In this passage we have three rhetorical yes-no questions. The typesetter for the 1905 LDS edition accidentally changed the last question into a declarative sentence (“it is not as easy at this time …”). As a declarative, the correct rhetorical response would be positive, not negative (“it is as easy at this time …”). The 1911 LDS edition, which derives from the 1905 edition, restored the original yes-no question.
Summary: Maintain the three yes-no questions in Alma 39:17–19; Alma’s questions here are rhetorical and expect a positive answer (“a soul is at this time … it is as necessary … it is as easy at this time”).