryFAQ

General BIS FAQ - BlackBerryFAQ

How to add / delete email addresses - BlackBerryFAQ

You need a BB data plan from ATT. An ordinary MediaNet plan will not work for BB email. mWhen you get that, ATT will provision it, send the proper service books and set up your BIS account. Then you can set up email.