View/search iPhone text message history [closed]

How do I read and/or search the history of text messages from my iPhone? Some messages are SMS, others are iMessage, often interleaved within the same conversation. My understanding is that the phone keeps the entire history (which is why there is the "Load Earlier Messages" button, which is incredibly tedious to use, slows down with each additional click and offers no [obvious] way of searching).

On iOS 7, swipe down on the homescreen to bring up the search tool. You can search for SMS/iMessages and they will be brought up as you type. For iOS 6 and others, you can go one page to the left of the homescreen to do this.